Number 9

Number 9

Number 9 is the stage name of Stefan Bruinsma, a musician from Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. He is active as a producer, MC and multi-instrumentalist, working across hip-hop, drum and bass, jazz, trip-hop, lounge, funk, soul, techno, dance, rock, metal, hardcore and ambient-oriented electronic music.

Background

Bruinsma is born and raised in Groningen. He starts playing music as a child, taking piano lessons first and then guitar lessons. At 18 he studies at the Rock Academy in Tilburg, where he develops as an artist and entrepreneur in the music industry.

Projects and collaborations

His early projects include ChupaCabra, a rock/metal/hardcore act active from 1997 to 2001; NorthQuake, a hip-hop collaboration active from 1998 to 2003; and Sanctio, a hip-hop/funk/soul project active from 1999 to 2005, where he works as pianist, guitarist and MC. He also works on Inna-Truth & Number 9, a hip-hop project that begins in 2004, and on Number 9, his own hip-hop/drum and bass/jazz project, active from 2002. Other projects include Space Messengers, a jazz/trip-hop/lounge collaboration that starts in 2006, 165over90, a drum and bass project active from 2007 to 2009, and Lift It Up, a techno/dance project from 2008. In these projects he appears variously as producer, MC, guitarist and DJ.

Releases

His first album is Unbound, recorded in 2000 with NorthQuake. His second album is Music and Me, recorded between 2002 and 2005 as his own project. His third album is The Lost Pages, released in 2007 as Inna-Truth & Number 9 - The Lost Pages, a collaboration with Inna-Truth. He continues to develop his own project alongside collaborations such as Space Messengers.