9th Wonder Interview
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Category: Hip Hop
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URL: https://talk.hairboutique.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=54024
Printed Date: February 05 2025 at 12:07am
Topic: 9th Wonder Interview
Posted By: Willie SKRILLA
Subject: 9th Wonder Interview
Date Posted: June 24 2007 at 3:58am
AllHipHop.com: What was the first song or artist that inspired you to produce?
9th Wonder: “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” by Pete Rock & CL
Smooth. I saw the video first before I heard the song, and it’s just
the whole atmosphere of the video. Then the classic horn break in the
beginning. And Pete Rock’s whole vibe in the video. It made me think,
“I’d like to produce for those dudes.” I thought I was going to go to
law school since I was a history major, live a normal American life,
but it just didn’t turn out that way. Now, here I am.
AllHipHop.com: It’s obvious that you’re
an '80s cat. So, hypothetically speaking, if you could make the
soundtrack to any '80s cartoon being made into a major motion picture,
what would it be?
9th Wonder: Because Transformers is out now, I can’t say that. But then
I heard Pharrell is making the soundtrack to Voltron, so that cancels
that out. G.I. Joe, there we go. If they make that into a major motion
picture, please call me up. Those were my top three favorite '80s
cartoons.
AllHipHop.com: The South has really
risen since you first stepped on the scene with God’s Stepson. Are you
proud of the recognition that the South has been getting lately?
9th Wonder: I’m happy that Black people are making money, legally. I’m
happy for that. Any Black man getting money, and as crooked as this
industry is, and they ain’t out hurting nobody, I’m all for that; but
the quality and the sound of it, I ain’t with none of that. I mean, I’m
from the South, but I don’t get into that whole territory thing. I like
good music, no matter where it comes from. I will champion good music
before I champion a region any day.
And I try to look at it like this music isn’t made for me and my
generation, it’s for these high school kids. But then I get concerned
when 35 year-olds listen to the same stuff. And I’m analytical, so I
start to look at that man’s life. My dad didn’t come sit down and
listen to N.W.A. with me. He made me sit down and listen to his music,
which helped my music and enriched my soul. That’s what’s missing today.
Now everything has slowed down, drastically, and everything is two and
three syllables. [Lil' Boosie's] “Wipe Me Down,” [Hurricane Chris']
“Aye Baby,” [MIMS'] “This Is Why I’m Hot”... everything is just so
simple. I ain’t got no problem with it, it just ain’t me.
And I’ve come to realize, as I grow older, that there’s more followers
than leaders in this world. And I also feel like…you know how you feel
like you’re alone? You’re in a party and all your peers are going
crazy, and you’re standing around like “I don’t get it.” And you know
they don’t really deep down like it, but that they just want to jump on
the bandwagon? I want to be one of those people that stands up and
says, “I don’t like it.” I also don’t think it’s carrying the tradition
of Black music and teaching the kids. And not everyone is meant to
teach, but just don’t ask me to play it in a party. I just can’t do it.
AllHipHop.com: People know you’re laid
back, but they don’t know you’re really a family man, which I think is
dope. How do you balance family life in an industry that seems to
thrive on deteriorating households?
9th Wonder: I don’t get into the Hollywood stuff. For instance, me
doing this interview…most times you have to go through five people to
get to the person. I think that’s ridiculous. People do that to seem
elite. I’m no into that. I’m from the South and that’s one thing I can
say about the South, we grow up, go to college, get married, support
our families, and we die. I still live that lifestyle; I just make
beats for a living. But with my family, I leave 9th Wonder at the door.
It’s funny. People seem surprised that you aren’t an a**hole. Like,
people always say I’m so cool when they meet me, and I’m thinking, “How
am I supposed to be?” But my family comes first, and I just can’t see
myself being Hollywood. I’d rather be like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
than like Kanye [West], no offense to Kanye or anything. And I feel
like if I can do that, I can still go into Wal-Mart and Best Buy, and
have one or two people come up to me and say they like my music,
instead of having people screaming anytime they see me. I don’t want
that.
AllHipHop.com: The game right now is
really bleak. It seems that everyone is struggling to stay afloat, and
attaching themselves to anything that sounds hot to do so. If you could
pick one artists who really needs your help right now, who would it be?
9th Wonder: Man, I don’t know. Umm, I’d have to say Lauryn Hill. We
need Lauryn. Women need Lauryn. Umm, Heavy D. And yes, I said Heavy D.
I really want old LL Cool J back.
AllHipHop.com: Yeah, he’s with G-Unit now.
9th Wonder: Yeah, he needs some guidance.
AllHipHop.com: [Laughs] You’ve been in
the game for a minute, and have accomplished things that other
producers strive for. Still, you seem to fly below the radar, while
someone like Nitty makes one hot track and people are all over it. Do
you ever feel pressure to adapt or conform to stay afloat?
9th Wonder: No, I don’t feel pressure because for some people, music is
all that they have. For some people, its like “If I don’t do music,
what the hell am I going to do?” Or like this imaginary building that
people say they’re in; they will do whatever it takes to be in the
building. Like “I’m in the building!” What is that? Me, I deejay. I
spin, so I will always have a job. I teach college, that’s another
avenue, so I will always have a job.
I started below the radar in this “underground” era, and use that term
loosely. I did music just because, and I just started to get paid for
it and that led to other things. So I think that there’s a difference
between staying current and doing what’s hot. Like if you have dial up
and you get a modem, that’s staying current. But having a [Dodge]
Roadrunner and then going out and getting chromed out spinners, that’s
doing what’s hot. Pharrell told me a while ago to always think six
months ahead of the game, so when people are doing whatever they’re
doing, you’re always working on something new, on a different level. I
just try to do that.
AllHipHop.com: I feel like that’s a big
issue right now-people trying to do what they think is hot. Like have
you heard R. Kelly’s album?
9th Wonder: I think the R. Kelly album is an abomination of Black
people. The zoo song- if that’s not the most ridiculous s**t. It really
hurts me that Black people are going around playing that mess. Like
one, you know the n***a is going around peeing on little girls, and
past that, he is talking about monkeys and trees. If you support that
you don’t even deserve to be Black no more. He wants to jump on records
with all these young cats, damn T-Pain. He is supposed to lead not
follow, and I think that only happens with Black music. That doesn’t
happen with White music. Bon Jovi and U2 are going to play their jams
that everybody knows, and everyone is going to go home and be happy.
I just think it’s a problem when you’re 36 years-old and sitting on the
106 & Park couch. I mean, I know that is the only medium sometimes,
but look at the audience. Those kids are 14 and 15, screaming “I love
you.” Something is wrong with that. I’d just rather appeal to my peers.
If a 17 year-old likes me, it’s because they like my music. I’m not
going to pander my music to suit them. Big ups to Omarion, he’s trying
to do it. He’s trying to bring real music back for the younger
generation. It’s hard getting a 33 year-old dude to buy Omarion’s
album. But the album is hot.
AllHipHop.com: I wanted to talk to you
about your new teaching career. You started teaching a Hip-Hop course
at North Carolina Central, how is that going? What have the students
been teaching you?
9th Wonder: The class is “Hip-Hop in Context” and it covers Hip-Hop
from 1973 to 1997. We do that because we know the age bracket we’re
dealing with doesn’t really know anything about those years. They may
know up to '84 because of their parents. I bring turntables to class
everyday so I can play the song that I’m talking about. Last year we
had Dana Dane, Doug E. Fresh, Monie Love, DMC, Buckshot, Kurtis Blow
and a few other people come by the class to talk or come to a panel.
It’s cool. We are trying to bridge the gap and get to the youth before
some White school gets their hands on it, and begins to take it away
from us.
What I’ve learned from students is that they don’t view Hip-Hop the way
we used to. [KRS-One's] “Black Cop” was a party song with a message.
[Public Enemy's] “911 is A Joke” was a party song with a message.
[Boogie Down Productions'] “Jimmy” was a party song but also taught you
about safe sex. But now, if it’s a message, I got to be still and burn
incense to listen to it. They think they can’t party to Common. They
figure, “I need something I can party to, so I’m going to listen to
something ignorant.”
And I also learned that its mainstream effects are different. I had to
wait a week for Yo! MTV Raps to come on. Like, we starved for it. But
now, Hip-Hop is everywhere, on the McDonald’s commercials, on the cell
phones, everywhere.
AllHipHop.com: It's been said that you are no longer associated with the group Little Brother, is that true?
9th Wonder: Yes, it’s true, but that’s all I’m going to say about that.
AllHipHop.com: Okay. But you are still a part of the Justus League, right? Do you guys have anything on the platform right now?
9th Wonder: Yeah, we’re always working on something, whether it’s on
the surface or not. The Little Brother album, Get Back, is coming out
soon. I don’t know when.
Within the next year, I have five albums coming out. The Dream Merchant
2, it’s going to be a lot of cursing, umm, a lot of rap joints more so
than R&B joints. But I'm doing another album called The Wonder
Years that will probably be half and half. And that’s going to be an
album where there’s no cursing. I do that because I’m 32 and I know
there’s a lot of parents that have kids my kids’ age, and the recurring
statement I get is, “Man I love to listen to your music, but I can't
listen to it around my kids.” So that’s what I'm aiming for. It ain't
gonna be a Christian album, but Tribe Called Quest’s first two albums
didn’t have a lot of cursing on it, so I figure it can be done. Then
Buckshot and I just finished The Formula and then Jean Grae’s Jeanius
is coming out, that we did like three years ago. And then I’m doing an
album with Murs entitled Sweet Lord, which has no cursing either. Then
outside of that, I have an Erykah Badu single coming out, and people
will hear that soon. And I hope that song really pushes me into the
category I want to be in R&B, but with a bottom to it. Umm, I did a
joint for Small World, an artist on DTP; Teedra Moses.
AllHipHop.com: In a previous interview
with AllHipHop, you talked about how the mixtape game was getting old.
How do you feel when talented cats like Kanye are jumping on the
mixtape bandwagon?
9th Wonder: I think it goes back to trying to stay current. There’s
power in mixtapes. I have a friend that owns a mixtape store, but he
also sells vinyl. So I’m in there recording on wax sometimes, and it
was just so many people who came in and said, “Do you have that
T-Pain?" You think they want the album, but they want a mix cd of just
random T-Pain songs. It’s crazy. It used to be the DJ Clue mixtape and
The Doo Wop, those are the ones I remember, but now its like you can
barely hear the song because there is so much yelling. So it’s just
staying current.
Everyone’s so big on hood love, and the only thing that circulates in
the hood is mixtapes. Whatever is recognized in the hood somehow
trickles down to White people, which they often times hate to admit.
Black people created everything, and people want our swag. So with that
hood recognition, you’re hot. Although I must admit, I love Lil' Wayne.
AllHipHop.com: I like Lil' Wayne too, but he’s getting reckless with these mix tapes.
9th Wonder: I know, but he’s clever. He has incredible flow. His voice
is dope, and he makes you laugh. So until Jay comes back, he’s the best
rapper alive. I’m on his side. I’m not a fan of the “Fireman” and “Go
DJ” [from DJ Khaled's album]; I’m just a fan of his style.
AllHipHop.com: So what’s up with a Lil' Wayne album?
9th Wonder: It’s funny you say that. I've been sending him beats and
I’m like “Just do a whole mixtape with these beats. I don’t want no
money. Just put it out how you put it out, n***a. Just give me
production credit.” So that would be hot if he did that.
AllHipHop.com: Before I go, what’s up with Amy Winehouse? People say she thinks she’s Lauryn Hill. Do you like her?
9th Wonder: I love her. I love her album. Black people kill me. When a
n***a does it, they don’t pay it no attention, but let a White person
do it, everyone has a problem. Like, Robin Thicke had one of the best
R&B albums out last year and people are hatin’ because he’s White.
People think that I’m going to suffer because they ain’t making no good
music, not gonna happen. I will bump the White people. So big ups to
Amy Winehouse. [Laughs]
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You can't win with women. You just have to maintain."
- Wave Connection
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Replies:
Posted By: carrie
Date Posted: June 26 2007 at 5:35pm
WOW. This was great. Thank you soooooooooo much.
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Curly Carrie
Check Out CurlTalk at HairBoutique.com
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Posted By: 25cent
Date Posted: July 11 2007 at 5:38pm
good information willie
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Captain Of Blackspinnas
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