It's a Wonderful World Music Group is an independent record label, founded by hip hop producer

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is an American record producer, record ...

in 2008.

History

9th Wonder founded It's a Wonderful World Music Group shortly after leaving the group Little Brother (group), Little Brother. The idea of starting his own label was given to him by a fiance of one of the members of his production team. The company initially had distribution from

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

under

Asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

and

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. However, creative differences between 9th and Asylum Records were the primary delay behind the release of his 2011 album ''The Wonder Years''. He then left the company and sought distribution from Traffic Entertainment Group and The Orchard for the physical release of It's a Wonderful World's first offering, Big Remo's 2010 album ''Entrapment'' and his long-delayed ''The Wonder Years''. In January 2008, 9th Wonder initially announced plans to start two independent record labels, Jamla and The Academy, under the It's a Wonderful World imprint. The names of the two labels referenced his background: ''The Academy'' referred to his position as a college professor, while ''Jamla'' was a nod to

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

' original name

Tamla Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''motor'' ...

. Jamla originally consisted of Brooklyn rapper

Skyzoo Gregory Skyler Taylor (born December 24, 1980), known professionally as Skyzoo, is an American Director rapper and songwriter. He has released a number of notable solo and collaborative albums, including '' Cloud 9: The 3 Day High'' with 9th W ...

2005–06 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team The 2005–06 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Roy Williams (coach), Roy Williams. The t ...

player Quentin Thomas – better known as the moniker GQ, rapper

Rapsody Marlanna Evans (born January 21, 1983), better known by her stage name Rapsody, is an American rapper. After signing with music producer 9th Wonder's music label It's a Wonderful World Music Group, she released a series of mixtapes and collab ...

, R&B singer Tyler Woods, and hardcore rapper Big Remo. The Academy consisted of rapper HaLo, singer Heather Victoria, Thee Tom Hardy, North Carolinian duo Actual Proof, TP & The Away Team. The Academy artists were later folded into the Jamla label. In 2012, It's a Wonderful Music Group obtained distribution from its current distributor, Empire Distribution. The first album released under the deal was Rapsody's debut '' The Idea of Beautiful''. Jamla also had a short-lived joint venture deal with

Buckshot A shotgun cartridge, shotshell, or shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) ammunition used specifically in shotguns. It is typically loaded with numerous small, spherical sub-projectiles called shot. Shotguns typically use a ...

Duck Down Music Duck Down Music Inc is a New York City based record label, talent management, music-marketing, and consulting company founded by Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman and Kenyatta "Buckshot" Blake in 1995. In Duck Down's 20-year existence, the company has rel ...

to distribute albums by Skyzoo and The Away Team. In July 2010, 9th Wonder officially debuted his production team for IWWMG. The Soul Council consists of

Khrysis Christopher Frederick Tyson (born September 7, 1981), better known as Khrysis, is an American hip hop producer and occasional rapper. He is best known as a former member of the Justus League collective, being one half of the duo The Away Team ...

, E. Jones, Fatin "10" Horton, Ka$h Don't Make Beats, AMP, Eric G., & 9th Wonder himself. In August 2014, 9th Wonder announced Nottz as being the newest member of The Soul Council. In November 2015,

Hi-Tek Tony Louis Cottrell (born May 5, 1976), better known as Hi-Tek, is an American rapper and music producer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is best known for his work with Talib Kweli. His father is singer Willie Cottrell of the Willie Cottrell Band, ...

was announced as the newest member of The Soul Council. Aside from 9th Wonder being the President and CEO, other members of Jamla hold executive positions as well. The Away Team member Sean Boog was named as label manager in 2013. In April 2015, recording engineer

Young Guru Gimel Androus Keaton (born February 27, 1974), professionally better known by his pseudonym Young Guru, is an American audio engineer, record producer, disc jockey, and record executive from Wilmington, Delaware. In 2019, Young Guru won a Grammy ...

was named as the Director of Operations. The Soul Council producer AMP is also the label's artwork director, while Khrysis is the label's in-house recording engineer as well as mixing and mastering engineer.

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, the company is a successor to his previous Roc-A-Fella Records label, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a re ...

signed Rapsody in 2016 and Reuben Vincent in 2021.

Jamla Records

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is an American record producer, record ...

– President/CEO

Current artists

* Heather Victoria * Reuben Vincent * Swank & King Draft * The Musalini * Sweata

Past artists

* Tyler Woods * TP * Big Remo * Actual Proof * Thee Tom Hardy * The Away Team * HaLo *

Add-2 Andre D'Juan Daniels (born March 31, 1986), better known by his stage name Add-2, sometimes stylized as Add 2, is an American rapper who first gained popularity after the release of his second mixtape, A Tale of Two's City: Volume 2. In 2009, hi ...

* GQ * Ian Kelly

The Soul Council

The in-house production team for Jamla Records: * 9th Wonder *

* Eric G. * E. Jones * Ka$h * AMP *

Nottz Dominick J. Lamb, (born February 21, 1977) better known by his stage name Nottz (or Nottz Raw), is an American hip hop producer and rapper from Norfolk, Virginia. Life and career Some of Nottz's earliest production work was on the Rawkus ...

* Sndtrak

Discography

Notable albums

*2009: Skyzoo – '' The Salvation'' (Jamla/Duck Down) *2011: 9th Wonder – ''

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl X ...

'' *2011: The Away Team – ''

Scars & Stripes ''Scars & Stripes'' is the fourth album by North Carolina hip hop duo The Away Team, it was released on October 11, 2011, on 9th Wonder's label Jamla Records and Duck Down. The album's entirely produced by Khrysis, featuring contributions from ...

'' (Jamla/Duck Down) *2012: Rapsody – '' The Idea of Beautiful'' *2012: 9th Wonder &

– '' The Solution'' (Jamla/Duck Down) *2012:

Murs Murs may refer to: People * Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs (1804-1878), French ornithologist * Olly Murs (born 1984), English singer-songwriter * Murs (rapper) (born 1978), American rapper Places * Murs, Indre, France * Murs, Vaucluse, Fr ...

& 9th Wonder – ''

The Final Adventure ''The Final Adventure'' is the fifth collaboration album by Murs and 9th Wonder. It was released on November 13, 2012, on Jamla Records. The album features only one guest appearance by Rapsody. Critical response ''The Final Adventure'' was ...

'' *2015: Murs & 9th Wonder – '' Brighter Daze'' *2017: Rapsody – ''

Laila's Wisdom ''Laila's Wisdom'' is the second studio album by American rapper Rapsody, released on September 22, 2017, by Jamla Records and Roc Nation. It is Rapsody's first album released under her partnership with Roc Nation. The album features collaboratio ...

'' (Jamla/

) *2019: Rapsody – ''

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

'' (Jamla/

) *2023: Reuben Vincent - ''Love is War'' (Jamla/Roc Nation) *2024: Rapsody - ''

Please Don't Cry ''Please Don't Cry'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Rapsody. It was released on May 17, 2024, through the It's a Wonderful World Music Group, Jamla and Roc Nation labels. Background After releasing her previous album, ''Eve (Rapso ...

'' (Jamla/Roc Nation)

References

External links

9thwonder.comiwwmgroup.com
{{Authority control Hip-hop record labels American independent record labels Record labels established in 2008