Tech N9ne

The Tech N9ne Experience!




Tech N9ne has always had plenty to say. And now, after touring the world, releasing a string of hit independent projects and running his Strange Music imprint, the Kansas City rap king is set to deliver his first double album, the jaw-dropping Killer. It took 32 tracks of musical innovation for Tech N9ne to get everything off his chest. The result is what will likely be considered the best album of Tech N9ne’s illustrious career.

When it came to naming this album (and coming up with its striking album artwork, which plays off the cover of Michael Jackson’s Thriller), Tech N9ne didn’t take the process lightly. “I named it Killer because I was cocky enough to say that I have all these songs and it’s all killer, no filler. The reason I chose to redo the Michael Jackson cover is that it sold 50 million albums. It’s the biggest pop album of all time. I’m saying that Killer is going to be my biggest rap album ever. The content, the beats, it’s all five steps up. It surpasses anything that I’ve ever done.”

Granted, that’s a bold statement considering that Tech N9ne’s most recent studio releases (2001’s Anghellic, 2002’s Absolute Power and 2006’s Everready [The Religion]) are considered landmark recordings in many rap circles. But one listen to Killer and it’s no wonder Tech N9ne is so confident about his latest masterpiece.

With the bombastic “Like Yeah,” the sexually charged “Wheaties,” the kinetic “Everybody Move,” the sinister “Get The Fuck Outta Here” and the loopy “The Waitress” kicking off Killer, the energy at the top of the album is so strong that listeners will be floored by its potency. Tech N9ne says that the infusion of this energy comes from the beats courtesy of up-and-coming producers Wyshmaster and Youngfyre.

“When I set out to do this album -- and I knew I was going to call it Killer years ago -- I knew that I needed something big to start this album off,” he explains. “I had to set the stage with something that I’m calling Huge Music. That’s what I wanted my fans to feel, that new energy, that new sound, up front.”

Killer is balanced with that classic rap feel on several cuts, too. A prime example of this is “Blackboy,” which features stellar guest raps from Ice Cube and X-Clan’s Brother J. The three A-list rappers blend their respected brands of supreme lyricism and social commentary to deliver a song that stands as one of the most special of Tech N9ne’s career.

“That coming together is one of the biggest things to me because, as a kid, I wanted to be Ice Cube,” he says. “My first rhymes were patterned off of his. He doesn’t know how much he influenced me to do what I do, that forceful music.”

Tech N9ne’s penchant for forceful music is also an outgrowth of his affinity for rock music. On Killer, Tech N9ne explores his signature ghetto rock sound – something he’s explored previously on Anghellic’s “Tormented” and Everready (The Religion)’s “Riot Maker,” among other tunes -- on “I Am Everything” and on “Shit Is Real.” The latter, produced by up-and-coming Atlanta producer Matic Lee, serves as a soundtrack for the members of today’s younger generation who are just struggling to get by.

“I turned it into a guy in the middle of his college dorm with a band just rapping about Friday, Saturday and Sunday, getting ready for Monday because shit is real on Monday,” Tech says.

Tech N9ne’s struggles include dealing with the many volatile women that are part of his life. “Psycho Bitch II” reprises one of his most famous cuts, and uses an interpretation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic Phantom Of The Opera theme music to help Tech N9ne detail his wild interaction with women. “I did this for my fans because I’m still living it,” Tech N9ne reveals. “It’s real life stories that have happened over the years. But part two had to be stronger, harder and louder.”

On Killer’s second disc, Tech N9ne provides listeners a guest pass into “The Sextion,” a portion of the album dedicated to sexually slanted songs. “I’m a sexual person, so I will never run out of that type of subject matter,” Tech N9ne reveals. “That’s my favorite thing to do. I’m a Scorpio male. The Sextion is for women, and it’s for guys to enjoy when they’re with women. These songs are going to help guys get sex in the ways that we get it.”

Since his emergence in the mid-1990s, Tech N9ne has made sexuality just one of the major themes of his music. In reality, it is the way Tech N9ne brings listeners into his world that makes his music so compelling. Whether dealing with the pain of his fractured marriage, the joys of living it up while touring, the horror of almost overdosing or his imaginative dealings with vampires and demons, Tech N9ne’s music has been captivating hundreds of thousands of fans for well over a decade.

In fact, once Killer hits retail, Tech N9ne will celebrate the sale of his one millionth album independently. In addition to releasing memorable music, that remarkable feat is possible thanks to the loyalty fans have developed with Tech N9ne. Indeed, Tech N9ne thinks his connection with his fans is what makes him sound so fresh.

“I stay in tune with my fans and what they’re listening to,” Tech N9ne says. “I’ve got this youngster within me. I’m on the road all the time and I’m not closed in, reclusive, in the house thinking I can just do my own thing. I’ve got my ear to everything.”

And, though Tech N9ne stands at his creative peak with Killer, he recorded it as if it were his last album. That being said, it likely won’t be his grand finale. Rap music flows through his blood, and that intimate connection to the music is what makes Killer so potent.

“The album kind of has a chip on its shoulder, and if you are familiar with any of my other albums, this one is the pinnacle,” Tech N9ne says. “I thought that nothing would surpass Everready. But this album does.”