Little Brother. Photo by Antoine Lyers
The return of Big Pooh and Phonte’s rap duo Little Brother in 2019 was one of the rap world’s most unexpected and welcome surprises that year. They could have rested on the laurels of their classic albums The Listening and The Minstrel Show (released in 2003 and 2005, respectively), but 2019’s May The Lord Watch, their fourth full-length, offered reinvigoration where many rap veterans would have been content to coast. That spirit continues today (September 18) with two new songs: “Wish Me Well” and “Glory Glory,” Little Brother’s first new music since 2019.
Both new songs are bittersweet reflections on what it means to be “your favorite rapper’s favorite rap act.” Produced by Pumah, “Wish Me Well” features a plush and jazzy beat. “Pulled out receipts to show my heart don’t tell tales,” Pooh raps, “Legends of the fall / I should be appalled but that’s par for the course. “Glory Glory” is produced by Conductor Williams, whose angular, sample-driven beats feature frequently on the Griselda catalog; Phonte decries rappers who “say they love you” but who “pull out at the last second,” a possible reference to Drake’s flakiness with a promised but unrealized collaboration that Phonte has expressed irritation with before.
“We wanted to bless our fans with new music to show them we’re not leaning on nostalgia,” Phonte said in a press statement. “After 20 years in the game, we’re still hungry and actively working to improve our craft.”
“We hear and see the requests for new music,” Big Pooh wrote. “We felt it was time. Time to show our minds are still sharp and we’re only getting sharper.”
