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Get Back
Little Brother
ABB, 2007
http://www.myspace.com/littlebrother
REVIEW BY: Ben Ehrenreich
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 11/14/2007
Little Brother’s sophomore album The Minstrel Show defied all odds and made them one of the few to record back-to-back classics; they were only two deep. Get Back was surrounded by much controversy, considering it was the first album without a major contribution for used-to-be in-house producer 9th Wonder.
Surprisingly, Get Back is actually more controversial than the sophomore release, because instead of criticizing commercial hip-hop artists through metaphor and wordplay, Little Brothers just comes out and says it. The only problem is, they seem to contradict themselves on “Breakin’ My Heart,” because for some odd reason they felt the need to collaborate with “Mr. Minstrel Show” himself, Lil’ Wayne. “Breakin’ My Heart” is actually a great song over the only 9th Wonder beat on the album, but the song’s strong relationship message is entirely because of Phonte and Big Pooh. Lil’ Wayne offers absolutely nothing and is completely outclassed.
Get Back starts out strong with “Sirens”, an Illmind production, who actually fills in for 9th very nicely with four out of the 11 tracks on the album. “Can’t Win For Losing” is another great Illmind track that Phonte absolutely rips with an introspective grocery list of people who have let him down. The next three tracks are possibly the best three on the album: the aforementioned “Breakin’ My Heart”, the rags-to-riches “Good Clothes” and the complex “After The Party.”
Like “After The Party,” “Good Clothes” is about much more than it appears. Yes, it’s filled with funny anecdotes reminiscent of Kanye’s “Spaceship,” but it also serves as a metaphor for where the group is in the industry. They were not hand-picked by a high-profiled CEO or allotted a huge fund to make their album, yet they still did what they had to do to look and sound fly. Phonte even alludes to this through the skit that precedes it, but I won’t divulge that message here.
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