The Running Everready Review/Interview Thread
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Interview with Tech N9ne
By Soren Baker
What has been behind the big delay between Absolute Power and Everready?
The big delay between Absolute Power and Everready was touring. I tour like no other. A lot of independents don’t tour like we tour, man. In the midst of all that touring, we took the time, like if we were on the West Coast and had a couple of days off, we’d go to the studio and we’d record five to six songs while we were out there on the West Coast. We were recording for Everready while we were on tour. My fans, they really, really support us and I have to be there for them. That’s how I make my bread and butter. It’s through touring. I had to squeeze Everready in in between time open dates. It took a while. It’s like we’ve been touring on Absolute Power since 2002, and we have been. We’ve been doing Everready ever since then.
What impact do you think touring has had on your career?
Touring has a big, big impact because that’s how our fanbase continues to grow. My audience is broad. We just came from Copenhagen, Denmark. We’re independents over there opening the show to [Everready song] "Riot Maker." They’ve never heard this song. Everready’s not even out now and we’re over there in Copenhagen, Denmark and they’re doing their hands along to, "We’re gonna start this shit off right/We got KC, MO in the house tonight." I don’t think too many independents that are doing that.
Being that you are on the road so much, you address that on the Everready song "The Rain". Touring has helped you, but it’s also caused a lot of frustration for you. Why did you want to talk about that on "The Rain"?
The upside to touring is that is does benefit the album, sales and all that. The downside is being away from your loved ones. Now if you’re a person that ain’t got no loved ones, maybe this is for you. I don’t know. But I don’t know anyone that doesn’t have loved ones. Me, I happen to have two little girls, a little boy and a wife. On "The Rain" I say, "And my kids, all three of em suffer in the worst ways/Cause last year I missed all three of their birthdays/So when you see me with my eyes full of pain/Give me love ‘cause these are three of the reasons why I call the road The Rain." Those three reasons being my two girls, and my little boy. That’s the downside, when you have loved ones and you have to be on the road to do these things for them.
One of the reasons I think fans like you is that you do get personal with your lyrics. Why do you feel it’s important for you as an artist to express yourself on such a personal level on a constant basis?
A lot of people say keeping it real is the best and I sometimes say keep it real, also. But me, knowing that everybody’s reality is different, I’ll say keep it right. And what’s right in my eyes is what I know. Quincy Jones taught me that. He said, "Tech, always rap what you know and people will forever feel you." And I felt that cause I always like to be honest when I spit. Because in this profession if it comes out that you’re fraudulent, everybody’s going to know it. I’m not going to be that one, and what can I rap about best and better than anybody else? Myself. No other MC can rap about me better than me, even if he was dissing me. I could dis myself way better than any other MC because I know myself better than anybody. So, if I’m going to rap about something, I’m going to rap about my life because that’s what I know best, and I’m going to be the best at it and I’m going to do it in a style that is abnormal. It’s so fucking schizophrenic, man. The fact that I can put serious words into a rapid-fire style, that’s wonderful. I actually said something meaningful and I dig it. Anybody can rap their life. It’s boring. You’ve got to do it with style, and that’s where Tech N9ne comes in, that abnormal style.
Speaking of being abnormal, people have regularly questioned your spiked red hair, your imagery and your overall persona. Some have even labeled it demonic. Why did you cut your hair off recently, and how and why did you develop the Tech N9ne persona in the way that you have?
The way I developed is thinking different, just like the Apple Computers campaign. The thing the started that was me entering into this whole Nutt Howze frame of mind. Nutt Howze was an old group that I used to be involved with back in the day with Icy-Roc, my brother Dyno Mack, a female rapper by the name of Agony. We got with each other and these people taught me to not give a damn about what another motherfucker think about -- the way you wear your hair, what you speak about. It started with Nutt Howze and it started with my stepdad. My stepdad said to me one day, "What do you have that everybody else don’t have? You sound just like everybody else." So I said that I had to do something to make people see me, make people hear me. I didn’t want to fall in that bracket of, "Oh, he sounds just like Nas, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Ice Cube." I wanted to find something distinctive, so I started with pitch. Instead of saying, "My name is Tech N9ne." I said, "My name is Tech Niiiiiiiiiine." Pitch was everything to me. Rappers wasn’t doing pitches. It was so monotone. I used to teach my people, "Do different pitches. You can just go outside and listen to something. A train will make a sound. Do something similar to that, something that’s way totally to the left. I’ve been on it for a minute, since my stepfather said that, since Nutt Howze taught me to think different. The thing with the hair, man, truly I did mess my hair up because I wanted people to hear me. Because in school I was a pretty boy. That’s what the bitches used to call me, "Pretty Boy," so I actually tore my hair apart so they would listen to what I had to say. But then, as it got crazier and I started doing those drugs that I don’t do anymore -- I started doing that ecstasy and started going to these raves -- that manipulated me to where I wanted color in my hair. I want it to be like art, to when you see Tech N9ne it would be like art. The next thing you know, my hair is red. The next thing you know, my hair is in red spikes. The next thing you know, it’s a crown. It’s crazy, but after a while, that dye, being a Black man like I am, I don’t know how to take care of bleached hair and it damages your hair. So, me being on the road as much as I am, the shit started falling out. What I found was that when I had to cut it off two months ago is that I actually love it and the psycho was still within me. It’s never been my image that made people like it. It’s always been what I had within and the fact that I cut all of that shit off, all of the menacing shit off, and go back to the pretty boy that they say I am, I love it. I thought my fans were going to be against it, but I didn’t give a fuck because this is me. This is a part of me and I can’t be ashamed of what’s a part of me.
That brings me to the "Come Gangsta" song on the new album, because you address how people tend to have a lot of preconceived ideas about you.
People tend to destroy what they don’t understand because they fear it. When you see a Black man with red hair, chin hair that looks like something you see off a hot sauce bottle, they would call it devil. When people -- and not just Black people either, but any people -- see shit like that, they try to tear it down because they don’t understand it and they don’t want to understand it. I’ve got a song on my album Everready called "Come Gangsta" and it’s talking about how people said that I sold out, how I’m doing my shit for the White folks, this rock and roll shit, and it ain’t rap shit just because it was different. But it was real nigga shit! "I’ve been bustin/And fixnucking/Bitches, it tis nothing/For years puffin/I’ve been clutchin/Riches from his muffin/Here’s fuck you niggas/This is tuff/And I don’t know what the fuck you thinking/Telling me this shit is hella fake." It’s like real nigga shit, ghetto shit but in a style that’s so fucking operatic but hip-hop at the same time. It’s crazy. I really had to do that song because over the years, being different and looking different, you hear a lot of shit like, "That ain’t Young Dro. I don’t what to hear it." "That ain’t Yung Joc. I don’t what to hear it." "That ain’t Young Jeezy. I don’t what to hear it." "That ain’t Young Nobody. Nigga, that’s some other shit. That nigga’s over there." They’ll pick up the album, look at it and be like, "Hell naw. I’m on this. I want to see a baseball cap. That ain’t Kanye West. I don’t want to hear that."
But how does it make you feel? Does it hurt you? Do you care? Is it something that bothers you?
I did care at the beginning. You don’t want to hear that from your own people. You don’t want to hear that from no people. You don’t want to hear that you’re a sellout from nobody, White or Black or Chinese or Spanish. You don’t want to hear that. Yeah, that hurts. You go soul-searching for a minute, man. Then when you find it, you’re like, "Hold on. This is me." You start not giving a fuck. You still do your thing, and eventually those people that said that shit will be right back on your dick because you stuck to it and you were you. The real muthafuckas that know will say, "That’s really Tech N9ne." Like Black Walt will say, "What Tech N9ne is doing right now, that’s really Tech N9ne." He was right. Yeah it hurts. It fucked with me, but it don’t fuck with me no more because this is me.
What allowed you to get past it?
Hearing it so long. But just imagine if I was hearing it and I was trying to do that, that is was just a façade. I would have changed it. I can’t change what I am and I won’t change what I am. So, hearing it so many times for so many years, I started laughing at people like, "You muthafuckas don’t even know that that’s the hardest shit. This is my life that I’m spitting. You think that I’m spitting someone else’s life?" They started looking stupid to me because they were liking the norm, the muthafuckas that just want to stay in this little bracket right here and it’ll be gone tomorrow, flash-in-the-pan type a niggas. That ain’t me. Hearing that over and over, that’s what made me get over it. It’s sort of like how I had to get used to wearing my hair wild. I walked up and down the ghetto streets and people on the bus would just be laughing at me. I had to get used to them laughing at me. It was embarrassing at first because it was something different. Everybody else was trying to be pretty and trying to be cool. You fuck yourself up and everywhere you go, you hear snickering. It’s something different. They’re going to laugh at you. It took me like a week to get used to them laughing at me, man. After a while, it goes away, if you’re strong.
Looking back at Anghellic, you had Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. On Everready, you also have the different compartments of the album. Why is that something you’ve done again and what are the new compartments on Everready?
To me, life is a rollercoaster ride and that’s what I feel like my albums should be. It should down and then go up, then to the side, then go down again and then go back up – upside down, if you would. The way I wanted to do this rollercoaster ride on Everready, we had something real serious happen to us last year, March 23, 05. It was five of us in a car and it flipped. We were coming out of Spokane, Washington and flipped five times inside this blizzard. The cops in the ambulance said we weren’t supposed to survive as totaled as the van was. The way I wanted to start this album was to let people know how serious that it was, and that we were supposed to die. The fact that we lived and nobody had any scratches let us know that were we in God’s graces. Ever since then, that day, we’ve been partying, kicking it like a muthafucka. Every day’s a party, celebrating life, so the first 11 songs are upbeat like a muthafucka. "Riot Maker." "No Can Do." "Welcome To Midwest" is bright and it sounds like Dean Martin’s on the hook. After that is a song called "Night And Day." After that, it’s a song called "It’s What You Thinkin’." If your girl is at a Tech show, it’s what you’re thinkin. We’re just partying all the way through. We’ve got "Jellysickle" with E-40. After that, we’ve got "My Wife, My Bitch, My Girl," which is a serious subject, but it’s on a party-ass beat. We’re also got "Caribou Lou," where we’re drinking. The first 11 songs is just party. We set the stage with the intro "B.L.E.S.T." There’s five of us. I got the T, of course, and my other homies are the others. It sets the stage for Everready, that big party that we’re having. We’re rejoicing that we’re still here for our children and that we’re still able to do this wonderful thing for a living. That’s why I set the stage like that. Now, after the first 11 songs, it gets darker. It says, "You are beginning your descent," and the whole album changes. It starts slowing down with "Come Gangsta." On "Come Gangsta" I’m just talking about the haters that say that I was different and stupid because it’s not the norm. Then, right after that, I have a section on my album that has a couple of sad songs, if you would. I labeled that section of the album "The Melancholy Maze." I think it’s wonderful, amazing. It says, "You have entered ‘The Melancholy Maze.’ We hope you find your way out," because nobody wants to be melancholy, nobody wants to be sad, mad. We hope you find your way out through this. What I’ve found is that through my pain, other people that have pain, it’s lessened when they hear somebody of my stature with pain. They’re like, "Damn, if he’s going through the same thing," it makes them feel better. So, I put "The Melancholy Maze" there for the people who really need that, because I’m always going to have pain. I’ve come to realize that no matter how beautiful my life gets, it’s always going to be some pain because I love too many people. I have too many things that I love. That’s why I don’t fuck with pets. I can’t take no more pain of something dying that I care about. If you love something, they will go away. That’s the fucked up reality. I used to say, "I wish I didn’t love nothing, because I know how it hurts when you lose something you love." So, I had to put "The Melancholy Maze" there and in "The Melancholy Maze," it starts with the song "My World." Now, it’s three different worlds because Brotha Lynch came through on there and killed it, murdered it. I love him for it. Eminem was supposed to be on the middle, but no one could find him. D12 and all them hadn’t talked to him in three months. So, I put one of my young partners by the name of Dalima in the middle, man. I gave him his name when he was 14. He’s a young cat, he came through and murdered it. It’s Brotha Lynch’s world and his world consists of, "Nigga’s nuts and guts get served up." Dalima, it was his world of flow. In his world, "Motherfuckers are hating him for the longest/Could it be cause I’m lyrically flawless." His world is darkened because motherfuckers hate on him because he’s so raw with the rap. Mine, my world in the song, was that, "I’ve been broke so I might swipe your cheddar." It’s dark days because my money hasn’t been right, the way I want to be. That was my world and that’s melancholy to me, when shit ain’t right. The next song in "The Melancholy Maze" is "Running Out Of Time." I’m talking about my mom having lupus and epilepsy and I’m trying to make it big for her, to do something nice for her before she passes. It’s so heartfelt, "Running Out Of Time." Then you have "The Rain." That’s about being away from my children and my wife on the road. Right after that, it goes back. The party comes back. It’s a rollercoaster ride. I had to do the album like that. I have more songs that are partying, like "Fuck’em Girl." At the very end, there’s a song called "This Is Me." I talk about how I’m a king, a clown and a G.
I wanted to ask you about those three sides of Tech that you present in this CD. You seem to be playing roles, but they’re all part of you, right?
It explains to you all my characteristics. I’m three dimensional, man. I have the King, who is high-headed, who thinks that nothing’s above him. I have the clown, who is the extreme party animal that doesn’t give a fuck about nothing. There’s the G that knows everything about family values and cares about his kids and his wife. I put it together all at the end. It ties everything in, the whole concept of the album. The whole rollercoaster ride comes together at the end with "This Is Me." I purposely do my albums like that because it keeps people interested and it’s not so one-dimensional.
How does the title Everready The Religion fit into that?
The way I came up with Everready is that Tech N9ne has nine lives, obviously, because nobody gets this many chances that fails. Everready the battery, if you look at it, their logo is a white nine with a black jumping through the hoop of the nine. It’s trying to say that this battery lasts for a long time. This nigga Tech N9ne lasts for a long time – obviously, because he keeps on getting up after being knocked down so hard. It’s almost like Duracell. It keeps going and going and going. More people are catching on. He’s not falling off, and it’s growing. So, I wanted to take the theme of their battery, Everready. This is Tech N9ne and he has nine lives, because here comes another one. The Religion, it’s just like saying something to be worshiped or praised. The way that album sounds, it is to be worshiped and praised, so that’s how I got it. Everready and I subtitled it The Religion. I’ve been worshiping and praising it ever since I’ve done it.
Looking back to when you released Vintage Tech, what did you learn from putting that album out?
It let me know how Absolute Power affected muthafuckas because we didn’t even do any promotion like we usually do. It was just for the existing fans. We recouped our money back within three days. All my fans went and got that shit, even though it was old material. Being independent like that, it’s a gamble. If you want to make money, you’ve got to promote the shit, but we were so cocky and so sure that our fans were satisfied, with Absolute Power that they were going to go out and get that. And they did. It proved us right. We have a fanbase and that’s why Fontana came in and said, "You know what, this muthafuckas done sold this, that and the other, let’s do this deal with this cat." And we still run this shit. It’s just a distribution deal and we’ve still got control of the wheel, and it’s wonderful, man.
What are you doing with the wheel? What’s coming up?
This is what I’m going to do with the wheel. When I said the "Industry Is Punks" on Absolute Power, I meant it and I still mean it. Because a lot of these muthafuckas are looking for another Young Jeezy. They’re not looking for another Fugees. And I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with looking for another Young Jeezy, other than we already got another Young Jeezy and there’s only one Young Jeezy and I think he’s good at what he does. I don’t think you should try and duplicate that. You should try and find something that’s different to better music. Jeezy was necessary. Let’s move on to the next. Lauryn Hill said that music is supposed to inspire. I feel that when I say, "The Industry Is Punks," I mean the muthafuckas that are driving the wheel, that have the wheel and dictate what the people listen to. They need to have balls so music can progress, and not just stay right here. We don’t need a million Young Jeezy’s. We need Young Jeezy right here, Yung Joc right here, T.I. right here, Tech N9ne right here and then Eminem right here and just keep it going. So when I get control of the wheel and I’m the dictator and am like, "This is what you’re listening to Power 106. This is what the fuck you play. Trust me." Then it spreads. A muthafucka that has balls behind the wheels, I think it will better music and it’ll inspire that younger muthafucka that’s doing music to do something that’s even more incredible. Can you imagine what Kanye was doing when he was listening to the radio and was like, "I know I can do that." He said he was listening to "Xplosive," that West Coast shit and it made him want to do that beat for Jay-Z and Scarface. He’s just listening, a student, and it inspired him to do something beautiful and it fucking blasted off his career. That’s what I’m saying. Music is supposed to inspire and it inspired that talented cat to do something like that, to get in there with Jay-Z. The next thing you know, he’s a big star, just like Jay-Z. That’s what I mean about taking a chance, doing something with somebody that wants to better music, and I guarantee you Kanye’ll feel the same way.
What projects are you doing that are going to better music?
I can’t wait for me and Krizz Kaliko to do our Kabosh album. Now, when you put the kibosh on something, that means that you put the halt on it. Our group is called Kabosh and we’re going to put together a live band and we’re going to do ghetto rock. When I say ghetto rock, I’m not talking about Ice-T with Body Count, where they were like, "Die momma." Nah. The first song that we did is called "Little Pills" and we gave them one of the songs on my bonus disc that comes with Everready. It has 14 songs on it, with all the artists on my label. The last track on there is a song called "Little Pills" and it’s real situations, like Krizz singing about him taking anti-depressants and I come in with the rap like, "What direction I’m going I can’t tell now/Mr. Seven Twenty Nina tells me I’m hellbound/The IRS is on my ass for the check that I didn’t cash/And the levee from child support feel like I fell down/So I’m looking for ecstasy pills/Tech is the next to be thrilled/Seconds from method, we ill/Daily, my brain’s cooking the recipe will/Beckon the best in me kill/sections of seven I feel crazy/Hit the club in the night/With a little bit of drug in my life." It’s going to be like rock guitars and live drums, but real nigga situations. When I say nigga situations, I mean to say ghetto situations. I don’t mean nigga, just for Black folks. It’s for oppressed people, whether they’re Latino, White, poor White trash. It’s shit that people who are poor and are going through shit can relate to. We’ve done been there and are still there. I’ve got another song called "Roaches From The Ghetto," and it’s going to be talking about how we see ourselves in the near future from Everready and Ism’s and then Kabosh, because Ism’s is my next album after Everready. So, what we see is that we’re going to bring the roaches from the ghetto to the suburbs, meaning that we’re about to get out the motherfucking hood and move into your neighborhood. We’re going to be talking about how we’re moving on up like George and Weezy. It’s ghetto rock and I’m thinking it’ll take music somewhere else, that it will inspire another young motherfucker to do something even better. That’s what I mean about taking music to another level.
When you had your deal with MSC, you put out the Beef soundtrack, and albums by Kutt Calhoun, Skatterman & Snug Brim and Project Deadman. Are all those artists still on your Strange Music label?
Totally. When you get the bonus disc with Everready, it’s called The Strange Music Library. Now, the first three songs are three new, unreleased Tech N9ne songs. One song is called "That Owl," which is Kansas City lingo. The second song is called "In My Head" that a lot of people loved. It leaked. The other song is called "Groupie," that me, Kutt Calhoun and Krizz did. Now, I got three on there. All the rest of the artists have two on there to let you know what’s coming on their next album. We just signed a rock band named Critical Bill from Detroit, Michigan. They have two songs on there. We’ve got Skatterman & Snug Brim on there. Then we’ve got Project Deadman, on the juggalo side, the dark side of music. It’s Prozak and Mike E. Clark, one of the guys that did a lot of the ICP records. Then we’ve got Kutt Calhoun with two songs on there from his new album Feature Presentation. Krizz Kaliko, he did two on this one and everybody’s been waiting for his album. We’ve got a lot coming. Tech N9ne will be a force to be reckoned with on a major scale this year, and next year and the year after. That’s how I predict it. Shit is way stronger. I keep getting better with age. I keep getting older, but the lyrics, the style is getting younger, and the content is still mature.
Interview with Tech N9ne
By Soren Baker
What has been behind the big delay between Absolute Power and Everready?
The big delay between Absolute Power and Everready was touring. I tour like no other. A lot of independents don’t tour like we tour, man. In the midst of all that touring, we took the time, like if we were on the West Coast and had a couple of days off, we’d go to the studio and we’d record five to six songs while we were out there on the West Coast. We were recording for Everready while we were on tour. My fans, they really, really support us and I have to be there for them. That’s how I make my bread and butter. It’s through touring. I had to squeeze Everready in in between time open dates. It took a while. It’s like we’ve been touring on Absolute Power since 2002, and we have been. We’ve been doing Everready ever since then.
What impact do you think touring has had on your career?
Touring has a big, big impact because that’s how our fanbase continues to grow. My audience is broad. We just came from Copenhagen, Denmark. We’re independents over there opening the show to [Everready song] "Riot Maker." They’ve never heard this song. Everready’s not even out now and we’re over there in Copenhagen, Denmark and they’re doing their hands along to, "We’re gonna start this shit off right/We got KC, MO in the house tonight." I don’t think too many independents that are doing that.
Being that you are on the road so much, you address that on the Everready song "The Rain". Touring has helped you, but it’s also caused a lot of frustration for you. Why did you want to talk about that on "The Rain"?
The upside to touring is that is does benefit the album, sales and all that. The downside is being away from your loved ones. Now if you’re a person that ain’t got no loved ones, maybe this is for you. I don’t know. But I don’t know anyone that doesn’t have loved ones. Me, I happen to have two little girls, a little boy and a wife. On "The Rain" I say, "And my kids, all three of em suffer in the worst ways/Cause last year I missed all three of their birthdays/So when you see me with my eyes full of pain/Give me love ‘cause these are three of the reasons why I call the road The Rain." Those three reasons being my two girls, and my little boy. That’s the downside, when you have loved ones and you have to be on the road to do these things for them.
One of the reasons I think fans like you is that you do get personal with your lyrics. Why do you feel it’s important for you as an artist to express yourself on such a personal level on a constant basis?
A lot of people say keeping it real is the best and I sometimes say keep it real, also. But me, knowing that everybody’s reality is different, I’ll say keep it right. And what’s right in my eyes is what I know. Quincy Jones taught me that. He said, "Tech, always rap what you know and people will forever feel you." And I felt that cause I always like to be honest when I spit. Because in this profession if it comes out that you’re fraudulent, everybody’s going to know it. I’m not going to be that one, and what can I rap about best and better than anybody else? Myself. No other MC can rap about me better than me, even if he was dissing me. I could dis myself way better than any other MC because I know myself better than anybody. So, if I’m going to rap about something, I’m going to rap about my life because that’s what I know best, and I’m going to be the best at it and I’m going to do it in a style that is abnormal. It’s so fucking schizophrenic, man. The fact that I can put serious words into a rapid-fire style, that’s wonderful. I actually said something meaningful and I dig it. Anybody can rap their life. It’s boring. You’ve got to do it with style, and that’s where Tech N9ne comes in, that abnormal style.
Speaking of being abnormal, people have regularly questioned your spiked red hair, your imagery and your overall persona. Some have even labeled it demonic. Why did you cut your hair off recently, and how and why did you develop the Tech N9ne persona in the way that you have?
The way I developed is thinking different, just like the Apple Computers campaign. The thing the started that was me entering into this whole Nutt Howze frame of mind. Nutt Howze was an old group that I used to be involved with back in the day with Icy-Roc, my brother Dyno Mack, a female rapper by the name of Agony. We got with each other and these people taught me to not give a damn about what another motherfucker think about -- the way you wear your hair, what you speak about. It started with Nutt Howze and it started with my stepdad. My stepdad said to me one day, "What do you have that everybody else don’t have? You sound just like everybody else." So I said that I had to do something to make people see me, make people hear me. I didn’t want to fall in that bracket of, "Oh, he sounds just like Nas, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Ice Cube." I wanted to find something distinctive, so I started with pitch. Instead of saying, "My name is Tech N9ne." I said, "My name is Tech Niiiiiiiiiine." Pitch was everything to me. Rappers wasn’t doing pitches. It was so monotone. I used to teach my people, "Do different pitches. You can just go outside and listen to something. A train will make a sound. Do something similar to that, something that’s way totally to the left. I’ve been on it for a minute, since my stepfather said that, since Nutt Howze taught me to think different. The thing with the hair, man, truly I did mess my hair up because I wanted people to hear me. Because in school I was a pretty boy. That’s what the bitches used to call me, "Pretty Boy," so I actually tore my hair apart so they would listen to what I had to say. But then, as it got crazier and I started doing those drugs that I don’t do anymore -- I started doing that ecstasy and started going to these raves -- that manipulated me to where I wanted color in my hair. I want it to be like art, to when you see Tech N9ne it would be like art. The next thing you know, my hair is red. The next thing you know, my hair is in red spikes. The next thing you know, it’s a crown. It’s crazy, but after a while, that dye, being a Black man like I am, I don’t know how to take care of bleached hair and it damages your hair. So, me being on the road as much as I am, the shit started falling out. What I found was that when I had to cut it off two months ago is that I actually love it and the psycho was still within me. It’s never been my image that made people like it. It’s always been what I had within and the fact that I cut all of that shit off, all of the menacing shit off, and go back to the pretty boy that they say I am, I love it. I thought my fans were going to be against it, but I didn’t give a fuck because this is me. This is a part of me and I can’t be ashamed of what’s a part of me.
That brings me to the "Come Gangsta" song on the new album, because you address how people tend to have a lot of preconceived ideas about you.
People tend to destroy what they don’t understand because they fear it. When you see a Black man with red hair, chin hair that looks like something you see off a hot sauce bottle, they would call it devil. When people -- and not just Black people either, but any people -- see shit like that, they try to tear it down because they don’t understand it and they don’t want to understand it. I’ve got a song on my album Everready called "Come Gangsta" and it’s talking about how people said that I sold out, how I’m doing my shit for the White folks, this rock and roll shit, and it ain’t rap shit just because it was different. But it was real nigga shit! "I’ve been bustin/And fixnucking/Bitches, it tis nothing/For years puffin/I’ve been clutchin/Riches from his muffin/Here’s fuck you niggas/This is tuff/And I don’t know what the fuck you thinking/Telling me this shit is hella fake." It’s like real nigga shit, ghetto shit but in a style that’s so fucking operatic but hip-hop at the same time. It’s crazy. I really had to do that song because over the years, being different and looking different, you hear a lot of shit like, "That ain’t Young Dro. I don’t what to hear it." "That ain’t Yung Joc. I don’t what to hear it." "That ain’t Young Jeezy. I don’t what to hear it." "That ain’t Young Nobody. Nigga, that’s some other shit. That nigga’s over there." They’ll pick up the album, look at it and be like, "Hell naw. I’m on this. I want to see a baseball cap. That ain’t Kanye West. I don’t want to hear that."
But how does it make you feel? Does it hurt you? Do you care? Is it something that bothers you?
I did care at the beginning. You don’t want to hear that from your own people. You don’t want to hear that from no people. You don’t want to hear that you’re a sellout from nobody, White or Black or Chinese or Spanish. You don’t want to hear that. Yeah, that hurts. You go soul-searching for a minute, man. Then when you find it, you’re like, "Hold on. This is me." You start not giving a fuck. You still do your thing, and eventually those people that said that shit will be right back on your dick because you stuck to it and you were you. The real muthafuckas that know will say, "That’s really Tech N9ne." Like Black Walt will say, "What Tech N9ne is doing right now, that’s really Tech N9ne." He was right. Yeah it hurts. It fucked with me, but it don’t fuck with me no more because this is me.
What allowed you to get past it?
Hearing it so long. But just imagine if I was hearing it and I was trying to do that, that is was just a façade. I would have changed it. I can’t change what I am and I won’t change what I am. So, hearing it so many times for so many years, I started laughing at people like, "You muthafuckas don’t even know that that’s the hardest shit. This is my life that I’m spitting. You think that I’m spitting someone else’s life?" They started looking stupid to me because they were liking the norm, the muthafuckas that just want to stay in this little bracket right here and it’ll be gone tomorrow, flash-in-the-pan type a niggas. That ain’t me. Hearing that over and over, that’s what made me get over it. It’s sort of like how I had to get used to wearing my hair wild. I walked up and down the ghetto streets and people on the bus would just be laughing at me. I had to get used to them laughing at me. It was embarrassing at first because it was something different. Everybody else was trying to be pretty and trying to be cool. You fuck yourself up and everywhere you go, you hear snickering. It’s something different. They’re going to laugh at you. It took me like a week to get used to them laughing at me, man. After a while, it goes away, if you’re strong.
Looking back at Anghellic, you had Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. On Everready, you also have the different compartments of the album. Why is that something you’ve done again and what are the new compartments on Everready?
To me, life is a rollercoaster ride and that’s what I feel like my albums should be. It should down and then go up, then to the side, then go down again and then go back up – upside down, if you would. The way I wanted to do this rollercoaster ride on Everready, we had something real serious happen to us last year, March 23, 05. It was five of us in a car and it flipped. We were coming out of Spokane, Washington and flipped five times inside this blizzard. The cops in the ambulance said we weren’t supposed to survive as totaled as the van was. The way I wanted to start this album was to let people know how serious that it was, and that we were supposed to die. The fact that we lived and nobody had any scratches let us know that were we in God’s graces. Ever since then, that day, we’ve been partying, kicking it like a muthafucka. Every day’s a party, celebrating life, so the first 11 songs are upbeat like a muthafucka. "Riot Maker." "No Can Do." "Welcome To Midwest" is bright and it sounds like Dean Martin’s on the hook. After that is a song called "Night And Day." After that, it’s a song called "It’s What You Thinkin’." If your girl is at a Tech show, it’s what you’re thinkin. We’re just partying all the way through. We’ve got "Jellysickle" with E-40. After that, we’ve got "My Wife, My Bitch, My Girl," which is a serious subject, but it’s on a party-ass beat. We’re also got "Caribou Lou," where we’re drinking. The first 11 songs is just party. We set the stage with the intro "B.L.E.S.T." There’s five of us. I got the T, of course, and my other homies are the others. It sets the stage for Everready, that big party that we’re having. We’re rejoicing that we’re still here for our children and that we’re still able to do this wonderful thing for a living. That’s why I set the stage like that. Now, after the first 11 songs, it gets darker. It says, "You are beginning your descent," and the whole album changes. It starts slowing down with "Come Gangsta." On "Come Gangsta" I’m just talking about the haters that say that I was different and stupid because it’s not the norm. Then, right after that, I have a section on my album that has a couple of sad songs, if you would. I labeled that section of the album "The Melancholy Maze." I think it’s wonderful, amazing. It says, "You have entered ‘The Melancholy Maze.’ We hope you find your way out," because nobody wants to be melancholy, nobody wants to be sad, mad. We hope you find your way out through this. What I’ve found is that through my pain, other people that have pain, it’s lessened when they hear somebody of my stature with pain. They’re like, "Damn, if he’s going through the same thing," it makes them feel better. So, I put "The Melancholy Maze" there for the people who really need that, because I’m always going to have pain. I’ve come to realize that no matter how beautiful my life gets, it’s always going to be some pain because I love too many people. I have too many things that I love. That’s why I don’t fuck with pets. I can’t take no more pain of something dying that I care about. If you love something, they will go away. That’s the fucked up reality. I used to say, "I wish I didn’t love nothing, because I know how it hurts when you lose something you love." So, I had to put "The Melancholy Maze" there and in "The Melancholy Maze," it starts with the song "My World." Now, it’s three different worlds because Brotha Lynch came through on there and killed it, murdered it. I love him for it. Eminem was supposed to be on the middle, but no one could find him. D12 and all them hadn’t talked to him in three months. So, I put one of my young partners by the name of Dalima in the middle, man. I gave him his name when he was 14. He’s a young cat, he came through and murdered it. It’s Brotha Lynch’s world and his world consists of, "Nigga’s nuts and guts get served up." Dalima, it was his world of flow. In his world, "Motherfuckers are hating him for the longest/Could it be cause I’m lyrically flawless." His world is darkened because motherfuckers hate on him because he’s so raw with the rap. Mine, my world in the song, was that, "I’ve been broke so I might swipe your cheddar." It’s dark days because my money hasn’t been right, the way I want to be. That was my world and that’s melancholy to me, when shit ain’t right. The next song in "The Melancholy Maze" is "Running Out Of Time." I’m talking about my mom having lupus and epilepsy and I’m trying to make it big for her, to do something nice for her before she passes. It’s so heartfelt, "Running Out Of Time." Then you have "The Rain." That’s about being away from my children and my wife on the road. Right after that, it goes back. The party comes back. It’s a rollercoaster ride. I had to do the album like that. I have more songs that are partying, like "Fuck’em Girl." At the very end, there’s a song called "This Is Me." I talk about how I’m a king, a clown and a G.
I wanted to ask you about those three sides of Tech that you present in this CD. You seem to be playing roles, but they’re all part of you, right?
It explains to you all my characteristics. I’m three dimensional, man. I have the King, who is high-headed, who thinks that nothing’s above him. I have the clown, who is the extreme party animal that doesn’t give a fuck about nothing. There’s the G that knows everything about family values and cares about his kids and his wife. I put it together all at the end. It ties everything in, the whole concept of the album. The whole rollercoaster ride comes together at the end with "This Is Me." I purposely do my albums like that because it keeps people interested and it’s not so one-dimensional.
How does the title Everready The Religion fit into that?
The way I came up with Everready is that Tech N9ne has nine lives, obviously, because nobody gets this many chances that fails. Everready the battery, if you look at it, their logo is a white nine with a black jumping through the hoop of the nine. It’s trying to say that this battery lasts for a long time. This nigga Tech N9ne lasts for a long time – obviously, because he keeps on getting up after being knocked down so hard. It’s almost like Duracell. It keeps going and going and going. More people are catching on. He’s not falling off, and it’s growing. So, I wanted to take the theme of their battery, Everready. This is Tech N9ne and he has nine lives, because here comes another one. The Religion, it’s just like saying something to be worshiped or praised. The way that album sounds, it is to be worshiped and praised, so that’s how I got it. Everready and I subtitled it The Religion. I’ve been worshiping and praising it ever since I’ve done it.
Looking back to when you released Vintage Tech, what did you learn from putting that album out?
It let me know how Absolute Power affected muthafuckas because we didn’t even do any promotion like we usually do. It was just for the existing fans. We recouped our money back within three days. All my fans went and got that shit, even though it was old material. Being independent like that, it’s a gamble. If you want to make money, you’ve got to promote the shit, but we were so cocky and so sure that our fans were satisfied, with Absolute Power that they were going to go out and get that. And they did. It proved us right. We have a fanbase and that’s why Fontana came in and said, "You know what, this muthafuckas done sold this, that and the other, let’s do this deal with this cat." And we still run this shit. It’s just a distribution deal and we’ve still got control of the wheel, and it’s wonderful, man.
What are you doing with the wheel? What’s coming up?
This is what I’m going to do with the wheel. When I said the "Industry Is Punks" on Absolute Power, I meant it and I still mean it. Because a lot of these muthafuckas are looking for another Young Jeezy. They’re not looking for another Fugees. And I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with looking for another Young Jeezy, other than we already got another Young Jeezy and there’s only one Young Jeezy and I think he’s good at what he does. I don’t think you should try and duplicate that. You should try and find something that’s different to better music. Jeezy was necessary. Let’s move on to the next. Lauryn Hill said that music is supposed to inspire. I feel that when I say, "The Industry Is Punks," I mean the muthafuckas that are driving the wheel, that have the wheel and dictate what the people listen to. They need to have balls so music can progress, and not just stay right here. We don’t need a million Young Jeezy’s. We need Young Jeezy right here, Yung Joc right here, T.I. right here, Tech N9ne right here and then Eminem right here and just keep it going. So when I get control of the wheel and I’m the dictator and am like, "This is what you’re listening to Power 106. This is what the fuck you play. Trust me." Then it spreads. A muthafucka that has balls behind the wheels, I think it will better music and it’ll inspire that younger muthafucka that’s doing music to do something that’s even more incredible. Can you imagine what Kanye was doing when he was listening to the radio and was like, "I know I can do that." He said he was listening to "Xplosive," that West Coast shit and it made him want to do that beat for Jay-Z and Scarface. He’s just listening, a student, and it inspired him to do something beautiful and it fucking blasted off his career. That’s what I’m saying. Music is supposed to inspire and it inspired that talented cat to do something like that, to get in there with Jay-Z. The next thing you know, he’s a big star, just like Jay-Z. That’s what I mean about taking a chance, doing something with somebody that wants to better music, and I guarantee you Kanye’ll feel the same way.
What projects are you doing that are going to better music?
I can’t wait for me and Krizz Kaliko to do our Kabosh album. Now, when you put the kibosh on something, that means that you put the halt on it. Our group is called Kabosh and we’re going to put together a live band and we’re going to do ghetto rock. When I say ghetto rock, I’m not talking about Ice-T with Body Count, where they were like, "Die momma." Nah. The first song that we did is called "Little Pills" and we gave them one of the songs on my bonus disc that comes with Everready. It has 14 songs on it, with all the artists on my label. The last track on there is a song called "Little Pills" and it’s real situations, like Krizz singing about him taking anti-depressants and I come in with the rap like, "What direction I’m going I can’t tell now/Mr. Seven Twenty Nina tells me I’m hellbound/The IRS is on my ass for the check that I didn’t cash/And the levee from child support feel like I fell down/So I’m looking for ecstasy pills/Tech is the next to be thrilled/Seconds from method, we ill/Daily, my brain’s cooking the recipe will/Beckon the best in me kill/sections of seven I feel crazy/Hit the club in the night/With a little bit of drug in my life." It’s going to be like rock guitars and live drums, but real nigga situations. When I say nigga situations, I mean to say ghetto situations. I don’t mean nigga, just for Black folks. It’s for oppressed people, whether they’re Latino, White, poor White trash. It’s shit that people who are poor and are going through shit can relate to. We’ve done been there and are still there. I’ve got another song called "Roaches From The Ghetto," and it’s going to be talking about how we see ourselves in the near future from Everready and Ism’s and then Kabosh, because Ism’s is my next album after Everready. So, what we see is that we’re going to bring the roaches from the ghetto to the suburbs, meaning that we’re about to get out the motherfucking hood and move into your neighborhood. We’re going to be talking about how we’re moving on up like George and Weezy. It’s ghetto rock and I’m thinking it’ll take music somewhere else, that it will inspire another young motherfucker to do something even better. That’s what I mean about taking music to another level.
When you had your deal with MSC, you put out the Beef soundtrack, and albums by Kutt Calhoun, Skatterman & Snug Brim and Project Deadman. Are all those artists still on your Strange Music label?
Totally. When you get the bonus disc with Everready, it’s called The Strange Music Library. Now, the first three songs are three new, unreleased Tech N9ne songs. One song is called "That Owl," which is Kansas City lingo. The second song is called "In My Head" that a lot of people loved. It leaked. The other song is called "Groupie," that me, Kutt Calhoun and Krizz did. Now, I got three on there. All the rest of the artists have two on there to let you know what’s coming on their next album. We just signed a rock band named Critical Bill from Detroit, Michigan. They have two songs on there. We’ve got Skatterman & Snug Brim on there. Then we’ve got Project Deadman, on the juggalo side, the dark side of music. It’s Prozak and Mike E. Clark, one of the guys that did a lot of the ICP records. Then we’ve got Kutt Calhoun with two songs on there from his new album Feature Presentation. Krizz Kaliko, he did two on this one and everybody’s been waiting for his album. We’ve got a lot coming. Tech N9ne will be a force to be reckoned with on a major scale this year, and next year and the year after. That’s how I predict it. Shit is way stronger. I keep getting better with age. I keep getting older, but the lyrics, the style is getting younger, and the content is still mature.
KC Star 1-31-07
Tech N9ne shoots for the lottery
Local rapper T ech N9ne got a feature written about him recently in the Idaho Statesman. Though frustrated by the politics of the music business, he has multiple songs on the movie soundtrack to “Alpha Dog” and that new CD, “Everready (The Religion).” He’s hoping that it’s time to proclaim his eligibility for the big-league hip-hop draft.
“The scouts are lookin’ at me now,” he said. “You know what I’m sizzlin’?”
Tech N9ne, who plays in March at the Granada, has sold more than 600,000 CDs independently.
“We love college ball,” he said, keeping with the college analogy. “It does a lot for us. But we can do so much more. And what I mean by doing so much more is infecting so many more people with this beautiful virus of music.”
Tech N9ne shoots for the lottery
Local rapper T ech N9ne got a feature written about him recently in the Idaho Statesman. Though frustrated by the politics of the music business, he has multiple songs on the movie soundtrack to “Alpha Dog” and that new CD, “Everready (The Religion).” He’s hoping that it’s time to proclaim his eligibility for the big-league hip-hop draft.
“The scouts are lookin’ at me now,” he said. “You know what I’m sizzlin’?”
Tech N9ne, who plays in March at the Granada, has sold more than 600,000 CDs independently.
“We love college ball,” he said, keeping with the college analogy. “It does a lot for us. But we can do so much more. And what I mean by doing so much more is infecting so many more people with this beautiful virus of music.”
BLOCKSTATUSTV.COM INTERVIEW:
PART 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYycLAMm1QE
PART 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33NHAEjnAAo
Not a bad interview, mostly same questions. Part 2 is really nice tho, he talks about the whole Mac Dre and bay situation...
PART 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYycLAMm1QE
PART 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33NHAEjnAAo
Not a bad interview, mostly same questions. Part 2 is really nice tho, he talks about the whole Mac Dre and bay situation...
He just said the whole reason he's doing his music is to SUPPORT his family. He said that his kids give him a reason to live. Now tell me, if he was a bum sitting at home, struggling to make a living for his wife and children, do you think that's a good role model?? NO. Sure, he raps about some pretty fucked up shit, but you know what? At least he takes care of his kids. He hasn't sold out his kids, because if he did he would be keepin that money to himself. His kids owe their wealth to his fans, because without them he wouldn't be what he is, but the fans also owe to his children, also because they're also what makes him who he is. I hope you understand that...
TECH N9NE - EVERREADY (THE RELIGION) 9.5
I listened to a lot of albums lately and the best one to me is Tech N9ne’s Everready (The Religion). While everyone in the Rap Game is trying to be Tupac, Eazy E, Jay-Z, or some other rapper, Tech N9ne is being Tech N9ne. So who is Tech N9ne? He’s the Kansas City Rapper who has sold over 500,000 copies of his last release Absolute Power and whose new album Everready debuted at #2 on the Independent Billboard Charts selling almost 23,000 copies the first week, that’s who! I can honestly say that I was not a fan of his until I saw him live at a show with Cognito in Modesto, CA. This was the best stage show I’ve ever seen. I believe he will be the next Rapper to get a big deal.
From the first track Riot Maker, Tech N9ne brings intensity and music together like only the best innovators do then passes the mic to his labelmates Skatterman & Snug Brim. The whole album is very impressive with the way Tech N9ne and labelmate Big Krizz Kaliko use their voices as musical instruments. All while Tech N9ne unleashes some of the best lyrics I’ve heard in years. I learned a whole lot about Tech N9ne on this album. He addresses the realities of his life a Rap Super Star on the road on the song The Rain. I really felt Tech N9ne on this song, it reminded me of my own life, thanks for sharing that with me Tech. Other songs like It’s What You Thinkin’, Night and Day, and Flash, all paint perfect pictures of Tech’s lifestyle, the life of a real Rock Star. Hate has probably kept Tech N9ne on the Underground. So he addresses them on Come Gangsta and then addresses the Industry on the last track This Is Me, which I feel is brilliant.
Every track on this album is very impressive, its’ well put together. Rap Music has evolved to Tech N9ne’s sound. All rappers need to pick this album up and learn something. Other standouts have to be Jellysickle featuring E-40, Caribou Lou, and the ear friendly F*ck’ Em Girl. Tech N9ne’s Everready (The Religion) is flawless. It was produced by Seven, The Legendary Traxster, Rick Rock, Robert Rebeck, Rune Rask & Trool S., and Official Productions. Peep out the bonus disc too, it has a few songs from the whole Strange Music roster. HANDS DOWN, this is one of the best albums you can buy right now!
MR CEZA OF
I listened to a lot of albums lately and the best one to me is Tech N9ne’s Everready (The Religion). While everyone in the Rap Game is trying to be Tupac, Eazy E, Jay-Z, or some other rapper, Tech N9ne is being Tech N9ne. So who is Tech N9ne? He’s the Kansas City Rapper who has sold over 500,000 copies of his last release Absolute Power and whose new album Everready debuted at #2 on the Independent Billboard Charts selling almost 23,000 copies the first week, that’s who! I can honestly say that I was not a fan of his until I saw him live at a show with Cognito in Modesto, CA. This was the best stage show I’ve ever seen. I believe he will be the next Rapper to get a big deal.
From the first track Riot Maker, Tech N9ne brings intensity and music together like only the best innovators do then passes the mic to his labelmates Skatterman & Snug Brim. The whole album is very impressive with the way Tech N9ne and labelmate Big Krizz Kaliko use their voices as musical instruments. All while Tech N9ne unleashes some of the best lyrics I’ve heard in years. I learned a whole lot about Tech N9ne on this album. He addresses the realities of his life a Rap Super Star on the road on the song The Rain. I really felt Tech N9ne on this song, it reminded me of my own life, thanks for sharing that with me Tech. Other songs like It’s What You Thinkin’, Night and Day, and Flash, all paint perfect pictures of Tech’s lifestyle, the life of a real Rock Star. Hate has probably kept Tech N9ne on the Underground. So he addresses them on Come Gangsta and then addresses the Industry on the last track This Is Me, which I feel is brilliant.
Every track on this album is very impressive, its’ well put together. Rap Music has evolved to Tech N9ne’s sound. All rappers need to pick this album up and learn something. Other standouts have to be Jellysickle featuring E-40, Caribou Lou, and the ear friendly F*ck’ Em Girl. Tech N9ne’s Everready (The Religion) is flawless. It was produced by Seven, The Legendary Traxster, Rick Rock, Robert Rebeck, Rune Rask & Trool S., and Official Productions. Peep out the bonus disc too, it has a few songs from the whole Strange Music roster. HANDS DOWN, this is one of the best albums you can buy right now!
MR CEZA OF
