Archive for 9th Wonder

Album Update: Skyzoo, A Dream Deferred (Artwork & Tracklisting)

Posted in Album Update with tags , , , , , , , , on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 by Tim Althaus

Since the buzz keeps growing for A Dream Deferred, Skyzoo decided to leak the artwork and tracklisting for the album. I’m excited about the dope album cover, but I’m even more ecstatic to see the producer credits and guest features.

As per usual, Sky will be spitting over beats by !llmind, Black Milk, 9th Wonder, Best Kept Secret & Eric G, but he threw two tracks by DJ Khalil into the mix, and this really excites me: I’ve been saying for a long time that DJ Khalil is one of the best producers in the game, and Skyzoo is my favorite emcee, so naturally my anticipation is off the radar. On the vocal side, listeners can expect to hear collaborations from Talib Kweli, Jill Scott, Freeway, Jared Evans and Raheem Devaughn.

I know I talk about this man quite a bit, but I believe in his music so strongly; if liking top-tier lyricism was considered a crime, then I would definitely be guilty of a hard felony. Make sure you go out to your local record store and grab A Dream Deferred on October 2nd.

Track Listing:
1) Dreams In A Basement featuring Jill Scott (produced by !llmind)
2) Jansport Strings (One Time for Chi-Ali) (produced by 9th Wonder)
3) Pockets Full feat. Freeway (produced by !llmind)
4) Give It Up feat. DJ Prince (produced by !llmind)
5) Glass Ceilings (produced by !llmind)
6) Range Rover Rhythm (produced by Jahlil Beats)
7) The Knowing feat. Jessy Wilson (produced by Eric G)
8) Drew & Derwin feat. Raheem Devaughn (produced by Focus)
9) Realization feat. Jared Evan (produced by DJ Khalil)
10) The Rage of Roemello (produced by DJ Khalil)
11) How to Make it Through Hysteria (produced by Best Kept Secret)
12) Steel’s Apartment (produced by Black Milk)
13) Spike Lee Was My Hero feat. Talib Kweli (produced by Tall Black Guy)
14) The Cost of Sleep (produced by Tall Black Guy)

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Skyzoo, “Jansport Strings (One Time For Chi-Ali)” (Prod. By 9th Wonder)

Posted in Album Update, Audio, Media with tags , , , , , , on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 by Tim Althaus

I feel like the lord is constantly answering my prayers pertaining to this album. I just put up a post the other day about Sky finishing his upcoming album A Dream Deferred, and today he dropped the lead single – “Jansport Strings”. 9th Wonder lays down a laid back beat full of jovial horns, and as expected, Skyzoo spits cryptographic rhymes about growing up with his friends in Brooklyn and “earning his Jansport Strings”.

Skyzoo provided some insight into the meaning of this track:

“The idea behind Jansport Strings is not based on it being literal, but more so in the figurative sense. As a kid in NY, the strings on your Jansport bag were a sign of power and presence. Kids would steal the strings off of each other’s bags and burn the tips to prevent getting robbed of them once they got them.”

“The song is a 3 minute auto-bio of me as a kid in Brooklyn and seeing more than my friends and I had bargained for. In essence, my Jansport strings tied it all together, seeing what we all saw and what it made us. The ending is a clip from Video Music Box, the legendary NYC video show run by DJ Ralph McDaniels. This episode in particular was the debut of Chi-Ali’s ‘Age Ain’t Nothin But A Number’. Seeing that video that day on this episode of VMB made me start rhyming. This clip was literally the moment that changed my life”.

It was also announced today that A Dream Deferred will be dropping on October 2nd via Duck Down Music and Skyzoo’s new label imprint The Faculty ; I’m so happy that it’s only a couple months away. I’ve been waiting on this album since Live From The Tape Deck dropped, and even though that was only two years ago, it seems like far more than that. If Sky’s previous work is any indication of listeners can expect, then A Dream Deferred will change the way that we interpret lyrics… again.

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Video: Phonte, “The Good Fight”

Posted in Media, Video with tags , , , on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 by Tim Althaus

I totally forgot that this video got released last week, and frankly I’m baffled it slipped my mind because I love Phonte. “The Good Fight” is a smooth soulful jam produced by 9th Wonder that was featured on Phonte’s spectacular debut solo album Charity Starts at Home. I’ve been a huge fan of Phontigga ever since the days of Little Brother (sheds a tear), and Charity Starts at Home is exactly what Phonte’s fans had been waiting for: a debut album showcasing Phonte’s ability to seamlessly rhyme and sing at the same top tier level. Charity Starts at Home was arguably one of the best releases of 2011, and every fan of great music should own it. Below you can view the video that Te dropped for the track “Dance in the Reign”, which was also on Charity Starts at Home. Continue reading →

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Wild Style Wednesday Review: Little Brother, The Minstrel Show

Posted in Music Reviews, Wildstyle Wednesdays with tags , , , , , , , , , , on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 by Tim Althaus

minstrel1frLittle Brother is probably one of my favorite groups that I’ve ever heard. When 9th Wonder, Big Pooh & Phonte are all together in rare form on an album, they remind me of a force that nothing in this world could possibly stop. I personally am a big fan of The Listening & Getback, but I think these guys are in their top form on The Minstrel Show. Everything about this album is desirable, 9th Wonder’s beats on this album are more soulful than ever, and Te’s & Pooh’s rhymes are most definitely the most on point that they’ve ever been. Another thing that makes this album exceptional is that it’s a concept album that is done the right way. Albums like this make me think that if these guys would have stayed together they could have been one of the greatest trios in Hip-Hop history. Continue reading →

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Joe Budden, Escape Route (Artwork & Tracklisting)

Posted in Music News with tags , , , , , , , , , on Monday, August 10, 2009 by Tim Althaus

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Here is the new artwork from Joe’s new digital only release Escape Route. As you can see he is following a series from the album Padded Room & Halfway House, and all of this work will accumulate to his album The Great Escape. Escape Route will be dropping tomorrow on Amalgam Digital, which is coincidentally the same day as the Slaughterhouse release. You will hear Wale, Slaughterhouse & Young Chris on the guest verse aspect. When it comes to production you will hear 9th Wonder, J. Cardim, Chad West & Streetrunner. I sure hope all of you are going out to make well merited purchases tomorrow. Follow me after the jump for the tracklisting. Continue reading →

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Skyzoo Shows You “The Beautiful Decay” (Video)

Posted in Media, Video with tags , , on Thursday, July 30, 2009 by Tim Althaus

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As you may remember, I posted the artwork & tracklisting for Skyzoo’s album, The Salvation, last week. This is the video for the first single off of the album. The track is beautifully produced by none other than 9th Wonder, and the video concept for this song is fresh as hell. Skyzoo spits each verse passionately from a different spot in Brooklyn. Being able to listen to tracks like this make me crave this album real bad.

Spotted @ 2DopeBoyz

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Skyzoo Brings Hip-Hop The Salvation (Artwork x Tracklisting)

Posted in Music News with tags , , , , , , , on Friday, July 24, 2009 by Tim Althaus

Skyzoo salvation

I’ve been waiting on this guys’ solo album for what seems like an ice age. Skyzoo recently dropped the artwork and tracklisting for his new album The Salvation. It looks like this album is going to be a defining opus with some of the best production we’ve heard in some time (Just Blaze, 9th Wonder, Black Milk, Illmind & Nottz to name a few). Skyzoo is a real emcee, and I can guarantee with the producers he has on board this album will not fall short of greatness. You can pick up this heat rock on September 29th. Meanwhile you can follow me after the jump for the tracklisting.

Continue reading →

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Wale & 9th Wonder Take You Back To The Feature

Posted in News with tags , , , , , , , , on Monday, June 22, 2009 by Tim Althaus

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To be honest, I’m not really a big Wale fan. You can say all you want, but I’m not super impressed. I am, however, a huge 9th Wonder & LRG fan. I’m downloading this one as we speak, so I might have to give it a good listen tonight. According to the Hip Hop Official post, you can expect to hear Freeway, Talib Kweli, Joe Budden, Black Thought & Royce Da 5’9″ all spitting over 9th beats on this one (holy shit). Follow me after the jump for the Tracklisting and Download link. Continue reading →

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The Year 2009th Wonder

Posted in Video with tags , on Sunday, March 1, 2009 by Tim Althaus

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This is another guy that needs absolutely no introduction. 9th Wonder has been making some of the most infectious beats in R&B and Hip-Hop for the last 5-6 years. In this video he talks about his two record labels (The Academy & JamLa), and how he came up with the name for the labels. He talks about what it used to be like when everything he loved was considered “backpack”.  9th ends up making a pretty damn good point about the underground vs. overground (he’s got Grammys and platinum plaques on his walls). 9th Wonder’s feeling about the Hip-Hop game in the aspect of producers and emcees is like one big fraternity, it’s pretty crazy but that’s an accurate metaphor (I love the Masta Ace name drop). This is a good interview on a guy who is always making foot prints in the industry (that a lot of people don’t realize). Make sure you stay tuned to Mind Inversion for more news on the year “2009th Wonder”.

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Little Brother: Passion Flower

Posted in Music News with tags , , , , on Monday, October 13, 2008 by Tim Althaus

Well, it looks as if my boys from the Raleigh/Durham area are back at it again with another single (on a sidenote 9th produced the track, that’s why he’s in the picture). The new track is called “Passion Flower” and it is going to be off of their re-release and “drama” free mix tape Separate But Equal (the drama free part is that there will be no DJ on the mixtape, and the mix tape will also feature 3 previously unreleased tracks (It’s kind of similar of the re-release of the And Justus for All mixtape). Out of the three mixtapes (Chittlin Circuit 1.5, Seperate But Equal and And Justus For All) that LB has put out, Separate But Equal is my favorite, and I am going to be very interested to hear what they do with it. It’s great to hear Pooh and Phonte working with 9th Wonder again, they’ve done so many amazing things for Hip-Hop in the past and hopefully they can do the same in the future. With Pooh and Phonte being so busy, who knows if we will see another Little Brother album this year, my guess is going to be no (Phonte has the new Foreign Exchange, and Big Pooh has a new album he is working on right now). Please go and get Separate But Equal: Drama Free Edition on November 4th when it drops. In the mean time, sit back, relax and enjoy this beautiful Little Brother track as it hits your eardrums, because you know there is nothing like a 9th Wonder, Big Pooh and Phonte track: Dope beats, dope rhymes what more could ya’ll want?

Passion Flower

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