9th Wonder is FIRE (part 1)

Just laying here on a lazy Saturday morning sampling a few tracks from 9th's extensive instrumental catalog. Where did I get my hands on such a treasure trove? You might wanna try here. Look for KOOL COL-B's message thread and copy and paste the URL's he provides at the bottom (note: you're gonna have to add the "t's" to the http's obviously...also you have to DL WinRar to uncompress these joints).

*ahem* (if anyone asks, I didn't tell you shit...haha)

I mean, I am all for giving back to the artists and buying music legitimately. God knows I am an iTunes fiend. But if something is just so rare that one has to resort to other means to "acquire" it, then more power to those who are willing to dig.

Now back to the music. I've uncovered some real standouts:

1. Unreleased Beat #31 - Brilliant fuckin' track. Basically loops a vocal sample of a girl going "I'm gonna call him right now...gee I hope he's home...(guy answers 'hello')...oh yes." The sample is backed by 9th's trademark lush, soaring string arrangements and upbeat drums. This banger is just dripping with positive energy to me.

2. Unreleased Beat #38 - Another banger of a track: this time structured around twin vocal samples. The first sample is of a guy singing about "The thanks I get...for loving you." This initial sample is masterfully juxtaposed with a female vocal repeating "The thanks I get..." Instrumentally, mellow meandering horn cuts carry the track. The result? Sheer audio bliss.

3. Unreleased Beat #42 - My favorite by far. In fact, hearing this track off someones IMEEM upload spurred my search in the first place. Main sample I'm guessing is off an obscure soul track...woman singing "The sound of a lonely..." (9th cuts out the sample at this point to brilliant results). Throughout the track, strings rise and maintain a crescendo before cascading down majestically. I just love how the track seems to have a melancholy undertone yet holds a promise of hope and better times.

4. Unreleased Beat #44 - "Don't spend a dime...ain't it a crime...and you there...down on your knees." Repeat x10. Classic.

5. Unreleased Beat #45 - Kinda wanted to mention this track 'cause it's so unique sounding. 9th basically takes a straight string sample and chops the fuck out of it. Never heard anything like it before. And I dunno if it's just my laptop speakers, but the FX playing at the end of the sample sound like they came straight from a video game (namely, the "powering-up effect" that plays when say, Mario, touches a mushroom). Yeeeeah.

6. Unreleased Beat #46 - "Speeeeeeecial for just a mooooooooment." Tight guitar noodlings. Soul-stirring strings. Chugging, signature snare-heavy beat. I'm sold!

That does it for all the "unreleased tracks" from this collection. I'm not too surprised that these haven't been picked up by MC's, as they're pretty vocal-heavy. In fact, I can't really think of any "successful" songs that have been laid over a vocal-heavy sample.

I'll cover the remainder of his tracks in a future post. Just looking at the rest of them gets me juiced though, as I see a bunch of my all-time faves: "December 4th," "Freak These Tales," etc.