By Jason Whitlock

Being a repentant sinner myself, I’ve never shied away from walking with one.
Perhaps that is what has drawn me to Tech N9ne and his music for the past decade. I understand his personal struggle, and I desperately want to see the rap-music world heal itself.

I’m also a journalist. It’s my job to write stories about interesting people, and offer provocative opinions about topics I know. I’ve made a name for myself castigating hip-hop music for contributing to the corruption of youth culture.

You might find it odd that I would write 4,000 words about a rapper with a gun for a name who built his reputation rhyming about illicit drug use, promiscuous sex and hanging with a notorious street gang.

You can’t heal what you can’t touch, what you don’t understand.

Tech N9ne is the perfect subject for me. He is one of God’s most fascinating creatures, a strong-willed, well-intentioned musical genius trapped in a genre hijacked by prison values. My friendship and fanaticism about his music over the years provided access and insight into a music culture I love, but one that deeply troubles me.

From observing Tech and following his attempts to blow up as a mainstream artist, I’ve broken bread with, made music with, argued with, shared my favorite TV shows with, hung on the corner with and shut down Diamond Joe’s with most of Kansas City’s gangsta rappers of any consequence.

Rich The Factor, Diamond “Boss Hoss” Shields, Big Scoob, Bakarii, Txx Will, The Popper, BG Bulletwound, Kutt Calhoun, Skatterman, Snugbrim and a few others I can’t remember right now. I’ve met them all.

They’re good people. Like Tech N9ne, they’re trying to find their way financially in a culture that slid off track and doesn’t know how to stop the train and redirect.

The story I wrote about Tech is profane and contains many of the negative aspects of hip-hop you may have read me viciously criticize. The story is authentic, a product of two years of conversations with KC’s rap players.

In the story, I strongly endorse Tech’s next CD, Killer, which hits stores on July 1. I make the endorsement without apology, even though the CD is littered with the N-word, the B-word, the Ho-word and every possible use of the F-word.

I love hip-hop with the same passion I love Mr. Gates’ barbecue. You have to ingest both in moderation or they will damage you. In the hip-hop world, Tech’s music is moderate. It’s a step in the right direction. It’s not gangster. It’s not a celebration of killing, stealing and drug-dealing. It’s party music.

It’s also a window into his heart. After 20 years in the game, Tech N9ne finally made it to a good place, a spot where he doesn’t have to spend an entire album wrestling the demons we all confront. He’s done giving us T.M.I. — too much information.

“My kids made me mature,” Tech told me. “They’re at an age where I don’t want them constantly confronted with the dirt that I do. They don’t need to hear about me sleeping with every woman in Kansas City or doing drugs.”

You’re going to think I’m exaggerating, but I truly believe this: Killer is powerful enough to push rap music in a better direction.

About the author:

Jason Whitlock has been a sports columnist at The Kansas City Star since 1994. He often writes about the intersection of sports, pop culture and race.

The Scripps Howard Foundation recently awarded Whitlock its National Journalism Award for commentary for his ability to tackle difficult racial issues.

Whitlock's 2007 columns about the Don Imus-Rutgers controversy and the negative aspects of hip hop music helped him win the award.

Read his biography here.

Poorly written and out of touch. Please stick to sports because nobody cares about the "direction" of Top 40 rap music or whether or not KC rappers are "good guys". And why are you repin' a Don Imus award?

Posted 21 weeks ago by afranklin