On Jan. 27, Underhouse Music hosted a Hip hop show at 1078 gallery with various up and coming local rappers, artists and groups. It was a night filled with great vibes, energy, dancing and music. Anyone and everyone came out.

I got to talk to one of the acts, a group of guys based from Los Angeles, CA who call themselves “World 9”. Now you may be asking yourself, who is World 9? Well, I got to ask them and find out myself.

“We started this out freshman year when we were living in the Craig dorms. One day, we were just messing around, free-styling, making music and decided to really do this.” Josias Parker, member of the group and third-year sociology major at Butte College, tells me.

“We’re just a group of young, tenacious black men trying to send a message to the people. We’re all about good vibes and energy but at the same time, we want to be a voice for the people.” The group has an eclectic style inspired by a fuse of soul, R&B and hip hop.

Not only that, but all the members have different musical inspirations they give credit to. “Kanye west is definitely the first person to ever get me into the rap world with his college dropout album. Andre 3000 and Kendrick Lamar are also guys I really look up to as well,” Zyrell Brown aka “Miles,” third-year music major at Butte, tells me. “Music has always been a passion of mine and something I’ve wanted to pursue for a long time.”

The group’s focus is to send positive reinforcement and inspiration through their music and expose material that some people in the local area may have never heard of before.

“I think the beautiful part about Chico State and the students is that there are different styles and tastes that people have out here. Some individuals probably have never experienced that SoCal vibe and heavy hip hop culture before. I think it’s a great chance to get a look into it and see what our different styles in the group have to offer, especially with these downtown gallery shows,” Josias said.

In addition to that, Sherman Stacey, fourth-year Chico State psychology major and World 9’s official DJ, better known as “DJ Malachi,” wants people to feel good when listening to their music.

“Back in the day, when you would listen to singers like Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield, you instantly get that good feeling in your soul. With World 9, overall, it’s a feeling. Hopefully the lyrics uplift you and that’s our goal,” DJ Malachi said.

So what are future plans and upcoming projects World 9 has in store? “I will be dropping the first project from the collective of World 9. The mix tape is called “Society” and will focus around views I have on society as a whole. It’s conscious music but it’ll have some bump to it as well,” Miles said.

“I’m having a show on Feb. 4 in Chico that World 9 will be performing in as well as Bay Area rapper Nef the Pharaoh and other talented artists will be a part of. You don’t want to miss out,” DJ Malachi said.

Be on the lookout for these talented group of guys in Chico as they’re ready to take on the world as World 9.

Niyat Teferi can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_arts on Twitter.