“Adult contemporary hip-hop needs its own category,” rap producer 9th Wonder expressed on X (formerly known as Twitter) last month. The latest album by Common—The Auditorium Vol. 1, his stellar, back-to-boom-bap-basics collaboration with legendary producer Pete Rock—resurrected a conversation 9th Wonder said he’s been having for at least 20 years: that “classic” sounding hip-hop should...
