This is dope.
i didnt even know that was Phonte singing until Minstrel Show. i was pretty young when those dropped so i just didnt notice the similarities in the voice...kinda like on Dead Prez albums i didnt realize that was Stic.Man singing til much later.
This was right when I moved from the area so I don't know if this rumor is 100% true but I always heard that Phonte and Pooh were set that if the Lil Wayne guest feature fell through that they were going to cut that 9th Wonder beat off the Getback album...but the Wayne feature came through so they left it on there as the only 9th beat on that album.
All of that may sound weird but you're right. Rapping definitely isn't where is heart is most of the time.