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9TH WONDER
Dream Merchant, Vol. 2
6 Hole, 2007
5.5/10, Average [scale]

Dream Merchant, Vol. 2

Contributed by Brian Meredith on 11/7/07

Despite being a rather young genre, hip hop has gone through drastic changes since its inception. It’s not your dad’s industry anymore. Singles, mp3s, and ringtones dominate today’s musical culture - not albums. And while the internet has done so much for exposure, publicity, and artistic manifestation, it’s doing all it can to destroy the importance of track-by-track cohesiveness. CDs even took the genre a step away from album unity. Back in the day, it wasn’t worth fast forwarding your tape.

And now, in the age of the producer, records that feature one guy’s beats and various emcees, consistency is taking another hit. Chemistry is of the essence. These releases sound more and more like haphazardly thrown-together compilations. To make a classic record (I’m talking dope from top to bottom) with a tag-team line-up of emcees would be a wondrous feat. That’s not going to stop 9th Wonder from trying. Following a 2002 debut as Little Brother’s beatmaker and a remix of Nas’ God’s Son, 9th Wonder rose to the top of the producer hot list. Dream Merchant, Vol. 2 is North Carolina’s prodigal producer’s second solo release - a record that 9th called the ‘lead up’ to The Wonder Years, his official major label project. Full of straight 9th funky and soulful production, Dream’s beats are typical of 9th projects.

Perhaps more of a vessel for associated emcee exposure; the problem with Merchant is its lack of charisma. Mos Def, Jean Grae and Memphis Bleek are lazy and too heavy for even 9th to carry through “Brooklyn on My Mind”. Lesser-known rhymers like Big Treal and Jozee Mo seem to try too hard and stumble over hooks in tracks like “Baking Soda” and “It Ain’t Over” respectively. But credit Saigon with the most embarrassing performance. Over solid production that includes a great Snoop “Murder was the Case” sample, Saigon is both unimpressive and topically ignorant. The cut is almost recovered by Joe Scudda’s adept second half, but in the end “Saved” is lost.

Of course, 9th Wonder can’t avoid at least a few highlights. Merchant’s best song comes courtesy of Rapper Big Pooh and Phonte. Although the duo parted ways with 9th officially, they come together on a Little Brother reunion track. It’s hard to tell whether it’s just the bangin’ beat, or the refreshing flow that makes “No Time to Chill” so satisfying. It’s definitely the latter for Camp Lo on “The Milky Lowa”. Reminiscent of MF Doom’s latest and especially LL’s “Milky Cereal”, Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede feed each other boxed breakfast one-liners.

Other tracks worth a listen include Ness and Skyzoo on “Let it Bang” and a cool dedication to the chillest day of the North Carolina week. “Sunday” is one of the few cuts that successfully demonstrates the local family feeling that the Justus League and 9th’s Atlantic seaboard brethren are all about. Keisha Shontelle croons about her childhood memories of ‘god’s day off’ after Chaundon opens with his spoken metaphoric verse: “…Tuesday was cute, but Wednesday was the real freak… Hump day, know what I’m sayin’? Keep in the Rolodex… But god introduced me to Sunday, and I knew Sunday was special…”

Sadly, these gems are all discovered after many, many listens. Sifting through the rough is always more work than listening to music should be. Excitement frequently leads to disappointment on Merchant. Jumping to appearances by Royce da 5’9 and Buckshot are surefire misses. Hopefully, 9th Wonder, who instructs a hip hop history class at North Carolina Central University, will be able to add himself to the syllabus after a more relevant solo effort. He seems to be letting Merchant play second fiddle to his current promotional endeavors. Spin this record with January in mind. The Wonder Years are just on the horizon.