9 Minutes with 9th Wonder

I got a chance to sit down with “real hip-hop” producer 9th Wonder before a seminar on “Commercial Radio” where the professor of “Hip-Hop in Context: 1973-1997” was on the panel.

So what really brings you out here tonight to A&T?
“I teach a class at North Carolina Central, a hip-hop class. I’ve been talking to Dr. Turman (professor of hip-hip at NC A&T) for quite sometime now about just trying to get hip hop in a university setting so when he told me about this seminar a long time ago, like maybe back in September, and so that’s why I came out here plus I’m from Winston-Salem so it’s like my backyard.”

How does it for you to see classes like this and hip hop studies popping up at A&T and HBCU’s all around…?
“It’s crazy you know man, because you know I think I can attest for me, myself, Turman and Kyle Santillian (102 Jamz personality), this is something we only heard on the radio, you know what I’m saying or we might have bought at the store but to see it in a syllabi or to see books behind or to even see lyrics printed out on paper is like backwards for us, you know what I’m saying but for yall, for some of yall, the first time you see lyrics on the table may be the first time you’ve heard or seen the song but for us we heard the song first so to see it on paper it’s kinda funny”

Who were your inspirations coming up?
“Pete Rock and Premiere and Diamond D and Evil D and the RZA, and you know umm Marley Marl and Jazzy Jeff, just everybody…Dre, Dr. Dre of course, all of the vast, we had a wide range of dope musicians back…back in the day, it seems back in the day but like 15 years ago, which don’t seem like that long ago to me (laughing). We had a lot of dope musicians back in the day man.

What does it feel like now to have people say you are one of their inspirations, all the people who are MySpace producers out here that’s saying 9th Wonder is one of my inspirations?
“It feels funny man. I get a MySpace message everyday saying you my inspiration, because of you I use Fruity Loops. It means a lot, you know what I’m saying, if I can just do Fruity Loops or whatever, beats or whatever and that stop that kid from going out on the street doing something stupid, I mean that’s all that’s cool for me. If I can influences in a positive way, I mean his parents might get mad at him making all that racket you know what I’m saying but you’d rather your kid do that, try to learn something constructive and creative instead of going out and doing something stupid.”

How would you define your sound?
“I make black music man. I’m tired of cats saying underground or whatever, I don’t even know what that means no more jack! You see what I’m saying, I don’t know what that means, what underground means no more. All I know is I make music for black people, if you can get with it you can, if you can’t you can’t but my (music), I make music for Black People man! (laughing) Like we need to stop trying to divide it, its music for black people and it’s music that black people shouldn’t listen to I feel like…

Who shouldn’t we listen to?
(laughing in the background) "I ain’t even gone call no names. You know what I’m saying, anything that’s…I believe music carries spirits man. Certain music carries spirits, some music makes you happy, some music makes you want to act stupid and I don’t think that music is for black people. That makes us look stupid.

How was the adjustment to teaching?
“I was in school to teach. When I was doing undergrad at Central, history education was my major so making the transition wasn’t too hard, instead of talking about world history I’m talking about hip hop history in a chronological order but the thing about it is, I witnessed all of it. I mean I witnessed it from down here but I witnessed it…and I still learn a lot of stuff. Like a lot of stuff I didn’t know and I might read and be like “Man I didn’t know that!” but majority of the stuff I talk about from past experience. I talk about how…I was there when certain records came out. I knew exactly what I was doing, where I was at, who I was with and the students just be like “Word?” so it’s all good.

When did you start producing and do you remember the first song that you produced?
“That I produced…(thinking). The first song that I produced, that I put together was a song, me and Big Pooh called umm (thinking) Morning something (thinking). God I don’t remember that was so long ago, but me and Pooh did a song and umm…that was a song that we did and I was like man, “Ok, Pooh say it like this or lets do it like this” and that was one of the first song I produced and that was like in 2000.

When did you realize you had a following?
“When this kid hit me up from San Diego and was like “Yo man, I’ve been on your soundclick page all day. Me and my 10 friends been here listening to your soundclick page.” I’m like “Well dog, if he doing that in San Diego? It’s no telling.”

What do you hope to accomplish tonight as far as what comes through?
“My thing is to get black people to think man. Get young black people to think. Don’t take everything as face value; you know what I’m saying. We all have jobs to do, some of us like our jobs some of us don’t but…don’t take things for what it is and you can make a difference no matter what. A lot of kids think they can’t do anything to change the world or make a difference but Shoot! Every revolution has been by young people; you know what I’m saying.

How many albums and demos do you get just handed to you, sent to you or e-mailed to you?
“Oh man…(thinking) I say on average, if I check my MySpace twice a day, I have to approve like maybe 8-9 pages of people. If I don’t check it all day it can be like 32-33 pages of approving just friends and I approve everybody, long as you ain’t up there with no shirt on, if you a dude up there with no shirt on, you done seen ‘em cuz, Noooo you can’t get approval! But I get a lot of cats that say, “Check me out” and you know I’m… I ain’t gone lie, I don’t check out everybody because some dudes be looking…it be dudes up there with a skull with blood coming out of it like “Check me ouuuuuut!” (laughing). Nah I’m not finna check you out…(laughing)

You got any advice for up and coming producers, up and coming artists, especially out of this area?
“You’re local because you live here. You’re not local because of the music you make. That’s the only thing about you that’s local. I’m local because I live here but thanks to the internet your music can get out everywhere and never believe you can’t meet somebody like a Beyonce or a J (Jay-Z) or a Mary, don’t believe you can’t meet them people because if your music is dope enough you can.

Did you want to do this? Did you know this is what you wanted to do, you went to school for teaching but…?
“I wanted to be in music, you know what I’m saying, I wanted to do music. I wanted to be in music I knew that.”

Did you necessarily want to be a star?
“I don’t think I’m a star now man. To some they might “Oh man, there go 9th Wonder!” but I still be like (makes face). I just do beats for a living. I’ll just keep it like that. You ain’t see me come in here with no deep entourage and my car ain’t bullet proof, I don’t need all that. I just make beats man and if you bring in too many people like that then…I’m a down home dude I like down home people.”

9th Wonder’s class is one of the most popular at North Carolina Central and covers hip-hop from the day Kool Herc walked into the Bronx and ends the day Biggie died.

Look out for the “Commercial Radio Roundtable” podcast soon! It was definitely something you wanna hear, BUT until I get that done I gotta share my favorite quote from the whole event…

"30-40 years from now, somebody grandma gone be at Thanksgiving singin' Laffy Taffy to her grandkids, DO YOU KNOW HOW SCARY THAT IS? And she gone be Chicken Noodle Soupin'!"