So the Austin City Limits festival is in full swing at this point. I’ve never been but I appreciate the music that comes to town during any of these festivals (SXSW being the biggest of course). As pre-ACL show, I was excited to go see 9th Wonder, the DJ/producer of one of my favorite rap group, Little Brother. I’ve seen the North Carolinian trio (alongside Phonte and Big Pooh) perform many times before they unfortunately disbanded last year, after the release of the LeftBack album. If you haven’t heard it, get it because it is very solid piece from beginning to end. Actually, their entire discography is dope. If you enjoy the sounds of producers such as Pete Rock, DJ Premier and of course the late J Dilla, 9th Wonder definately deserves his spot on that list. This Grammy Award Winner has worked with many artists including Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Buckshot, Drake and many more. I knew I was in for a treat.

Anyway, so I made my way to Red 7 around 11pm where the man himself was to perform. The cover was $15 which may seem pricey for a thursday night gig but I didn’t care. I came to see someone who had earned my respect for being such a great contributor to hip hop for over a decade. Not only that but I had local DJ friends that were to open for 9th so I wanted to come support them as well. As I’ve said many times, the music I like to hear is hard to come by these days so I try not to miss an opportunity to listen to it. And I’m thankful to know people here in Austin who work hard to bring that kind of entertainment to people like me. I could start a list but you know who you are so big up to you!

To my surprise, as I walked in the venue, the place seemed quite empty. And by empty, I mean there were maybe 15 people there. I started to wonder why that was. Was it because of the cover charge? Was it because of the venue? Was it because of lack of promotion? Maybe people don’t like to come out on Thursdays like they used to. Then I stopped thinking and realized I could care less about how many people were in attendance. I didn’t come to see them. I didn’t come out to mingle or have conversations about the Obama’s job bill. I wasn’t out there to meet chicks either. I came to enjoy the people who were on that stage. That was it. I didn’t need any bigger motivation than that. Someone actually stopped me on my way to the bar to ask me how many people were inside. I  replied with the following: “Some of the best hip hop is about to be played on that stage, why do you care about that? Do you have a date with the crowd or something?” To which he simply said: “You’re right. It doesn’t matter.”

By the time I made it inside, DJ Bird Peterson was up on the decks dropping some serious mixes. And I can safely say that for the few people who were there, they all had their heads nodding as if they kept agreeing with the DJ. Then DJ Hella Yella took over playing nothing but classics. Thanks to them, I was already warmed up for the main event and sure enough, 9th Wonder made his entrance on stage and started dropping all the good stuff. He actually started with Mobb Deep so I was sold from the get-go. And he was off. From Tribe Called Quest and Geto Boys to Dr. Dre and Gangstarr, I don’t think he missed any of the greats. He even did a Michael Jackson tribute. He even got on a mic and said “I’m gonna test you guys and see how well you know your 90’s hip hop.” I believe I passed the test as I was basically rapping out loud every verse I knew on every song he dropped. People actually looked at me sideways but I didn’t care. I was in my own world.

However, there were some things going on in the crowd that caught my attention. I didn’t realize that the show was open to all ages until I saw all the young faces around me. Yes. There were a lot of kids around. At that point, they crowd had gotten thicker. I was so caught up in the music that I didn’t realize it. It was not wall to wall packed but a good crowd. And I could obviously tell who was from my generation. Apparently, I was not the only one mouthing the lyrics to those 90’s songs. Some people still remembered lyrics to Nas’ One Love. The younger people just stood there listening. A bunch of them were nodding just like I was. Whether they were familiar with the music 9th Wonder was playing or not, it didn’t matter. The fact of the matter is that they got to experience it again or for the first time and it was courtesy of a great man in hip hop. You have to give them props for showing up for that.

On a lighter note, I was quite amused when these 3 girls all wearing tight pink shirts and booty shorts came to the front of the crowd. They couldn’t have looked older than 22. I say that because they were drinking so I’d assume they were at least 21. Anyway, they were just going at it. Lots of booty shaking and “dropping it like it’s hot”, and dry humping. They would even bring in a random dude every once in a while to sandwich him. The one in the front would just bend over touching the floor and the back one just doing squats and swinging her butt left and right. I could have played the Girl Dance Game but I didn’t come out for that. Their behavior was nothing surprising because you see that kind of stuff in any bar or club you go to. The thing is they were doing all this to songs like Pharcyde’s Passing Me By, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth’s T.R.O.Y. and Lords of the Underground’s Chief Rocka. It seemed really out of place but it was quite funny to watch.

All and all, it was a great show! I was jamming the whole time, trying to rap over the speakers. It just always feels good to hear those songs. I do support all new music coming out but I guess my heart stayed in the 90’s. Big up to all who were involved with the event including all the DJs. I even got the meet 9th Wonder and he was very cool. If you’re not familiar with his work, I encourage you to check out his website at 9thwonder.com. Also check out the trailer for his upcoming documentary, The Wonder Year.