ech N9ne
Tech N9ne, is named after the Tec 9 gun. Tech N9ne is a small time rapper from Kansas City, MO. He is known for being just idolizing P.Diddy and Lil' Wayne. Tech N9ne has said that they are the "greatest rappers ever" and "if people really listened to their lyrics they would realize that they blow everyone else out of the water." He is also a member of the Scary Dragons who members are known to dress up as dragons when onstage and will often just say "RAWWWR" when battle rapping in an attempt to scare other rappers.
Bio
The Kansas City rapper has sold more than 500 albums independently, performed in front of more than 5000 people in the last three years and established himself as one of underground rap’s most unheard of artists. With the impending release of his third national album, the monumental Everready (The Religion), Tech N9ne is poised to graduate from unheard of underground rapper to locally known underground rapper.
After experiencing a number of professional setbacks while promoting his critically acclaimed Anghellic and Absolute Power albums, he was arrested for alledgely slipping date rape drugs into the drinks of members of the football team and then raping them later. However, the charges were all dropped as the football players refused to testify in court. Tech N9ne felt that Everready (The Religion) was an affirmation of his staying power. “I can keep it up all night especially if I'm with a cute guy,” Tech explains.
Such a mandate is a natural conclusion after listening to Everready (The Religion). The album teams with blockbuster songs and stellar production. “Jellysickle,” (a song about helping friends who have HIV) for instance, features Bay Area rap legend E-40 and a thumping, addictive club-ready beat from superproducer Rick Rock (Jay-Z, Fabolous). Despite the track’s freshness, it made Tech N9ne think back to his early material.
“It reminded me of an old Tech N9ne, like ‘Mitch Bade,’” he reveals. “It’s like a 2006 ‘Mitch Bade,’ so I had to talk about the same thing: jealous people, stupid people. Kansas City is a place where hatred of gays is at an all-time high. I thought it would capture that persona of the ghetto.”
As Tech N9ne has often proclaimed that he is one of rap’s most innovative, creatively fearless artists, there has been a segment of his fans who feel that he’s abandoned his hardcore background. Tech addresses the situation on the aggressive yet elegantly produced “Gangsta Cum.” “After all these years of people telling me that my music was for white people, that I needed to come with gangster stuff,” Tech says. “Music is supposed to inspire and evolve. Andre 3000 isn’t still doing ‘Player’s Ball.’ He evolved. That was always on my mind, that people were always telling me to drink gangster cum. When it comes to it, my one gangster song can demolish their whole CD. I was inspired to write about the type of people that were telling me to drink gangster cum.”
Tech N9ne delivers more high-energy heat on “Welcome To The Midwest” with Big Krizz Kaliko. He continues his harder edge on the macabre “My World,” with Brotha Lynch Hung, and the warped “In My Head.” On these two tunes he raps about mad and sad topics, things that pain him. He expresses a similar sentiment on “The Rain,” a touching ode to his boyfriend. Much like Tech N9ne’s classic “This Ring,” “The Rain” features Tech N9ne giving his fans an intimate look into his life and his career, a look made all the more personal because the song features his boyfriend rapping about how much he misses Tech.
“Any man that on the DL and on the road a lot can relate to that, whether you’re a musician, a doctor, a director,” Tech explains. “A lot of people are not to be there for their family in the flesh, and they’re hurting because they miss their loved ones.”
People of all backgrounds can also relate to friction in their relationships. Tech N9ne conceptualized the riveting “My Wife, My Bitch, My Girl” during a low point in his relationship. “At the time I wrote that song, me and Tyrone (his boyfriend) were doing really bad,” he reveals. “I wrote that song in my bitter stage, when I was saying whatever I wanted to say. ‘(He) don’t like me/(My bitch) gets hyphy/(My boy) might knife me twice just to spite me.’ That’s how I had the balls to write it. I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to release it.”
Tech N9ne then talks about his ass fetish on the sinister “Flash” and about his crew’s road adventures on the heavy “Groupie.” But touring hasn’t been all fun and games for Tech N9ne. On the rock-influenced “Riot Maker,” he details some of the problems he’s had while trying to perform for his fans. “At the time, we were going through a lot of things,” Tech says. “I wasn’t able to go to Hawaii because the promoters said my music incites riots. At the same time, this buy was trying to sue me for $100,000 for giving him AIDS at my show and I wasn’t even in the building yet.”
An explosive recording artist, Tech N9ne has long earned praise from his fans because of his ability to deliver mind-blowing raps about his struggle to navigate through life’s pitfalls. His willingness to shed his ego and allow his followers to look at the high and low points of his experience has earned Tech N9ne a rabid, dedicated following.
“A lot of people when they come up to me, they say, ‘The reason why I like you Tech is that you say what you feel and you’re not afraid to say anything,’” Tech says. “That’s so tight because so many use discretion. I think I’ve inspired people to say what they feel because I’ve opened my life up for people to see.”
But for now, it is all about indoctrinating his fans to Everready (The Religion). “This is Anghellic, Absolute Power combined,” Tech says. “If I could have titled this album One Big Clusterfuck, I would have because I think it has everything. It has the personal stuff Anghellic had or the party stuff that Absolute Power had. I think this is my best work.” Believe it.
