Buckshot & 9th Wonder

As a well-respected producer, the always musically adventurous 9th Wonder is never one to shy away from experimentation. In joining forces with scrappy rap vet Buckshot for The Solution, the North Carolina-based music maker mashes up his trademark percussion-driven, soul sample-laden production with the street grit, Boot Camp Clik-styled flow. Being that this is their third full-length collaboration together (following 2005's The Chemistry and 2008's The Formula), the duo no doubt have the resulting boom-bap down pat. The Solution differs from 9th Wonder's collaborative series with West coast rapper Murs (whose appropriately titled The Final Adventure was released on the same day), in that the 12-track project maintains a gully, old school feel to Murs's breezier sensibilities. Hitting the ground running with "The Big Bang," Buckshot (he of the easygoing Black Moon flow) reveals that no steps have been lost in a career spanning a couple of decades, while 9th Wonder proves once again that he can flip the musical script and retain his signature sound. Tracks like the keys-driven "What I Gotta Say" and the soulful "Keep It Going" keep things on the reverent side, perhaps too reverent, in parts. It's a gritty, soulful sound that holds The Solution together, seemingly aspiring to be nothing more than "Boot Camp meets Little Brother": familiar and stress-free for an audience seeking a vintage feel in their hip-hop.