While I’m going to try my best to be objective, I need to be up front about this: I wear my Little Brother hoodie just about every day. I’m definitely a fan. Unfortunately, this album is going to be the last Little Brother album, at least for the foreseeable future. After hinting at this possibility after Get Back came out, Phonte and Big Pooh have decided to pursue other projects for the time being.

But before we get caught up in what comes next, let’s take a look at what’s happening right now. Leftback finds Phonte and Pooh doing what they do best - examining life as struggling artists. They explore issues like romantic relations, money struggles, racial identity, the record industry, raising a family, and everything in between.

One of the greatest things about Phonte and Pooh as emcees is how concerned they are with exploring the subtleties of life, dropping sharp rhymes that cut through mundane subject matter, really putting hip hop clichés under the microscope, all while entertaining with a sense of humor that is biting with sarcasm and irony. You don’t have to get much further than the second song on the album, “Table for Two,” a track that begins with a cutting line about having to pay for a fancy meal by spreading it out on multiple credit cards, but then enters into a smart, complicated song about the struggles of building a meaningful relationship.

Another great example is “After the Party,” a song that opens with a voice-over making fun of Phonte as he tries to pick up a woman. This leads way into a song that really puts the shallow partying lifestyle on notice, with the sad chorus of “Where do all the lonely people go when the party’s over?” being sung by Carlitta Durand.

Unfortunately, we don’t get a return appearance by 9th Wonder on the last go around, but production work by Khrysis, Zo!, King Karnov, Young R.J., S1 and Caleb, and J.Bizness are all up to the task of laying down some laidback soulful southern beats.

I don’t know if there’s an overarching theme or enough stand out absolutely killer tracks to rank this album as high as The Minstrel Show or Get Back, but any disappointment in this album emanates from how high they’ve set the bar for themselves. You shouldn’t think for one second that this album is weak. If this really is the last LB album, it’s a great way to go out.