9th Wonder


Patrick Denard Douthit, better known as 9th Wonder, is an American record producer, record executive, and DJ from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who is also teaching faculty at North Carolina Central University and Duke University, where he collaborates with Professor Mark Anthony Neal.
He began his career as the main producer for the group Little Brother in Durham, North Carolina, and has also worked with Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, Jean Grae, Wale, Murs, Buckshot, Erykah Badu, David Banner, Rapsody, and Talib Kweli. As of 2010, 9th Wonder raps under the name of 9thmatic. 9th Wonder's production often builds on samples from artists such as Al Green and Curtis Mayfield.

Music career

9th Wonder's first significant career breakthrough came in 2003 when, as an up-and-coming producer, he released an unofficial remix album of Nas' 2002 album God's Son entitled God's Stepson. Released through internet outlets, the album garnered significant attention and acclaim. The producer has said that he was not thinking in terms of using it to generate a buzz or promote his skills at that point: "I never thought any of this of me as a producer was going to happen." The album has since been credited as starting the now regular trend for unofficial 'home-made' remixes of whole albums.
9th Wonder began his career as the main producer for the group Little Brother. As part of Little Brother he gained recognition and critical acclaim for his production on their debut 2003 release, The Listening. Jay-Z's studio engineer Young Guru was impressed with his work, and contacted 9th Wonder, which led to 9th Wonder producing "Threat" for Jay-Z's 2003 The Black Album. The cut proved to be a mainstream breakthrough for 9th Wonder, most immediately in the major production role he secured on Destiny's Child's 2004 Destiny Fulfilled album that Jay-Z was instrumental in helping bring about. On the album, 9th Wonder produced the tracks "Girl" and "Is She the Reason", plus the bonus track "Game Over".
9th Wonder left Little Brother in 2007.

Recent and current projects

In August 2010, Drake exchanged tweets with 9th Wonder on Twitter, expressing his desire to work with him again. It was revealed in October 2010 that 9th Wonder would be producing for Drake on his second album, Take Care, which was released on November 15, 2011. However, a month prior to the release, 9th Wonder said in an interview that he would not appear on Take Care due to A&R issues.
Singer Chris Brown recorded a series of rap freestyles over 9th Wonder beats. The first was released on July 18, 2011, on YouTube under the title "Real Hip Hop #3". This was followed a day later by "Real Hip Hop #4" featuring Kevin McCall. These tracks were included in Brown's rap mixtape Boy in Detention, released on August 5, 2011.
On June 25, 2020, 9th Wonder, Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, and Robert Glasper announced the formation of a supergroup, Dinner Party. They released a single, "Freeze Tag". Their debut album was released on July 10, 2020.

Hip-hop professor and academia

2007 saw a sideline move into music academia for 9th Wonder when he, along with Christopher "Play" Martin from hip-hop group Kid-n-Play, was appointed Artist-In-Residence by the Chancellor of North Carolina Central University, and began instructing a hip-hop history class in NCCU's Music Dept.
His role as a music professor has proven an ongoing one as in January 2010 it was announced that 9th Wonder would co-teach a class titled "Sampling Soul" with Dr. Mark Anthony Neal at Duke University. In an interview with HitQuarters, he explained the reason for the move into academia: "Educating the youth on where hip-hop comes from and the history of it, using the records we use, gives hip-hop a longer life. I decided to become an advocate of that." 9th Wonder also recently took on a course titled "Intro to Hip Hop Production".
In May 2021, Douthit joined the Faculty at Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment at Long Island University as a visiting professor. His courses include the history of hip-hop and The Making of an Album.

Discography

Solo albums

  • 2005: Dream Merchant Vol. 1
  • 2007: Dream Merchant Vol. 2
  • 2011: The Wonder Years
  • 2012: Tutankhamen
  • 2013: Bladey Mae
  • 2016: Zion
  • 2017: Zion II
  • 2018: Zion III
  • 2019: Zion IV
  • 2020: Zion V: The Ballad of Charles Douthit
  • 2021: Zion VI: Shooting In The Gym
  • 2022: Zion VII
  • 2023: Zion VIII
  • 2023: Zion IX
  • 2024: Zion X
  • 2025: ''Zion XI''

    Group albums

  • 2003: The Listening
  • 2005: The Minstrel Show
  • 2020: Dinner Party
  • 2020: Dinner Party: Dessert
  • 2023: ''Enigmatic Society''

    Collaborative albums

  • 2003: Shake N Beats
  • 2003: Legsclusives
  • 2004: Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition
  • 2005: Chemistry
  • 2005: Spirit of '94: Version 9.0
  • 2005: 9th Gate
  • 2006: Murray's Revenge
  • 2006: Cloud 9: The 3 Day High
  • 2007: Class is in Session
  • 2008: The Formula
  • 2008: Jeanius
  • 2008: Sweet Lord
  • 2008: The Corner of Spec & 9th
  • 2010: Fornever
  • 2010: Death of a Pop Star
  • 2012: The Solution
  • 2012: The Final Adventure
  • 2013: Where Do I Come From?
  • 2015: Indie 500
  • 2015: Brighter Daze
  • 2017: The Lost Tapes
  • 2019: The Iliad is Dead and The Odyssey is Over
  • 2022: The Don & Eye
  • 2023: The Don & Eye 2
  • 2024: The Supergoat
  • 2024: One Forty Seven
  • 2025: ''Welcome Home''

    Collaborative mixtapes

  • 2006: Battle of the Beats Round 1–2
  • 2007: 9th Year Freshman
  • 2007: The Graduate
  • 2008: The W.ide W.Orld of W.Rap
  • 2008: Album Mixtape Volume One
  • 2008: 9 Wonders
  • 2009: The R&B Sensation Mixtape
  • 2009: Back to the Feature
  • 2009: The Hardy Boy Mystery Mixtape: Curse of Thee Green Faceded
  • 2010: To Hanes Mall
  • 2010: Album Mixtape Part 2
  • 2010: The EP
  • 2011: TP is My Hero
  • 2012: Hanes Mall 2: Silas Creek Parkway EP
  • 2025: ''Hit Me When You Get Here''

    Compilation and remix albums

  • 2003: 9th Invented the Remix
  • 2003: God's Stepson – Nas
  • 2004: Black Is Back! – Jay-Z
  • 2005: The Remix EP
  • 2009: Wonder Years – 9th Wonder Golden Years Remix LP
  • 2010: 9th's Opus: It's a Wonderful World Music Group Vol.1
  • 2010: 9th Invented the Remix...Again
  • 2010: Loose Joints
  • 2010: Food for Thought
  • 2012: Tutankhamen
  • 2013: Black American Gangster – Jay-Z
  • 2014: 9th Wonder Presents: Jamla Is the Squad
  • 2018: ''9th Wonder Presents: Jamla Is the Squad II''