It's been over four years since I first sat down with Tech for our first interview. And it was over four years ago when the first rumblings of Everready were heard. Absolute Power wasn't even on the shelves yet and Tech was already talking about what was next. At the time I thought "Damn, this dude has so many ideas that he already knows what his next album is going to be like". But now I believe it to be totally different. I feel completely sure that he knew he could do better. Granted, Absolute Power was a great album, but it wasn't what most Tech fans had expected. An album filled with party tracks, similar sounding beats, an almost cookie cutter feel about most songs and a few diss tracks thrown in. I get it, in 2002 Tech had a lot of pain to let out, but it seems as if he's kept some of that for this new album. Everready (The Religion).
Late Spring/Early Summer 2004 the first few tracks for the album were laid. I distinctly remember riding out to the Gathering '04 listening to "In My Head", "Come Gangster", "Turn" and "This Is Me". There may have been more but those stick in my mind the most. I was really impressed...thinking "THATS HOW YOU START RECORDING AN ALBUM!!". With the next couple of months brought Jellysickle, MWMBMG, Sleeping Beauty and No Can Do. Then came the Hostile Takeover Tour. I can't even begin to tell yall how many times I heard these 8 songs on that bus during the next 2.5 months. Lets just say I knew each song by heart by the time we got back to LA to wrap the tour. The next year brought a few new songs and anxious fans came through the woodwork by the masses. The year 2005 came to a close and a new album release was not even in sight. Anxiety turned into doubt and doubt lead to some people just giving up. I can't blame most of yall. Four years to wait for a new cd from your favorite artist is a tough pill to swallow. Forget the fact that he made countless appearances on other Strange Music albums in the meantime and even put out a From The Vault album. It was early 2006 and we still didn't have Everready, PERIOD. In the time between the Absolute Power release and today, I can say with 99% certainty that Tech had toured to a dozen cities at least 10 times off the same album. And last time I checked those shows were still selling out. Not to mention the repeat performances at The Gathering and Summer Jam type concerts across the nation. And did he really goto Austrailia and New Zealand and Denmark and other Eastern European nations?
What Tech N9ne has accomplished, in the last four years, most rappers...nay...musicians....nay.....entertainers will NEVER experience. Just to think 10 years ago I thought dude just had a tight little song on a Tupac soundtrack.
Back to Everready...
After all the speculation and the wish lists of possible features and producers flew around the Internet; the anticipation of this new album was back at an all time high.
"Did you hear Tech's gonna have Eminem and Brotha Lynch on the same track?"
"Yo Tech's gonna get a Lil Jon beat for Everready"
"Twista and Tech, FINALLY"
You heard them all, some came to fruition, many were lost along the way.
The final product though gave everyone a little bit of their favorite Tech N9ne. The Calm Before The Storm Tech is sprinkled in with the Anghellic Tech and the Absolute Power Tech is standing by to party it's ass off.
Full Circle...lyrics, beats, word manipulation, features that made sense, its all come together in a beautiful mesh of great music.
First the production...Motherfuckin White Boy Seven. I knew this combination would work the first day I heard Tech on "Ready For The Meat Wagon" (another Seven produced track), I just didn't think it was going to be 8 years before I heard another installment of this duo. Welcome to the Midwest, Come Gangster, Night and Day, It's What You Thinkin, Bout Ta Bubble, ROOT, That Owl...are you kidding me? Who does this dude think he is producing half a Tech N9ne album? Rubonyx? I must say though, with each new beat I couldn't tell they were all made by Seven. I do not think he can be over-used and I welcome many more tracks with his stamp on the beat in the future. And if I'm most impressed with this dude and there are still tracks on the album produced with platinum producers Rick Rock and Traxter, you KNOW the motherfucker is dope. Oh yeah, Rick Rock and The Legendary Traxter also did some songs on the album. The ladder produced "My World", a dark beat laid on top of a sickly deep rolling bass line. And did anyone else feel creeped out by the kids on the hook? The track also features Brotha Lynch Hung, an underground rap legend, and Dalima who appeared to be a last minute replacement for Eminem who Tech himself said would be on the song. That deal must have fallen through at the final hour and the replacement had to be found. And it was found in a former Tech prodigy in Dalima. Most would remember him as one half of the old MidWest Side group DA HOOLIGANS. Most family would have loved a Tech/Eminem colab, but I feel Dalima is a more than worthy replacement. He brought an edge to the song that Eminem could and would never go to. Plus you never know what you will get from Eminem...he might have turned the song into another Purple Pills or some shit. Catch ya next time Em.
Tech also took the display of his personal life to another level by calling on his daughters Alyia and Reign on "The Rain". If you don't get choked up, get goose bumps or shed a tear listening to this song, you do not have a heart. For the fans to finally know that Tech puts you before his own family 95% of the time, you gotta feel like you ain't putting up your end of the bargain. His youngest daughter is having a birthday and he's performing in front of a couple dozen people in Madison, Wisconsin. What part of that makes sense? If you're reading this right now and you're listening to the album you downloaded and haven't gone out to buy it yet. Go GET IT...or put a gun to your head.
I digress, back to the album content. Once again I feel that 3 of the best songs were placed on the bonus cd. I felt this way for Absolute Power and my thoughts are echoed for Everready. "That Owl" is a witty, snappy, boastful track that sounded like it belonged on an Outkast album. "In My Head" was an early favorite of mine when the album was first being recorded. And "Groupie", a tremendously graphic detail of life on the road and what goes on "after the show". It goes much further than Game just name dropping that Superhead chicken for the sake of name dropping.
Sorry, I had to get that out...Game's album is disgusting and I'm really tired of him talking about her, Dre, Snoop, Eazy, Compton, NWA, Aftermath and dickies in every single song. OK, I feel better.
The bonus cd is also loaded with bright gems that will hopefully shine ever so brightly next year. Primarily "The Need". This is going to be Krizz Kaliko's "This Ring". This motherfucker is talented and hopefully we will all see that come this time next year. Also most of us were introduced to Critical Bill for the first time. They sound very promising for their first album on Strange Music. Skatterman and Snug Brim came correct on both of their featured songs. And speaking of features, Kutt's "Featured Presentation" looks to be another album coming at you with the intensity of a three alarm fire. PDM looks to follow up their debut album with more political angst and craziness, it shall not disappoint. And last but not least Kabosh. Last year at Krizz Kaliko's wedding Tech told me that him and Krizz were going to make a rock album i pretty much took it with a grain of salt. Sure I thought it was genius, but I just thought this might have been another one of Tech's big dreams that would never make it to the studio. FORTUNATELY it looks like this dream is coming true. If this first track is any indication, Kabosh should blow some minds and break some stereotypes along the way.
So there you have it, my $.02 which really turned out to be about $3.74, but fuck it. Respond or give your own thoughts if you wish.
Oh...GO BUY THE MOTHERFUCKING ALBUM
Late Spring/Early Summer 2004 the first few tracks for the album were laid. I distinctly remember riding out to the Gathering '04 listening to "In My Head", "Come Gangster", "Turn" and "This Is Me". There may have been more but those stick in my mind the most. I was really impressed...thinking "THATS HOW YOU START RECORDING AN ALBUM!!". With the next couple of months brought Jellysickle, MWMBMG, Sleeping Beauty and No Can Do. Then came the Hostile Takeover Tour. I can't even begin to tell yall how many times I heard these 8 songs on that bus during the next 2.5 months. Lets just say I knew each song by heart by the time we got back to LA to wrap the tour. The next year brought a few new songs and anxious fans came through the woodwork by the masses. The year 2005 came to a close and a new album release was not even in sight. Anxiety turned into doubt and doubt lead to some people just giving up. I can't blame most of yall. Four years to wait for a new cd from your favorite artist is a tough pill to swallow. Forget the fact that he made countless appearances on other Strange Music albums in the meantime and even put out a From The Vault album. It was early 2006 and we still didn't have Everready, PERIOD. In the time between the Absolute Power release and today, I can say with 99% certainty that Tech had toured to a dozen cities at least 10 times off the same album. And last time I checked those shows were still selling out. Not to mention the repeat performances at The Gathering and Summer Jam type concerts across the nation. And did he really goto Austrailia and New Zealand and Denmark and other Eastern European nations?
What Tech N9ne has accomplished, in the last four years, most rappers...nay...musicians....nay.....entertainers will NEVER experience. Just to think 10 years ago I thought dude just had a tight little song on a Tupac soundtrack.
Back to Everready...
After all the speculation and the wish lists of possible features and producers flew around the Internet; the anticipation of this new album was back at an all time high.
"Did you hear Tech's gonna have Eminem and Brotha Lynch on the same track?"
"Yo Tech's gonna get a Lil Jon beat for Everready"
"Twista and Tech, FINALLY"
You heard them all, some came to fruition, many were lost along the way.
The final product though gave everyone a little bit of their favorite Tech N9ne. The Calm Before The Storm Tech is sprinkled in with the Anghellic Tech and the Absolute Power Tech is standing by to party it's ass off.
Full Circle...lyrics, beats, word manipulation, features that made sense, its all come together in a beautiful mesh of great music.
First the production...Motherfuckin White Boy Seven. I knew this combination would work the first day I heard Tech on "Ready For The Meat Wagon" (another Seven produced track), I just didn't think it was going to be 8 years before I heard another installment of this duo. Welcome to the Midwest, Come Gangster, Night and Day, It's What You Thinkin, Bout Ta Bubble, ROOT, That Owl...are you kidding me? Who does this dude think he is producing half a Tech N9ne album? Rubonyx? I must say though, with each new beat I couldn't tell they were all made by Seven. I do not think he can be over-used and I welcome many more tracks with his stamp on the beat in the future. And if I'm most impressed with this dude and there are still tracks on the album produced with platinum producers Rick Rock and Traxter, you KNOW the motherfucker is dope. Oh yeah, Rick Rock and The Legendary Traxter also did some songs on the album. The ladder produced "My World", a dark beat laid on top of a sickly deep rolling bass line. And did anyone else feel creeped out by the kids on the hook? The track also features Brotha Lynch Hung, an underground rap legend, and Dalima who appeared to be a last minute replacement for Eminem who Tech himself said would be on the song. That deal must have fallen through at the final hour and the replacement had to be found. And it was found in a former Tech prodigy in Dalima. Most would remember him as one half of the old MidWest Side group DA HOOLIGANS. Most family would have loved a Tech/Eminem colab, but I feel Dalima is a more than worthy replacement. He brought an edge to the song that Eminem could and would never go to. Plus you never know what you will get from Eminem...he might have turned the song into another Purple Pills or some shit. Catch ya next time Em.
Tech also took the display of his personal life to another level by calling on his daughters Alyia and Reign on "The Rain". If you don't get choked up, get goose bumps or shed a tear listening to this song, you do not have a heart. For the fans to finally know that Tech puts you before his own family 95% of the time, you gotta feel like you ain't putting up your end of the bargain. His youngest daughter is having a birthday and he's performing in front of a couple dozen people in Madison, Wisconsin. What part of that makes sense? If you're reading this right now and you're listening to the album you downloaded and haven't gone out to buy it yet. Go GET IT...or put a gun to your head.
I digress, back to the album content. Once again I feel that 3 of the best songs were placed on the bonus cd. I felt this way for Absolute Power and my thoughts are echoed for Everready. "That Owl" is a witty, snappy, boastful track that sounded like it belonged on an Outkast album. "In My Head" was an early favorite of mine when the album was first being recorded. And "Groupie", a tremendously graphic detail of life on the road and what goes on "after the show". It goes much further than Game just name dropping that Superhead chicken for the sake of name dropping.
Sorry, I had to get that out...Game's album is disgusting and I'm really tired of him talking about her, Dre, Snoop, Eazy, Compton, NWA, Aftermath and dickies in every single song. OK, I feel better.
The bonus cd is also loaded with bright gems that will hopefully shine ever so brightly next year. Primarily "The Need". This is going to be Krizz Kaliko's "This Ring". This motherfucker is talented and hopefully we will all see that come this time next year. Also most of us were introduced to Critical Bill for the first time. They sound very promising for their first album on Strange Music. Skatterman and Snug Brim came correct on both of their featured songs. And speaking of features, Kutt's "Featured Presentation" looks to be another album coming at you with the intensity of a three alarm fire. PDM looks to follow up their debut album with more political angst and craziness, it shall not disappoint. And last but not least Kabosh. Last year at Krizz Kaliko's wedding Tech told me that him and Krizz were going to make a rock album i pretty much took it with a grain of salt. Sure I thought it was genius, but I just thought this might have been another one of Tech's big dreams that would never make it to the studio. FORTUNATELY it looks like this dream is coming true. If this first track is any indication, Kabosh should blow some minds and break some stereotypes along the way.
So there you have it, my $.02 which really turned out to be about $3.74, but fuck it. Respond or give your own thoughts if you wish.
Oh...GO BUY THE MOTHERFUCKING ALBUM
