I agree...I'm really scared for L.B. man seriously. there sound my be new to mainstream audiences who haven't heard much from them...but for people who have been following them since "The Listening" dropped, "The Minstrel Show might be some what of a dissapointment music wise....Maybe. I've read a couple of articles from web masters that review album's featuring 9th's production, and some of them are saying that his style is solid production and his samples are beautiful, but his drums patterns are predictable and his style hasen't changed much at all. Here is an example of what I mean...
http://www.allhiphop.com/reviews/?ID=615
And yea I know that 9th Wonder bases his style from old school influneces, but to I always thought that an artists takes what he learns from thoughs who came before him and expands on it...an artist should take what he has been taught and form his own identity and style...constantly evolving. I'm not saying 9th ain't got his own style but it's the same stuff he did with "The Listening".
I'm still going to cop The Minstrel Show the first day... Regardless of how unadventurous 9th is with his beats, the fact still remains that he is better than most, and listening to LB's music gives u that old school care free feel. but I still hope that the album isn't just good...I pray that LB have gone above and beyond the standard and it will be exceptional. I hope they took a few chances and have done something classic in there own right.