Power to the 9th: Grammy Award-Winning Producer Holds Class on Life, Discovery, and 50 Years of Hip-Hop

The Triad Cultural Arts and the Arts Council of WinstonSalem and Forsyth County rolled out the red carpet for one of its own while celebrating 50 years of Hip-Hop.

Patrick Denard Douthit, professionally known as the 9th Wonder, received a king’s welcome still mind-blowing to him.

“A lot of times I don’t believe it because I’m so much of a fan. I’ve been a fan of the music for the first 28 years of my life,” he said. “When you’re a fan of it the way I’m a fan of it, it’s hard to believe that you’re a part of it. Now, I know how people see me and look at me, but still, I ride around listening to my music just like anybody else.”

The reception and masterclass was held Monday, July 24 at Reyolds Place Theatre in the Milton Rhodes Center of the Arts in Downtown Winston-Salem. Filled with fans, loved ones, and old classmates, the class ushered in a spirit of comradery for the teacher and his craft.

“We are by large account the youngest genre. There are a lot of subgenres now, but we’re the youngest genre. We think about rock, jazz, blues, or anything else, we’re the youngest. Even though we’re the youngest, the worldwide phenomenon of hip-hop is that it’s stretched past race, color, creed, gender, and language. This is universal as math,” Douthit said. “The things that hip-hop has done from a culture standpoint, I separate what the industry has done to the art form as opposed to what the art form is really, the art form, as the culture has been phenomenal. It’s changed fashion, it’s changed commercials, it’s changed music, it’s changed just everything. It’s changed what we think, the way we talk, and some of the things that we say.”

Douthit is a graduate of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools’ Glenn High