9th Wonder talks Destiny’s Child, Upcoming Projects

Capitalizing on his highly publicized work for Jay-Z’s The Black Album, producer 9th Wonder is ready to go even further, as he has landed two beats on the upcoming Destiny’s Child album, Destiny Fulfilled.

The North Carolina native, and member of underground sensation Little Brother, blessed Beyonce, Kelly, and Michelle with instrumentals for “Is She The Reason” and “Girl.” Generally seen as a creator of vintage rap backdrops, 9th ensures that his signature sound remains intact. “It’s still me, but for this project, it’s the R&B me,” 9th explained to AllHipHop.com. “You can still tell I did the beats, because you can hear my style throughout the tracks.”

“’Is She The Reason’ is the more hood of the two records,” 9th revealed. “It’s a song that I can hear a dude riding by pumping in his car. I’d compare it to Monica’s ‘So Gone.’ If a dude rides by pumping Mya, you’d be like, ‘Aight n***a, what’s really going on?’ That isn’t the case with ‘Is She The Reason.’”

Along with songwriter Sean Garrett (Usher’s “Yeah,” and Ciara’s “Goodies”), 9th completed three tracks (one, “Game Over,” will be included on the album’s international version) with the girls in a Los Angeles studio. “All three girls were real down to Earth, so it wasn’t like going to work with ‘Destiny’s Child’,” 9th said. “It was more like going to work out with my homies.”

This wasn’t his first meeting with Beyonce, though. While recording for The Black Album, Beyonce was with Jay-Z and 9th in the studio. “She was feeling my joints back then,” 9th said. “So, I guess she remembered me and asked Jay to hook it up.”

After his work on Destiny Fulfilled is heard, 9th hopes to have opportunities to collaborate with artists such as Faith Evans, Mary J. Blige, and Carl Thomas.

He has no plans of ignoring his rap side, however. In fact, he is busier than ever these days, working on several upcoming projects. He landed two beats on Memphis Bleek’s new record and is doing a follow-up to Murs 3:16 with Cali MC Murs (titled Murs’ Revenge). Additionally, he is crafting an album with Buckshot for Duck Down Records, favoring a sound that is “more melodic than the typically darker Boot Camp Clik sound.” In the aftermath of the Internet leak suffered by his Jeanius project with Jean Grae, the two have plans to record a brand new record, The Phoenix.

Above all else, though, is Little Brother’s major label debut, The Minstrel Show, which is scheduled for release on Atlantic Records as early as spring of 2005. The Minstrel Show will highlight the mic skills of LB rappers Phonte and Big Pooh, but 9th promises a couple of outside guests, as well.

9th promised that being on a major has done little to slow down Little Brother’s grind. “On ABB Records, we had to grind extra hard, and we are treating this Atlantic situation the same,” 9th said. “Most people on a major don’t want to work. They act like, ‘I’m on a major, so they should have my video and everything done!’ But, when their album flops, they get mad. Well, you should have been at the meetings!”