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When it was announced that producer 9th Wonder was leaving Little Brother, I had to wonder whether it would be best for Phonte and Big Pooh, the two remaining members, to just pack it up and disband the group. While there are some devoted LB fans who swear by Phonte's lyrical abilities, just about everyone I know had been checking for the group primarily to hear what 9th had been cooking up with Fruityloops Studio. Phonte and Pooh both manage to drop a decent rhyme from time to time, but one of them would need to really step up their game for me to get interested in an LB duo.
Having said that, I checked out their free Mick Boogie mixtape And Justus For All, curious to see what they would sound like in their post-9th Wonder era. The tape contains tracks from several producers (two songs from 9th Wonder) and a few interludes, including one monologue from Phonte explaining that he doesn't like mixtapes that reuse old beats -- an ironic statement considering one of the highlights of this mixtape features the beat from Onyx's Last Days.
Not surprisingly, backpacker favorites Talib Kweli, Kardinal Offishall and Mos Def put in cameos, but there are also a couple of unexpected collaborations on this tape: Cormega and AZ (as it turns out, the AZ and Cormega tracks have been out for a minute, but I had never heard them before). Its somewhat jarring to hear Pooh try to keep up with Mega's iced-out, coked-up rhymes, but I'll take a Cormega verse wherever I can get it.
Overall, the quality of And Justus For All is at about the same level as an official Little Brother album. Whether or not that's a good thing is debatable. If you're already an LB fan, you'll love this mixtape. For those of you who aren't fans, there are still a few good songs to be found on here. And really, what more can you ask for from a free album?
Two of the best tracks from the mixtape:
LB - The Pressure
LB and Cormega - Back At It (Khrysis remix)
You can download the mixtape here, or hit up Mick Boogie's MySpace page for more links to the download.
Unrelated video: Beatboxer/comedian Beardyman cooks up a hot beat in his kitchen.
2/13/2007 8:30:19 AM posted by Fresh