Photo: Jake Rohn for Rock The Bells
Little Brother may have retired from the tour life, but that doesn't mean the influential rap duo is leaving the rap game for good.
Phonte and Big Pooh closed out LB's "Curtain Call: The Final Tour" by blessing an intimate crowd of loyal fans with an energetic set on the last night of the Rock The Bells Cruise. With DJ Black Gold on the ones and twos, Little Brother kicked off the show with their 2005 hit "War," followed by "Let It Go" from their DJ Drama-assisted Separate But Equal mixtape. The North Carolina natives have performed on stages all around the world, but their performance aboard the Norwegian Jewel was truly unforgettable.
Photo: Jake Rohn for Rock The Bells
"You got to write the ending that you want," Phonte tells iHeartRadio. "And I can't think of any better ending to a 20+ year career than selling off into the sunset."
Little Brother's final setlist was a mix of fan favorites from their most popular mixtapes like The Chittlin' Circuit to revered albums like The Listening and their most recent LP, May The Lord Watch. They invited their longtime collaborator Darien Brockington to the stage and busted out their spirit fingers for "Slow It Down" off The Minstrel Show. All three of them even got low during their rendition of "The Way You Do It."
Phone and Big Pooh had a blast on stage that night, but their performance on the boat was just a culmination of their iconic farewell tour. The duo traveled to 12 major cities in the U.S., and they created timeless memories with their fans each time they hit the stage.
"One of my favorite moments was in L.A," Phonte explains. "We played a show at the Fonda Theater. There was a guy there who brought his son and his son was eight years old. This little kid is in the front of the crowd. He couldn't barely even see over the barricades. He had a mask on. I mean, this is a kid, and he was there just going. Seeing that.. it was just like, 'yeah man, our legacy is complete.
"And he held this sign up, the whole time. The whole 90 minutes," Pooh adds.
In addition to delivering their final show, Little Brother had other opportunities to connect with their fans on the boat. The duo also hosted a screening of their recent documentary, May The Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story. The documentary, produced by the duo and Rap Portraits, details the group's rise alongside 9th Wonder, their split, and their reunion. They also had some fun with fans by hosting a paint-and-sip event, which they would definitely do again in the future. Even though their time on the cruise was part of the final tour stop of their career, Big Pooh emphasizes that he and Phonte aren't fading away from the rap game any time soon.
"I have to keep reiterating," Pooh says. "Little Brother isn't over. Little Brother just isn't going to look like how people expect Little Brother to look. It's not going to be album, tour, album, tour. It's not that anymore. So it's going to look like something totally different. When you see 'Te, when you see me, you're going to see Little Brother in whatever shape and form that takes. That spirit lives on."
Believe it or not, this was Phonte's first-ever experience on a cruise ship, and it won't be his last. See what else Little Brother had to say about their experience on the Rock The Bells Cruise, their final tour and the group's future below.