It has been three years since Little Brother released its third full-length studio album, and first to mark the departure of producer 9th Wonder.
It seemed at the time that the book that is one of North Carolina’s arguably greatest hip-hop groups had closed without a final chapter. But Little Brother now looks to be delivering that final opus fans have been waiting for with the release of its fourth and seemingly final LP on April 20.
Originally slated as an EP, emcee Phonte Coleman said he and Rapper Big Pooh scraped that idea in order to give fans “all that I had to give.”
“I didn’t want our last record to be a bunch of second-rate material,” Phonte explained. “I wanted to walk away from Little Brother knowing that I gave our fans all that I had to give, and said everything I wanted to say. With LeftBack, I’ve done that.”
Like with GetBack, Little Brother has enlisted a pool of producers to help craft LeftBack — an obvious omission being that of 9th Wonder, who collaborated with the duo on the albums The Listening and The Minstrel Show and on the track “Breakin’ My Heart” from GetBack.
“Big Pooh and Phonte have enlisted multiple producers for LeftBack, both from within and outside of the Justus League camp,” a press release reads. “Producers for this album include frequent collaborator Khrysis and GetBack producers Denaun Porter and Zo!, as well as efforts from Symbolyc One and first time Little Brother contributors J. Bizness and King Karnov.”
Little Brother explains that unlike the group’s previous releases, LeftBack will “mark the duo’s first album with a true multimedia experience.”
“Three albums, three mixtapes, one video. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in this day and age,” Pooh said. “We have always lacked in the visual department, and I think it will be refreshing to finally offer the people those visuals.”
The album will include four official music videos, all shot and directed by Matt Koza, known for his work with The Foreign Exchange, Rapper Big Pooh, Kam Moye and RJD2. There will also be a limited-release DVD included with initial pressings of the album that documents Little Brother on tour as well as features archived footage of the group throughout its career.
LeftBack will see a release April 20, through Hall of Justus Music Group.
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