In honor of the reconciliation between former Little Brother groupmates Phonte and 9th Wonder, I have decided to share a little homage of sorts to the prolific sonic brilliance that is 9th Wonder, the man who is almost single-handedly keeping boom bap Hiphop music alive and kicking. I said almost.
The two of them recently revealed they'd been working together on Phonte's upcoming solo album, with 9th producing most of the album.
It's been well documented that 9th and Phonte met in college before forming with Rapper Big Pooh the seminal rap trio Little Brother and ultimately creating and releasing The Listening, which was instantly and still remains a throwback for the ages -- a true school Hiphop album complete with highly skilled lyrics and rhymes from two rappers possessing Run DMC-like chemistry paced by the expert-sounding-but-still-rough-around-the-edges (think RZA on 36 Chambers) beat-making wizardry of 9th Wonder that combined elements of Pete Rock and J Dilla while still managing to stand out and distinguish himself as an exceptional, traditional Hiphop producer in his own right.
Since 9th's break from Little Brother six years ago, he has been on a mission to make music on his own terms while never again allowing himself to be pressured by major label executives -- which he says he experienced at the hands of Atlantic Records (which apparently still forces signees to compromise artistic integrity) surrounding the creation and consequent release of the group's second album (ironically titled The Minstrel Show), their first under a contract with a major label.
That mission, in addition to working with a diverse list of artists -- from Drake to David Banner to Murs to Lil B to Idris Elba to Buckshot -- has included the creation of It's a Wonderful World Music Group, which houses his record label Jamla, home to the following well rounded roster of artists:
Hopefully the album features more of Phonte the emcee and less of Phonte the crooner, but as long as 9th's beats make up the majority of the backdrop, the results should be nothing short of monumental.
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