Grammy award-winning super producer 9th Wonder steps out of the studio and into the classroom with James Peterson and Professor Mark Anthony Neal to talk about one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, the impact it made, and much more in this week’s edition of Saturday Matinée.
If you’re talking about hip-hop these days, you’ve gotta know who Patrick Douthit is. Academics certainly do and that’s why the homie 9th Wonder – who is also the NAACP‘s National Ambassador for Hip Hop Relations and Popular Culture – stepped into the halls of Duke University to do a class entitled “Sampling Soul” in the spring of 2010. What’s so refreshing about this discussion between 9th Wonder, James Peterson, and Professor Neal is not only how Nas’ Illmatic gets the academic treatment but how hip-hop, in general, gets discussed without the typical negative media slant. I feel a lot of people would do exceptionally well to watch this, whether they love hip-hop or not. It’s also wonderful to see someone with the academic pedigree of Neal and Peterson having the same kind of discussions I’ve had with so many hip-hop heads: the infamous “Who’s your top five?” conversation. The choices that Peterson makes will surprise many. The chances that you’ll learn something new are also very high.
Stream “Sampling Soul” below:
