All 3 Little Brother Members Perform Together For The 1st Time In Over A Decade (Video)
During a weekend that celebrated the 20th anniversaries of benchmark album releases from A Tribe Called Quest, Black Star, and OutKast, another legendary Hip-Hop group made a move that will forever be tied to their legacy. Yesterday (September 29), Phonte, 9th Wonder, and Rapper Big Pooh performed as Little Brother at Durham, North Carolina’s Art Of Cool Festival. The event marked LB’s first performance as a trio in more than a decade.
“This could only happen in one place! Right here,” Phonte told the crowd, with Pooh beside him on stage. The trio performed several songs, including The Minstrel Show single “I’m Lovin’ It.”
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On Twitter, Phonte admitted that the reunion was organized just hours before the trio took the stage. All three members commemorated the event by posting an early black-and-white Little Brother photograph outside of Durham’s stadium.
The members of Little Brother have been active in solo careers and side projects. In 2006, following two acclaimed albums and two mixtapes, 9th Wonder left the group. Phonte and Pooh carried on, dropping two additional LPs and three more tapes. While 9th provided occasional sounds, including the Lil Wayne-assisted “Breakin’ My Heart,” the now-duo involved Nottz, Khrysis, !llmind, Hi-Tek, Zo!, D12’s Mr. Porter, and S1, among others. In early 2010, L.B. dropped its fourth and final LP, Leftback.
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Since that period, the three members have publicly admitted that there were times when they were not speaking to each other. However, in recent years, the trio has been openly supportive of one another’s work. 9th was extensively involved in Phonte’s Charity Starts At Home album. He also lent a track to Pooh’s Fat Boy Fresh, Vol. 3.5: Happy Birthday Thomas. Now, more than any time in the last dozen years, the brotherhood appears to be in great shape.
In March of this year, Phonte released No News Is Good News. Three months later, 9th teamed with his Soul Council to produce Black Thought’s Streams Of Thought, Vol. 1. Both projects were named one of Ambrosia For Heads‘ best of the year, so far. Last August, Pooh released a Phonte collaboration that he had been sitting on since 2010. He dropped the track, “Seinfeld (Go Up),” while providing a personal message about their relationship to fans.
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Earlier this month, a super-group between Phonte, Black Thought, and Rhymefest was confirmed. Other performers at the fifth annual Art Of Cool Festival included Nas, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, and Anthony Hamilton.