That Time 9th Wonder Sampled Outkast
Plus his "Ether" remix. Plus a playlist.
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I’ve been listening to a lot of long-form interviews lately. I recently decided to check out the Drink Champs episode featuring 9th Wonder & Smif-N-Wessun.
The episode coincides with the release of the new Smif-N-Wessun album Infinity. The record is entirely produced by 9th Wonder and Soul Council members Khrysis, Nottz, Kash, SNDTRK and Mu'aath.
The Drink Champs interview is a broad, wide-ranging conversation that goes into various aspects of Smif-N-Wessun and 9th Wonder’s respective careers. Around the 2:45 mark, 9th starts talking about the early days of his career when he was selling beats for $50 a pop around 2002. In 2003, he released an underground remix of Nas’ God’s Son album titled God’s Stepson.
First released on HipHopSite.com, 9th’s hat tip to the famed Queensbridge MC features a remix of Nas’ brutal Jay-Z diss track “Ether” as a bonus track. Though “Ether” is from Stillmatic instead of God’s Son, it provides a perfect closeout moment for God’s Stepson. Utilizing next-level creativity, 9th flips Brother to Brother’s “Hey, What's That You Say,” the same song DJ Premier flipped for the Jay-Z classic “Friend or Foe.” The result is a beautiful, haunting, ultra-filtered piece of production that eclipses the original version.
According to 9th, Mr. Walt of The Beatminerz called him to inquire about remix work after catching wind of 9th’s reimagining of Nas. Walt was so impressed by the resulting work 9th submitted that he flew the entire Boot Camp Click down to North Carolina to work with him. 9th subsequently produced a large body of work for the entire BCC and continues a close working relationship with BCC members like Smif-N-Wessun today.
The interview inspired me to revisit 9th’s early work, including God’s Stepson and his first productions for the Boot Camp Click. I also decided to go back to his Black Is Back album. This unofficial remix of Jay-Z’s The Black Album is intriguing because it came right on the heels of God’s Stepson. It’s also notable because 9th landed one of his first major production credits outside of Little Brother with his Black Album placement “Threat.”
Though Black Is Back didn’t generate as much buzz as God’s Stepson due to the vast number of Black Album remixes circulating at the time, it still had its share of impressive moments and holds up quite well.
One moment in particular is 9th’s somber “December 4th” remix. In a moment of sampling ingenuity that mirrors his innovativeness with the “Ether” remix, 9th repurposes the gorgeous piano and vocals from OutKast’s “You May Die” intro from their classic ATLiens record. It’s an unexpected flip that provides the perfect backdrop for Jay-Z’s autobiographical track. I remember geeking out when I first heard it over 20 years ago.
Going down the 9th Wonder production rabbit hole was a\ reminder of how deep his catalog is. From official album placements to underground and official remixes, he has truly done it all. It’s nice to see that both he and Smif-N-Wessun are still as active as ever decades into their respective runs. If you’d like to explore more of 9th’s work, here’s a YouTube and Spotify playlist. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.