9th Wonder: The Almighty Soul Sampler and Professor

"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 is perhaps one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop producer the genre has seen. Since his start in 2003, he has worked with and produced for Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, J. Cole, Erykah Badu. Oh, and did I mention he has also won a grammy for his production when he teamed up with Mary J. Blige? This man is no doubt a one of a kind producer.

 In 2007 9th Wonder made a move I don't think anyone could have predicted. Along with producer Christopher "Play" Martin, 9th Wonder was appointed as an Artist-in-residence by the Chancellor of 9th's home state North Carolina Central University and began instructing a class in a hip hop history class in the music department of the university. But for 9th that was just the beginning, shortly afar in 2010 9th co-professed a course titled "Sampling the Soul" at Duke University. Only months ago 9th Wonder was accepted in Harvard University to become a fellow in the hip-hop archive. He is to spend three years on a project titled "These are the Breaks." For this project he is going to be researching the artists he sampled on his 10 top produced records. A documentary is going to document his research titled "The Harvard Fellow."

 Recently, 9th announced that he plans on retiring from producing entirely eventually to pursue his budding career in academia.

 So, this producer who grew up in the lower class of North Carolina is now working at Harvard? What could have allowed for this major change to happen? When did hip-hop gain so much recognition as a vital art-form for society? As hip hop continues to progress as a genre of music and a movement, I believe that 9th Wonder is one of few current artists that continues to push the boundaries of hip-hop further than anyone could have imagined when it began rocking parties in the Bronx. So when people say "Hip hop is dead" I say hip hop is alive and well, breathing not only in the underground, but now in Universities nation wide, in conversations between scholars, and in the current takes on the art form itself. What sort of steps do you see artists in hip-hop taking now that 9th is taking these monumental steps in academia? Do you think in 5 or 10 years hip-hop will still be viewed as the controversial art form it is?

 Check some tracks by the dude 9th Wonder