9th Wonder – Kensho Kuma

Cloud NI9E will be finally dropping his debut solo album “Alternative” on 11/19. The Tokyo based producer released “the Program EP” with me last May and completed a successful Japan/ South East tour in the summer of ’13. He was also hand selected by Nujabes’ Hydeout label to become a member of the “Ficus” collective, which was specifically designed to carry on the late Japanese mastermind’s sonic legacy. This collective also enlisted 9th Wonder of Jay-Z/ Little Brother fame. The “Alternative” debut features two tracks by yours truly and one from my crew member Orukusaki.

TRACK LIST :
1. Recollection
2. Everlasting feat. Orukusaki
3. Bird’s Eye View
4. Peaceful Warrior feat. Kensho Kuma & Justin Murta
5. Stages feat. Cise Starr (from CYNE)
6. Kazamidori
7. Suicidal Psychology feat. Chiba Chemist
8. Stand Alone (Musou remix) feat. Audace
9. Botanique feat. Pumpkin
10. Talking all days feat. David Whitaker
11. One Day
12. Life Work feat. Kensho Kuma
13. Tokyo kid ~Split style~ feat. Kemui
14. My heart is a melody
15. Home
16. Eclipse (Kamiaritsuki pt.2)

Besides the great sensei DJ Krush, no Japanese producer has ever influenced the global sound scape at the magnitude the late great Nujabes did; from his soundtrack of “Samurai Champloo,” the “Luv Sic” series with Shing02, to his phenomenal solo projects, it’s an understatement to say that he left his mark on music. I remember begging my former engineer Mez to lend me his Samurai Champloo DVD’s and writing for hours to his mellow, jazzy instrumentals. He was and always will be definitely a noticeable part of my Hip Hop experience.

Nujabes released his music through the Hydeout label and they manage a store called Tribe. A new project from the Hydeout label “Black Foliage” will be released on 12/18 and features my producer Cloud NI9E. It’s even more impressive that Cise Starr rocks the track; the Florida MC has been on my radar since he merked “Steady” with his group Cyne. Oh yeah… 9th Wonder is also on the project too… Be sure to cop this one, I’m more than sure that it’ll be available on the Tribe site.