A History Of Attempted Hip-Hop Reunions

Is it for real? Dipset has teased us with reunion talk (and then denied it) before, but last night, MissInfo revealed an exclusive convo with Cam'ron and Jim Jones claiming that yes, the movement is moving once again. Jimmy apologized, Cam played it cool, and yeah, they're "just talking" again, but but let's be honest—they all need this shit to happen bad. Since the crew went their separate ways around 2006 (and then spent the next few years bickering about each other in the press), it's been a constant career struggle for all of the Dips, and the solution seems obvious. A good old fashioned reunion is one of the new things that can still get fickle rap fans open (as in their wallets), from live shows to reunion albums. Over the years, many groups have attempted to make amends, usually after their options have run out and egos slow down. But reuniting is never as easy as it seems—with so much baggage to deal with, a lot of groups never even make it to the studio. In honor of the journey the Dips are embarking on, we present the complete history of attempted hip-hop reunions...

Why They Broke Up: The pioneering trio dealt with various dramas at Sugarhill Records until Kool Moe Dee decided to focus on his promising solo career in the mid-

Why They Broke Up: With all three members pursuing solo careers, Willie D officially left after

Why They Broke Up: After a burglar who broke into PMD's house claimed that Eric Sermon paid him to do it, things were never the same between the Brothers from Brentwood. P had always controlled the group's business, so when their Hit Squad proteges like Das Efx started making paper, allegations of him hogging the profits started flying. Ironically, their final album would be Business Never Personal.

Why They Got Back Together: With neither finding any significant solo success, E and P reunited for a new Def Jam album called Back In Business that wasn't half bad. Their next album Out of Business was definitely half bad, if not moreso. Despite the name of their final album, the duo continued to record together occasionally, culminating in their first post-Def Jam indie album We Mean Business in 2008.

Why They Broke Up: Grand Puba left the crew (with DJ Alamo) shortly after the release of their classic debut One For All to chase solo success. Before he put the group together with Sadat X and Lord Jamar, Puba was originally a member of another group called Masters of Ceremony, so it's likely that his ego only ever viewed his involvement in Brand Nubian as a temporary measure. The group went on to release 2 Puba-less albuyms.

Why They Got Back Together: After the solo money slowed down and the crew tested a few reunions on wax in 1996, they initiated a full reunion, first on a couple soundtrack cuts and then on the surprisingly dope album Foundation in 1998, which featured beats from DJ Premier, Buckwild, Diamond D and Lord Finesse. They've sporadically released collaborative material together since, including the 2004 album Fire In The Hole.

Why They Broke Up: Pete Nice and MC Serch were originally solo artists who were put together by Russell Simmons after the departure of the Beastie Boys from Def Jam, so they were never really that tight. After the group's success, they both eagerly went back to solo work. Things had obviously soured between the two by the time Pete beat a Serch-look-alike to death with a baseball bat in his 1993 video "Rat Bastard."

Why They Got Back Together: The duo reunited for a performance at Tommy Hilfiger's son's birthday party, which led to an appearance at Woodstock

Why They Broke Up: CNN might be the only group who broke up before their debut album dropped, when Capone went to prison, forcing N.O.R.E. to finish the album on his own and embark on a successful solo career. Okay, so they never exactly "broke up," but

Why They Broke Up: Ice Cube first left the group in 1989 after realizing Eazy and Jerry Heller weren't paying him his fair share, and the crew's undeniably dope next album Niggaz4life featured some vicious Cube disses. After Dre got hip to the same financial shenanigans, he bounced to Death Row, where he famously dissed Eazy and Jerry Heller on "Dre Day." Or, as Cube put it, "You let a jew break up my crew."

Why They Got Back Together: Sadly, the Compton crew never attempted a reunion before the death of founder Eazy-E in 1995. The remaining MCs, eager to bask in the glow of Dre's late

Why They Broke Up: After their second album Non-Fiction flopped and their label Mercury folded, Mista Lawnge and Dres went their separate ways. Dres has claimed he and Lawnge had "internal stuff," which we're assuming means they hated each other. Or slept with too many of the same women. Probably both.


Why They Got Back Together: After Dres's solo career went nowhere, the duo tested the reunion waters at the start of the millenium with a rare EP called Redlight, Greenlight and the title track from the soundtrack to Laurence Fishburne's directorial debut Once In The Life. In 2005, they went on tour and tried recording the internet-only album 8WM/Novakane. The album was actually dope when it dropped the next year, but by that time Lawnge (now going by Mr. Long) and Dres were beefing again. Dres claims that Long's beats were not up to par, and that he refused to accept help from other producers that he suggested. Long started doing his own album behind Dres' back, and the duo is once again on a permanent hiatus, just like the public's interest in their music.

Why They Broke Up: The pioneering group went on what seemed like a permanent hiatus in the mid-

Why They Broke Up: The innovative group had briefly broken up before, but they took what seemed like a permanent hiatus in

Why They Broke Up: The secret romantic relationship between Wyclef and Lauryn was definitely at the root of the group's breakup—after the massive success of The Score and

Why They Broke Up: The critically-acclaimed duo swung for the fences with their third album The Equinox, led by the decidedly lighter lead single "Somehow, Someway." The disappointment over the luke-warm reception to their new direction started the finger-pointing, which prompted Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po to part ways and focus on their solo material.

Why They Got Back Together: After Monch's initial burst of "Simon Says" success, both MCs have released sporadic solo material with minimal impact. Still, their cult following has prompted several reunions, starting with a

Why They Broke Up: Even before The Love Movement dropped, Tribe announced that it would be their final album together. Phife has since said, "I started feelin

Why They Broke Up: Kurupt shocked everyone, including his DPG partner Daz, who was one of the last artists to leave the label in 1997 amidst a flurry of disses, when he went back to Suge Knight and re-signed with Death Row as a vice president in

Why They Broke Up: After the release of their 1999 album Nineteen Naughty Nine: Nature's Fury, Jersey's hitmakers broke up after a financial dispute arose between Treach and original producer Kay Gee. Treach and Vinnie put an album out under the Naughty name in 2002, but the sonic chemistry was gone, and the album flopped.

Why They Got Back Together: After finding success as a producer for Jaheim and Next, things slowed down for Kay Gee, who came back to the flock in 2006, when he made the reunion official by appearing at a Naughty concert in NYC. The trio made their presence felt as honorees at the 2008 VH1 Hip-Hop Honors, and they are currently working on their new album Anthem Inc.

Why They Broke Up: Unhappy with the direction of their World Party album, which featured TLC on the attempted crossover single "What It Ain't," Cee-Lo left the group to record a solo project, which prompted the scathing title of the remaining crew's 2004 album One Monkey Don't Stop No Show. Get it?

Why They Got Back Together: After Cee-Lo found success with Gnarls Barkley and everyone else realized their solo prospects were not gonna happen (Did that Gipp & Ali album really happen?), the original foursome made amends and started making surprise appearances, officially announcing the reunion on Atlanta radio in 2007. Since then they've embarked on a full-fledged reunion tour and rumors about a new album in he works keep popping up.

Why They Broke Up: The duo officially broke up after years of no one caring when Salt left the group to pursue her Christin Rap career and record an album that never came out called Salt of the Earth.

Why They Got Back Together: After the whole Christian rap thing blew over and Pepa got back in the public eye on The Surreal Life, the duo tested the waters with an appearance on VH1's Hip Hop Honors before deciding to chronicle their road to reunion on The Salt N Pepa Show. Since then they've started doing various concert dates (including the Fresh Fest 2010 tour) and recording their reunion album, now expected some time in 2011.

Why They Broke Up: After 2001's Iron Flag album, the guys started realizing that RZA (along with business partners Power and Divine) was making all the real money off of the group's albums, and that they would all be better off focusing on their own projects. When ODB died in

Why They Broke Up: Well documented financial beefs prompted both B.G. and Juvenile to leave Cash Money Records early in the

Why They Broke Up: Things started to fracture when the group realized that their producer J-Swift was making as much money off their music than all four members combined. After bringing Jay Dee on board for their follow-up Labcabincalifornia, Fatlip's drug problems started to get in the way of things and the group lost their key member. Slim Kid also left shortly after to pursue solo stardom, the remaining group members would use the Pharcyde name over the years for a series of increasingly mediocre projects.

Why They Got Back Together: A decade later, none of the members had any significant career prospects, so after Fatlip cleaned up his act, the much-needed reunion was on. They've since headlined a series of tours, including the 2008 Rock The Bells tour and the All Points West Festival in 2009. No new music with all four members has been released since 1995.

Why They Broke Up: Flesh-N-Bone got locked up in 2000 on a gun charge, and by the time the group's next album Thug World Order dropped, Bizzy Bone's drunken antics and frequent missed appearances got him kicked out of the group for a second and seemingly final time. The Cleveland crew continued on as a trio, but things were never quite the same without Bizzy's "unique" touch.

Why They Got Back Together: After Flesh was released from prison in

Why They Broke Up: Although they've done an excellent job of convincing everyone that they're definitely not broken up, it's no secret that Andre and Big Boi haven't really messed with each other for almost a decade, and Andre seems to have completely lost interest in making music. They claim to just want to pursue other interests, but just admit it guys. You can't have your cake and eat it too guys!

Why They Got Back Together: Since their dual solo albums Speakerboxxx/The Love Below blew up in