Growing up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the boy who would become producer 9th Wonder, Pat Douthit, performed in the school band and also played keyboards at home. Initially, while a student at North Carolina Central University, Douthit planned on saving his money for the producer's favorite tool, the MPC, but after a friend showed him that he could make the beats he wanted on a computer, he decided to use that instead. In 1998 he met classmates and future bandmates <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC" data-name="Phonte">Phonte</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF" data-name="Big Pooh">Big Pooh</a>, and with them soon formed <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO" data-name="Little Brother">Little Brother</a>. Their first album, The Listening, was released in 2003, and 9th Wonder began to receive further attention after he remixed <a href="spotify:artist:20qISvAhX20dpIbOOzGK3q" data-name="Nas">Nas</a>' 2002 album, God's Son, naming it God's Stepson, as well as the track "Threat," which he produced on <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB" data-name="JAY Z">JAY Z</a>'s seminal The Black Album. Work with <a href="spotify:artist:2dWF6m2ksP9GN75fufFp16" data-name="Murs">Murs</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5Fc4E9FtAoP4UHXWh6oLpS" data-name="Buckshot">Buckshot</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ipBhKpOYqs6BbysLNGye6" data-name="Jean Grae">Jean Grae</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Y8cdNmUJH7yBTd9yOvr5i" data-name="Destiny's Child">Destiny's Child</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr" data-name="Mary J. Blige">Mary J. Blige</a> followed, as well as another <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO" data-name="Little Brother">Little Brother</a> record, 2005's Minstrel Show, the same year his proper solo debut, Dream Merchant, Vol. 1, came out. In 2007, 9th Wonder left <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO" data-name="Little Brother">Little Brother</a> and spent his time both producing tracks for the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:7IfculRW2WXyzNQ8djX8WX" data-name="Erykah Badu">Erykah Badu</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2x6jz70u3sZq75tW10akUW" data-name="Sean Price">Sean Price</a>, and teaching a class on hip-hop at NCCU and collaborating with <a href="spotify:artist:3ho167y1Ac7ANj2qkbJUCJ" data-name="Boot Camp Clik">Boot Camp Clik</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:5Fc4E9FtAoP4UHXWh6oLpS" data-name="Buckshot">Buckshot</a> for an album called The Formula, which was released in the spring of 2008. Two collaborative albums arrived in 2010, with Fornever featuring <a href="spotify:artist:2dWF6m2ksP9GN75fufFp16" data-name="Murs">Murs</a> and Death of a Pop Star featuring <a href="spotify:artist:7jFaoqWPhYLrKzjzlpXmUO" data-name="David Banner">David Banner</a>. The proper solo effort The Wonder Years followed in 2011, while the 2012 release, The Solution, teamed the producer with rapper <a href="spotify:artist:5Fc4E9FtAoP4UHXWh6oLpS" data-name="Buckshot">Buckshot</a>. Another collaborative effort with <a href="spotify:artist:2dWF6m2ksP9GN75fufFp16" data-name="Murs">Murs</a>, The Final Adventure, also arrived in 2012, while 2015 was the year he dropped the album Indie 500 with <a href="spotify:artist:0lEssBAxQl2In4RpaB1C2Y" data-name="Talib Kweli">Talib Kweli</a>. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi
