A long time coming,
9th Wonder
's
The Wonder Years
is the North Carolina producer and former
Little Brother
member's first high-profile solo effort and it's a glorious whirlwind of true hip-hop and neo-soul. Add a truly great guest list and the loyal fans are already on board, but this is also an exquisitely built album with a natural flow from beginning to end, packed with crossover appeal on the glorious highlights and anchored by those deep cuts that reveal themselves as vital on return visits. Check the masterful, uplifting "Now I'm Being Cool" as it spins like a hip-hop Ferris wheel with nostalgia and soul, or try the paranoid street monster called "Piranhas," where
Blu
and
Sundown
convincingly speak on back alleys and socks filled with crack rocks.
Wonder
's soundscapes cover this spectrum splendidly, but he never covers up the vocalist, going so far as to dabble in
Wu-Tang
murkiness for
Raekwon
and mothership-connected G-funk for
Warren G
. That down-south
Dilla
style remains the base the whole time and anyone thrown by
's futuristic
David Banner
collaboration (2010's
Death of a Pop Star
) will find this one comparatively steeped in soul. Loyal fans of underground hip-hop already know he's earned that crown on the cover, and with this purposefully packaged showcase now in place, the uninitiated have no excuse. ~ David Jeffries