9th Wonder: A Soulful Genius

Record producer, 9^th Wonder (Patrick Douthit), was born in January 1975 in Winston Salem, NC.  He is known for his smooth, soulful sampling style of producing music. Content with just being a hobbyist in his craft, 9^th Wonder started uploading beats on the internet that contained soulful loops samples from artists like Al Green. Impressed with his work, 9^th Wonder was contacted by Jay-z’s studio engineer Young Guru, which led to 9^th Wonder’s breakthrough into the mainstream.

 9^th Wonder produced the Jay-z song Threat. When I first heard this song I was amazed at how 9th Wonder sampled just the chord sections of R. Kelly’s song Woman’s Threat and turned it into this urban, hip hop, up-tempo track.  9^th Wonder’s style of producing music influenced me to be more open minded in the creative process of making music and to not be afraid to let the world hear what you have created from your heart.  Check out the video above to hear 9^th Wonder's point of view on his craft and how the art of sampling affected music in the mainstream.