This is not a drill. Little Brother is back.
DJBooth reports Big Pooh and Phonte will officially return to the stage as Little Brother at the upcoming Hopscotch Festival. The North Carolina legends confirmed the news to the outlet and noted that 9th Wonder won’t be a part of the reunion but did give his blessing.
The group made waves with their debut album The Listening in the early aughts but cemented their legacy with the classic album, The Minstrel Show in 2005. As Uproxx notes, the group also inspired and worked with some of the biggest artists in music today like Drake and Kanye West.
“I’m excited to announce that my brother Big Pooh and I are back at work. New Little Brother music and a tour are coming soon,” Phonte said in a statement to DJBooth. “After conversations with 9th Wonder following our Art of Cool reunion show in Durham last year, the three of us mutually agreed it was best for LB to continue as a duo, as Pooh and I have officially been Little Brother since 2007.”
Like Phonte mentioned, the group reunited briefly at the Art of Cool Festival in Durham, North Carolina last year. Phone and Pooh will also release new music as Little Brother.
Durham’s Little Brother performed on stage for the first time in over a decade. They found out about the possibility to reunite just a few hours before the show and it was ? #AOCFEST pic.twitter.com/ssiinX2KuF
— Durham, NC (@DurhamNC) September 30, 2018
Since their initial split, each member has gone on to release their own critically acclaimed projects. Phonte released solo projects like No News Is Good News and recently celebrated the 11th anniversary of The Foreign Exchange’s standout project, Leave It All Behind.
Big Pooh has released several albums over the years, including his latest project RPM in 2018. 9th Wonder has notably gone on to be one of the most important producers in hip-hop, working with the likes of Jay-Z, the late Nipsey Hussle, and Kendrick Lamar. He also founded Jamla Records with Grammy-nominated Rapsody on his roster.
For good ol’ times, stream The Minstrel Show below.