Disco de Little Brother: “Get Back”

With their third album, the NC trio turned duo release what could be called more of the same upon the masses and the end results aren't bad. Of course, there's a certain dude missin' and a lot of heads wondered if Phonte and Pooh would be able to create anything worth hearing without the notorious kicks and snares that folks have come to love them over. Honestly, after hearing them over other producer's beats (Khrysis, Nicolay, Illmind, etc...), I didn't really think it was a big deal, so I was just expecting the same feeling I got from those other songs. Suffice it to say that they did that and then some. In all honestly, I think it's refreshing to hear them over someone else's production. The beats are tight and the rhymes from Tay and Pooh have relevance and show a good amount of range. Highlights like "Extrahard", "After The Party", "Two Step Blues", "Dreams", and "Sirens" are proof positive of that. Of 11 joints, I'd say 8 of them are good.

There are few tracks here that make this listener reach for the skip button. "Can't Win For Losing" (despite a decent Phonte verse), "Breakin' My Heart" (more so because of Pooh and that beat) are those tracks and "Step It Up" is a real yawner for me. If you're a fan of LB, then you'll probably dig every track here, but those three simply didn't do anything for these ears. Aside from those two hiccups, the rest is good to go. And, like someone already mentioned, (with the exception of the throwback MC Hammer reference right after "Dreams") it'd be great if Phonte didn't spend 15 of the 50 minutes prefacing every song and just let that sh** drop already. Yeah, I know that's a minute gripe, but I do my best to point out everything I notice, so...

Getback is a good album from a group that, despite the loftiest of expectations, continues to stick to their guns and make the kind of music that they know how to make. This time they come through without relying on the one guy that heads said they couldn't do it without. I can't be mad at that. Getback is good stuff and I'd say this album is a definite touchdown. I recommend giving this a listen.

Standout Tracks: When Everything Is New, ExtraHard, Good Clothes, That Ain't Love feat. Jozeemo, After The Party feat. Carlitta Durand, Dreams (my favorite), Two Step Blues feat. Darien Brockington, and Sirens feat. Carlitta Durand

I'd only heard a few LB tracks before Getback dropped, namely "life of the party" from the last Justus League album. Luckily, I have satellite radio and was able to listen to their ENTIRE listening party while on a road trip. Hip hop has needed something like this for a WHILE! My fave tracks are Step it Up ("once they get grown, these h**s ain't impressed by applebee's no mo"), After the Party ("this is the last call for the jump-off express...15 minutes of passion on my mama's futon"). I love the whole album, really and can listen to it from start to finish 3x in a row. now, the listening, the minstrel show and chitlin circuit 1.5 are all in my regular rotation.

Little Brother's the Get back is by far the best hip hop album of 2007. Unlike most rappers L.B. doesn't get all wrapped up in themselves and their celebrity instead they choose to focus on topics and issues that everyday working people face. Whats great about this album can be summed up with the line ...Tonight I'm going out like a soldier/ put a little something down on the light bill/let the cable and the phone bill roll over...

Not many people can relate to taking a private plane for a week in the south of France but we can all relate to trying to cover all our bills by paying the important bills first and making a small partial payment on the lesser bills.

lastly, if you are a fan of grown folks hip hop you will love this album because it appears made for people who are mature, appreciate topics beyond selling drugs, spending money and sleeping with random women. Also this album offers a refreshing reprieve from songs that are made to be used as ringtones for 12 year old kids. I only wish there were radio stations were children of the 80's could hear old school rap (KRS 1, RAKIM Big Daddy Kane) as well as educated rappers (Talib Kweli, Common, Mos Def, Little Brother etc...)

Unlike so many rap albums that are released now, the "Get Back" is thoughful and provocative. If you're a Little Brother fan you know 9th wonder is no longer a part of the team, but that hasn't stopped these brothers. They came out stronger than ever. There was a different energy in this album and it was thorougly pleasing. It has some head bangers, some club joints, and some chill joints, but none of this took away from the message in each song. Get this album, and support these brothers. They have to be the hardest working brothers in Hip Hop music and they will make you proud to be a fan with every line! Every track is worth listening to. Don't skip around trying to find favs. Enjoy them all. You won't regret it.

Didn't like this album as much as their other ones. Definitely miss the 9th Wonder LB connection. Can definitely tell the difference now that 9th is not producing there albums. Lyrics are still there, but the beats, are not complimenting their rhyme style the way 9th's did. 9th Wonder and LB collaboration was similar to Guru and Premier. Together they created magic. While I still like LB no doubt, the magic is missing, because the beats are not matching their rhyme flow imho. So I gave this 3 stars. Like Chitlin Circuit and The Listen better. One.