Love him or hate him, you've gotta love 9th Wonder's consistency. The North Carolina-born and bred producer has made a name for himself as the former 3rd member of the Durham collective Little Brother, and producer of cuts for the likes of Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, and Mary J. Blige.

If you're not familiar with 9th, one thing you've got to know is that he's a hip-hop head that loves hip-hop for the love of hip-hop. His productions reflect that, as they capture the sound of that Large Pro/Pete Rock era of the genre. 9th recently explained to XXL where he's going with his new album The Dream Merchant, vol. 2:

“… I’m trying to mix [it] up a little bit. [There’s] not too many producers out there right now concentrating on funk and soul. Everything is electronic, which …