Tyler Woods Breaks Through, Under 9th Wonder's Guidance

by Paul W Arnold

After several years in the shadows of some of Hip Hop’s most respected rhymers, singer/songwriter/producer Tyler Woods is finally getting a well-deserved spotlight on his still burgeoning career, thanks in large part to super-producer 9th Wonder.

“9th Wonder, first of all, is a really good brother,” said Tyler to HipHopDX last week. “And we all reside in the same place, which is North Carolina. And we came up at the [historically] black universities. [A few years ago] I actually was doing a song with Camp Lo and [9th’s people] called – [Camp Lo and I] did a song prior to that [one] called ‘Gotcha’ [back in 2005] – and [9th’s people] were like, ‘Yooo,’ and 9th asked, ‘Who is this guy? What’s up with Tyler Woods?’ And [so] they called me, I came down to Durham – shout out to bull city, shout out to Raleigh…Raleighwood [is] what we call it. And [I] went in the studio [with 9th] and it was history. We did a song called ‘Only Knew,’ which is the first song we ever did together, and [which is] featuring Styles P…”

Tyler subsequently signed to 9th Wonder’s Jamla Records (also home to Brooklyn spitter Skyzoo) and surfaced on 9th’s 2007 compilation release, The Dream Merchant Vol. 2, (on the Jozeemo led “It Ain’t Over”). The Raleigh, North Carolina native has since made notable appearances on Murs’ “Love And Appreciate II,” (the 9th produced track from 2008’s Murs For President), as well as on 9th and Buckshot’s most recent collabo LP, The Formula, (for the project’s Talib Kweli-assisted second single, “Hold It Down”). The Ski Beatz-remixed version of the aforementioned “Gotcha” featuring Tyler also surfaced formally last year on Camp Lo’s Stone And Rob: Caught On Tape.

While some Hip Hop heads view 9th Wonder strictly within the context of Soul-driven boom-bap Hip Hop creations, the former producer/deejay third of Little Brother has previously produced standout soundscapes for songbirds Destiny’s Child (“Girl”), Mary J. Blige (“Good Woman Down”) and Erykah Badu (“Honey”). And with Tyler Woods, 9th continues displaying his knack for crafting soulful R&B gems like “Prove Myself,” which showcases Tyler’s modern day Al Green steez over a stellar remake of The Sylvers classic Soul-Funk jam.



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