Last week, 9th Wonder posted a notice on Okayplayer.com’s message boards and MySpace announcing two new label collaborations with Stones Throw and Duck Down:

Starting in 2009, and with the blessings of Egon, PBW, and Dru Ha, I will be launching 2 labels at once, The Academy/Stones Throw and JamLa/Duckdown. This will be my shot, to put more music into the atmosphere, with the artists that I believe have what it takes. They are not striving to be mega PLATINUM superstars, but instead to make a noise loud enough to create a fanbase, a following, and to make money. Each label will have 2 different agendas, and 2 different paths, with an attempt NOT to cross the streams(see Egon in Ghostbusters). I believe that internet has created SO many pockets and demographics that crossing the streams will not become a factor, and each artist can reach the EXACT audience they want to reach.

9th Wonder didn’t give any details on who will be signed to JamLa or The Academy, or when that long-delayed The Wonder Years will finally come out.

It looks like the talented Jean Grae finally has a release date for Jeanius, her long-delayed album with producer 9th Wonder. It’s scheduled to hit stores on June 15. (May 28 update: The digital version was released to iTunes on May 27; the physical CD comes out July 8.)

Jeanius has a tortured history. It originally appeared on peer-to-peer networks such as Limewire way back in 2004; according to who you talk to (and when you talked to them), it was leaked by the artists themselves or someone in their camp. Everyone who heard it said it was amazing, so why didn’t it officially come out? Fast forward to 2005, when Talib Kweli’s manager Corey Smyth landed a distribution deal with Warner Bros. for the duo’s new venture, Blacksmith Records. One of Blacksmith’s first signees was Jean Grae. And it’s been a waiting game for Jeanius ever since.

Last month, Jean Grae posted an item on her MySpace page titled “Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself.” The post was widely misinterpreted as a retirement announcement:

Everyone who has been on this ride with me since the beginning and continues to be a supporter of music that makes you feel something true and vulnerable and honest by being just that.

It’s been a wonderful and awful journey all at the same time. Mostly leaning towards the wonderful part..lol.

Thank you for letting me share what I could with you and sharing yourselves back, as you have really been the reason that I kept on.

It’s always nice to know that you could be the voice of someone who didn’t have one, or know just how to say it.
No comment or letter or statement of appreciation has ever gone unnoticed.
I love to write, I love to be able to create imagery and a world out of just words.

I will always love what I consider to be true hip hop music… from the bottom of my soul.

I hope you will continue to distinguish those who are contributors to the evolution of hip hop and other black music as both an auditory stimulation and a culture, taking care that they are put in a position to do so.

Thank you listeners, whom I consider my friends and family….

Enjoy…. see y’all around..

It’s been amazing.. thank you again.

Days later, Corey Smyth explained Grae’s frustration when he told Allhiphop.com, “She’s real emotional when it comes to this music thing. She upset with the state of music. As talented as Jean is, [she is] real disillusioned with music.”

Oddly, Jeanius isn’t coming out via Warner Bros. Instead, it has been demoted to Alternative Distribution Alliance, Warner’s distribution line for indie companies. It’s similar to Consequence’s situation when his Don’t Quit Your Day Job! came out through Sony’s RED Distribution instead of Sony itself. However, unlike Consequence’s wildly uneven solo debut, Jeanius should be a great album. If the soon-to-be-released version is as good as the leaked edition from four years back, then Grae has finally made the classic her fans have been waiting for.

The track listing for Jeanius is below.

Read the rest of this entry »

As most 9th Wonder fans know by now, Asylum Records has put the North Carolina producer’s major-label debut The Wonder Years on hold … for now. However, it’s full speed ahead for the second leg of 9th’s spring attack: a new album with Buckshot from Boot Camp Clik.

9th Wonder and Buckshot’s The Formula drops April 15 on Duck Down Records. It’s the follow-up to the duo’s 2005 collaboration, Chemistry. The project includes a few guests such as North Carolina singer Carlitta Durand, Talib Kweli and several members of M1 Platoon.

“Every song is dealing with a topic. Each track specifically has a formula,” says Buckshot in a press release. “I’ve always had a certain sound within Hip-Hop and 9th Wonder helps bring out my unique style. We share a comfort level that allows me to be at ease when it comes to recording and that natural sound translates into great music.”

Heads tend to scrutinize and fuss over 9th Wonder’s work; it’s why he’s one of the most influential producers to emerge this decade. Will The Formula meet his fans’ high standards? Check out the track listing below.

• 1. “Intro – The Formula” (feat. the Formula Crew)
• 2. “Ready (Brand New Day)”
• 3. “Be Cool” (feat. Swan)
• 4. “Go All Out” (feat. Carlitta Durand)
• 5. “No Future”
• 6. “Hold It Down” (feat. Talib Kweli & Tyler Woods)
• 7. “Whassup with U” (feat. Keisha Shontelle)
• 8. “Only For You (Lou)”
• 9. “Just Display”
• 10. “Here We Go”
• 11. “Throwin’ Shade”
• 12. “Shinin’ Yall” (feat. Arafat Yates & Big Chops of M1 Platoon)
• 13. “Man Listen”

www.9thwonder.com
www.myspace.com/9thwondermusic
www.myspace.com/bdithug

Durham, N.C. production wiz 9th Wonder is scheduled to kick off 2008 with two full-length albums.

The first, The Wonder Years, is scheduled for a January 26 release on Asylum Records. Guests on the album include Erykah Badu, Teedra Moses, Talib Kweli and Mos Def. The second album reunites him with Buckshot, with whom he made the 2005 album Chemistry. Their new collaboration, The Formula, comes out via Duck Down on March 18 and features guest spots from Kweli and Raheem DeVaughn. The first single from The Wonder Years, “Miss Diva,” features Kweli and Tyler Woods.

Read the rest of this entry »

The last several months have been quiet ones for 9th Wonder. Once widely hailed, and sometimes criticized, for his productivity — in 2005 alone he produced several albums, from Little Brother’s The Minstrel Show to Kaze’s Spirit of ‘94 — he’s mostly stuck to the lab in 2007, even as wild rumors surrounding his departure from Internet faves Little Brother surrounded him.

9th’s absence will end this fall, however, with the incipient arrival of Dream Merchant 2. The first edition, released in 2005, was strictly an in-house affair with his longtime crew the Justus League. Volume 2 will be considerably more high-profile, with guest shots from Sean Price, Camp Lo, Royce da 5′ 9", Saigon, Buckshot, Naledge from Kidz in the Hall and a slew of fam like Joe Scudda and Skyzoo. It will also include the "Brooklyn on My Mind" track with Jean Grae, Mos Def and Memphis Bleek that circulated earlier this year. And, yes, it will feature a Little Brother reunion.

Dream Merchant 2 will likely be just one of several 9th Wonder-affiliated projects that drops before the year is out. Others include Median’s Relief (due out September 25) and possibly The Formula, the sequel to his Chemistry collabo with Buckshot.

But first, Dream Merchant 2, which drops October 9 on Six Hole Records. The track listing is below.

Little Brother, the acclaimed Raleigh, North Carolina trio, is now down to two members. In a January 27 story on HipHopGame.com, Big Pooh and Little Brother manager Big Dho revealed that rising producer 9th Wonder is no longer in the group.

"Little Brother has decided, in the best interest of the group, for Little Brother and 9th Wonder to part ways," said Big Pooh, who shares the group with Phonte Coleman. "There are no hard feelings and no beef. This is just a decision that had to be made so all three of us could move forward and continue to provide the world with dope music."

Big Pooh and Big Dho also revealed that they are trying to leave Atlantic Records. "First, I want to say that Little Brother has not been dropped from Atlantic," he told the hip-hop website. "At this time we are in the process of negotiating our release from the label due to a difference in philosophies."