Erin: Understood, to go a little deeper into choices. I recently read on Hiphopfiend.org that you respect Tech N9ne because of how he lives his life and what he defines as success. So what do you define as success and have you actually reached that?
9th: I think I’ve been very lucky, to be in the game as long as I have. I’ve seen cats come and seen cats go. Some of them came and went because they got what they wanted and were like “Ok I made my money. I really don’t care about preserving the culture. I might love hip hop but whatever. I got into Hip Hop because I didn’t want to work for anyone else.” It’s not that they don’t care but it’s just not their calling. I can respect that. Success to me is to know and respect what I exactly I am apart of and to be able to represent that because I do have a responsibility. Some cats will be like, “Oh 9th you’re just a super Hip Hop dude,” but really it’s not about that. It really surpasses Hip Hop; it’s about being a part of something bigger than yourself… having a responsibility and upholding it. With the help of others you know you’re not the only one. Success to Tech N9ne is to live his exactly the way he wants to live it. He’s reaping the benefits of being himself. I don’t think we preach that enough to our kids, to be themselves, to be an individual. A lot of those individuals become leaders. If you look back in high school or middle school, especially high school, the kid that’s off to the side doing something, everyone always telling them, “You’re always off in the corner writing or whatever.” But those end up being the leaders of the world, and that’s what success is to me. To be yourself, be able to live off of it, and to give something back to the culture. A lot of cats just take from it.
Erin: You have a lot going on right now, what are you doing to de-stress?
9th: My children. Winston-Salem does it a lot for me. I go home and it puts me back in the mind frame of what I’m doing, what I’m doing it for. You go some places and entertainment is just the revenue of that place. North Carolina is not one of those places and I don’t necessarily want it to be one of those places. That’s the genesis of it all for me. That’s where I can go to return to normalcy. Sports have been always been another way for me to get away from it all because I probably am a bigger sports fan than I am a music fan. There’s not much that exists there outside of college basketball and tobacco. There are not too many times you’ll go on a website and find something about me because I live in North Carolina (laughs). It’s just normal living and I’m cool with it. I don’t need more than what I have.
Erin: So North Carolina takes you back to a natural state of being. To go further into that, do you think that there are any natural elements that is reflective of your music? If so, which ones and why?
9th: From a career standpoint, I’d say maybe it’s Earth because a lot of people say that I’m grounded. I like to stay low to the ground man. And maybe that’s bad. David Banner used to always get on me when we were working on his album he’d be like, “9th Wonder go be a star!” and I’d be like, “No! You go be a star!” I don’t want that you know? It’s not a front. Some people say “Awe that’s just a part of your image.” But nah I don’t like to be in the front, even though some people will try and put me there. And I guess that’s why I pick Earth because I’m grounded.
Erin: That’s chill. I respect that. On your new album you worked with a large variety of artists, which gives you an even broader audience. For people hearing you for the first time, what do you want them to take from this album?
9th: What I’ve noticed is when people discover me for the first time, it’s not like they just discover one song. It’s like they discover 17 songs and then the whole experience. They look up and say, “Where the hell have I been?” New fans come up to me and their like, “Hey man my homie put me on to your music and I’ve been listening for the last 3 months because I’m trying to play catch up. You put out a lot of music.” It’s like I’m a wormhole. Once you discover who I am, it’s hard to get out of my music. But it also creates wormholes for artists. When you get into Van Hunt, Vikter Duplaix and Dilla, you get so much. Once you go in, there’s no going back. You turn off the radio and you’re like, “Man this is what I been searching for.” It’s a whole new experience for them, like a rebirth almost. And that’s what I hope happens with them.
Interview courtesy of KevinNottingham.com.
9th: I think I’ve been very lucky, to be in the game as long as I have. I’ve seen cats come and seen cats go. Some of them came and went because they got what they wanted and were like “Ok I made my money. I really don’t care about preserving the culture. I might love hip hop but whatever. I got into Hip Hop because I didn’t want to work for anyone else.” It’s not that they don’t care but it’s just not their calling. I can respect that. Success to me is to know and respect what I exactly I am apart of and to be able to represent that because I do have a responsibility. Some cats will be like, “Oh 9th you’re just a super Hip Hop dude,” but really it’s not about that. It really surpasses Hip Hop; it’s about being a part of something bigger than yourself… having a responsibility and upholding it. With the help of others you know you’re not the only one. Success to Tech N9ne is to live his exactly the way he wants to live it. He’s reaping the benefits of being himself. I don’t think we preach that enough to our kids, to be themselves, to be an individual. A lot of those individuals become leaders. If you look back in high school or middle school, especially high school, the kid that’s off to the side doing something, everyone always telling them, “You’re always off in the corner writing or whatever.” But those end up being the leaders of the world, and that’s what success is to me. To be yourself, be able to live off of it, and to give something back to the culture. A lot of cats just take from it.
Erin: You have a lot going on right now, what are you doing to de-stress?
9th: My children. Winston-Salem does it a lot for me. I go home and it puts me back in the mind frame of what I’m doing, what I’m doing it for. You go some places and entertainment is just the revenue of that place. North Carolina is not one of those places and I don’t necessarily want it to be one of those places. That’s the genesis of it all for me. That’s where I can go to return to normalcy. Sports have been always been another way for me to get away from it all because I probably am a bigger sports fan than I am a music fan. There’s not much that exists there outside of college basketball and tobacco. There are not too many times you’ll go on a website and find something about me because I live in North Carolina (laughs). It’s just normal living and I’m cool with it. I don’t need more than what I have.
Erin: So North Carolina takes you back to a natural state of being. To go further into that, do you think that there are any natural elements that is reflective of your music? If so, which ones and why?
9th: From a career standpoint, I’d say maybe it’s Earth because a lot of people say that I’m grounded. I like to stay low to the ground man. And maybe that’s bad. David Banner used to always get on me when we were working on his album he’d be like, “9th Wonder go be a star!” and I’d be like, “No! You go be a star!” I don’t want that you know? It’s not a front. Some people say “Awe that’s just a part of your image.” But nah I don’t like to be in the front, even though some people will try and put me there. And I guess that’s why I pick Earth because I’m grounded.
Erin: That’s chill. I respect that. On your new album you worked with a large variety of artists, which gives you an even broader audience. For people hearing you for the first time, what do you want them to take from this album?
9th: What I’ve noticed is when people discover me for the first time, it’s not like they just discover one song. It’s like they discover 17 songs and then the whole experience. They look up and say, “Where the hell have I been?” New fans come up to me and their like, “Hey man my homie put me on to your music and I’ve been listening for the last 3 months because I’m trying to play catch up. You put out a lot of music.” It’s like I’m a wormhole. Once you discover who I am, it’s hard to get out of my music. But it also creates wormholes for artists. When you get into Van Hunt, Vikter Duplaix and Dilla, you get so much. Once you go in, there’s no going back. You turn off the radio and you’re like, “Man this is what I been searching for.” It’s a whole new experience for them, like a rebirth almost. And that’s what I hope happens with them.
Interview courtesy of KevinNottingham.com.
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