Little Brother Splits From Atlantic, Parts Ways with 9th Wonder

Jazzy Jeff feat. Little Brother - Whatever You Want

Zo! feat Phonte - Africa (Toto rework)

So it's official, Little Brother has severed its ties with Atlantic Records. Big Pooh told Hip-Hop Game that "at this time we are in the process of negotiating our release from the label due to a difference in philosophies." I guess they took a preemptive strike since we all know that Atlantic wasn't happy with the sales of The Minstrel Show.

If you followed LB like I have, you must have saw this coming from a mile away. Atlantic just was not a good fit for LB and this group will never get the airplay or put up the numbers that a commercial rap artist would. Why LB never was courted by or signed with a smaller outfit like Stone's Throw, BBE, Ubiquity, or Def Jux is beyond me. And I've always agreed that 9th limited their sound. They needed to hand to torch over to a new set or producers.

Even though LB is putting out a Mixtape soon, I have a serious feeling that Phonte is going to break off and do a serious solo project, with production by....let's say will.i.am and DJ Shadow. I'm liking the dude's non-LB collaborations that have been floating around the Internets. This Little Brother/Jazzy Jeff Collaboration (yes THAT Jazzy Jeff) is sold.

The "Africa" rework featuring Phonte (singing) with artist Zo! is um....interesting. After about 5 listens I can't get into it. The ending is nice, but I'm trying to figure out if this is a good look for Phonte or not. Dude might be entering blipster territory!