The Wonder Years

by 9th Wonder

Overview

A long time coming, 9th Wonder's The Wonder Years is the North Carolina producer and former Little Brother member's first high-profile solo effort and it's a glorious whirlwind of true hip-hop and neo-soul. Add a truly great guest list and the loyal fans are already on board, but this is also an exquisitely built album with a natural flow from beginning to end, packed with crossover appeal on the glorious highlights and anchored by those deep cuts that reveal themselves as vital on return visits. Check the masterful, uplifting "Now I'm Being Cool" as it spins like a hip-hop Ferris wheel with nostalgia and soul, or try the paranoid street monster called "Piranhas," where Blu and Sundown convincingly speak on back alleys and socks filled with crack rocks. Wonder's soundscapes cover this spectrum splendidly, but he never covers up the vocalist, going so far as to dabble in Wu-Tang murkiness for Raekwon and mothership-connected G-funk for Warren G. That down-south Dilla style remains the base the whole time and anyone thrown by Wonder's futuristic David Banner collaboration (2010's Death of a Pop Star) will find this one comparatively steeped in soul. Loyal fans of underground hip-hop already know he's earned that crown on the cover, and with this purposefully packaged showcase now in place, the uninitiated have no excuse. ~ David Jeffries

Product Details

Release Date:	10/18/2024
Label:	Jamla / Fat Beats
UPC:	0784085101257
Rank:	180082

Album Credits

Performance Credits

9th Wonder   Primary Artist
Bird & The Midnight Falcons   Featured Artist
Talib Kweli   Featured Artist
Erykah Badu   Featured Artist
Problem   Featured Artist
Phonte   Vocals,Featured Artist
Masta Killa   Featured Artist
Raekwon   Featured Artist
Rapsody   Featured Artist
Marsha Ambrosius   Featured Artist
Tanya Morgan   Featured Artist
Skyzoo   Featured Artist
Fashawn   Featured Artist
Median   Featured Artist
Warren G   Featured Artist
Mela Machinko   Featured Artist
Murs   Featured Artist
Bird   Featured Artist
Halo   Featured Artist
Khrysis   Featured Artist
G.Q.   Featured Artist
Big Remo   Featured Artist
GL   Featured Artist
Blu   Featured Artist
Terrace Martin   Vocals,Featured Artist
Enigma   Featured Artist
Heather Victoria   Vocals,Featured Artist
Mac Miller   Featured Artist
Kendrick Lamar   Featured Artist
Hollyweerd   Featured Artist
Thee Tom Hardy   Featured Artist
King Mez   Featured Artist
Sundown   Featured Artist
Big Rimo   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Jordan Douthit   Executive Producer
L. Fullenweider   Composer
M. Machinke   Composer
M. Samps   Mastering
M.W. Ricks II   Composer
Princess Spencer   Artwork
Xavier Douthit   Executive Producer
E. Wright   Composer
M. Miller   Composer
Phonte   Engineer
9th Wonder   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Executive Producer
Marsha Ambrosius   Composer
Phonte Coleman   Composer
G. Taylor   Composer
A. Holmes   Composer
Warren Griffin III   Composer
Khrysis   Mixing,Engineer
Ian Schreier   Mixing
Kenneth Price   Photography
Terrace Martin   Engineer,Instrumentation
D. Callender   Composer
Patrick Douthit   Composer
Warren Hendricks Jr.   Design
Adam Sikora   Photography
J. Arief   Composer
Jada Douthit   Executive Producer
Joyce He   Label Manager