9th Wonder w/Harry Weinger of Universal Music & Mark Anthony Neal
Q & A with 9th Wonder
by Sherron Shabazz
Recently I was lucky enough to meet Grammy award winning producer 9th Wonder at Rock the Bells in New York City. That meeting led to an interview that I've long coveted.
I've followed 9th Wonder since the release of Little Brother's 2003 debut album The Listening. Since then 9th has left the group Little Brother and gone on to produce tracks for Jay-Z, Ludacris, Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, EPMD, and De La Soul among others.
9th Wonder follows in the footsteps of early 90's producers RZA and Pete Rock who injected soul music into Hip-Hop beats. Hip-Hop producers who still sample like Kanye West and 9th Wonder are head and shoulders above the bevy of synthed-out producers who pretty much all sound the same.
My chat with 9th didn't feel like an interview. It felt more like a chat between friends who both love the game of Hip-Hop. 9th's passion for the art-form comes through in this interview and I'm sure that everyone who reads it will feel it.
SS: How was it performing with Murs at Rock the Bells?
9th Wonder: Incredible stuff man. Murs and I have been friends since 2003. We're talking about becoming an official group now. It was fun. All of our influences were there. One of the biggest influences if not the biggest is A Tribe Called Quest and they were performing. Our next album is going to be like an ode to Midnight Marauders--we're excited about that. Rock the Bells was crazy. Everybody was there, Snoop, DJ Premier, Lady of Rage, Dave from De La Soul, Nas, Lauryn Hill, everybody was out there. It was a Hip-Hoppers heaven.
SS: My favorite song that you and Murs did was Yesterday and Today. That song got me through some hard times man and I never get tired of hearing it. Go back and talk about how you and Murs made that song.
9th Wonder: Yesterday and Today is a sample by William Bell. He's an old Stax musician that did the song I Forgot to be Your Lover which was re-made by Jahiem. I sampled that from him. That soul from the 60's and 70's gets people through. That's why I sample the works that I sample because it has that feeling in it man--its life music. I made the beat and let Murs hear it and he knew exactly what to write about. If you ever listen to Murs and 9th Wonder you know that we make music that drives people's emotions. We deal with real life situations, not your average, "We're over here partying," music. Nobody can party 24/7. You gotta be doing something else. That's where that inspiration came from. We got in and knocked it out during Murray's Revenge.
Read the Full Interview @ National Examiner
by Sherron Shabazz
Recently I was lucky enough to meet Grammy award winning producer 9th Wonder at Rock the Bells in New York City. That meeting led to an interview that I've long coveted.
I've followed 9th Wonder since the release of Little Brother's 2003 debut album The Listening. Since then 9th has left the group Little Brother and gone on to produce tracks for Jay-Z, Ludacris, Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, EPMD, and De La Soul among others.
9th Wonder follows in the footsteps of early 90's producers RZA and Pete Rock who injected soul music into Hip-Hop beats. Hip-Hop producers who still sample like Kanye West and 9th Wonder are head and shoulders above the bevy of synthed-out producers who pretty much all sound the same.
My chat with 9th didn't feel like an interview. It felt more like a chat between friends who both love the game of Hip-Hop. 9th's passion for the art-form comes through in this interview and I'm sure that everyone who reads it will feel it.
SS: How was it performing with Murs at Rock the Bells?
9th Wonder: Incredible stuff man. Murs and I have been friends since 2003. We're talking about becoming an official group now. It was fun. All of our influences were there. One of the biggest influences if not the biggest is A Tribe Called Quest and they were performing. Our next album is going to be like an ode to Midnight Marauders--we're excited about that. Rock the Bells was crazy. Everybody was there, Snoop, DJ Premier, Lady of Rage, Dave from De La Soul, Nas, Lauryn Hill, everybody was out there. It was a Hip-Hoppers heaven.
SS: My favorite song that you and Murs did was Yesterday and Today. That song got me through some hard times man and I never get tired of hearing it. Go back and talk about how you and Murs made that song.
9th Wonder: Yesterday and Today is a sample by William Bell. He's an old Stax musician that did the song I Forgot to be Your Lover which was re-made by Jahiem. I sampled that from him. That soul from the 60's and 70's gets people through. That's why I sample the works that I sample because it has that feeling in it man--its life music. I made the beat and let Murs hear it and he knew exactly what to write about. If you ever listen to Murs and 9th Wonder you know that we make music that drives people's emotions. We deal with real life situations, not your average, "We're over here partying," music. Nobody can party 24/7. You gotta be doing something else. That's where that inspiration came from. We got in and knocked it out during Murray's Revenge.
Read the Full Interview @ National Examiner
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