Look at that album cover; I dare you not to laugh. The humour and comedic routines of Phonte are only one of his many talents. If you’ve seen Little Brother live, you know he is a jack of all trades. Zo, you might be familiar with from his work with Little Brother (”When Everything is New”) or Median (”Simile”) or Slum Village (”Closer”), but nevertheless can lend a unique helping hand to one of hip hop’s hottest right now. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Phonte is easily one of the best emcees out right now, but dude can also sing. Remember “Cheatin” on The Minstrel Show? That was him. Remember “One 4 Jay” from the Dillagence mixtape? That was him. Don’t believe me? Then I challenge you to check out this refreshingly funny and really not surprisingly great sounding 8 track album from Phonte and Zo!

The album is comprised of 8 tracks that have been covered in a twist that only these two could provide. This album has actually been in the works for a while now, so it is good to see it finally drop and not disappoint. To get the full experience of this album, I listened to it a few times, and then the next few went back and listened to the original tracks just to match them up. I wasn’t attempting to compare, it was more to see how true and accurate the cover was. *Looks back at album cover* seriously, I couldn’t wait to listen to this album, not even Nas’ album had me this excited.

The album’s opener is the classic “Africa” originally done by Toto, but the beauty of this track is how true Phonte and Zo stay to the original, but how they make it their own. It’s still nostalgic by nature, but it is (and I will use this word a lot) refreshing to hear such a unique (and this one too) remake. Another great thing, it doesn’t sound cheesy or outdated (it’s just nuts…ha.) The next joint was the first one heard and really got a lot of people excited for the album, A-Ha’s classic ‘Take On Me.’ It is sooooo soulful, and ridiculously beautiful. The original is of course irreplaceable (most of these are irreplaceable) but once again, these two make it their own while staying true to the original. Carlitta Durand makes an appearance too.

“Something About You” by Level 42 is covered here and once again is done to perfection. The last track of the album has Nicolay putting his own spin on the Level 42 cover and to cut this review short, it really is an 8 for 8.

It’s really hard to give this a score, so for this occasion, I’m not going to score it. But I will say that this album is worth all the $13-$15 that it is. Buy it, enjoy it, play it during a dinner party. It really is great for any occasion and for any music fan. Like many Little Brother songs, this album too can do just about anything to throw you back to the good ol’ days of music making, but similar to how Phonte and Big Pooh (and 9th Wonder) make music that is reminiscent of their bigger brother, they make it their own and manage to stand on their own in a league of their own.

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