Tech N9ne rises from rapper to artist with Killer, his groundbreaking new CD

Less than 24 hours after his triumphant concert “homecoming” — an 80-minute set that highlighted KPRS’s Summer Jam at Sandstone Amphitheater — Tech N9ne is seething.

“Keyshia Cole and the concert security fucked up my whole night,” he complained. “It’s all because I’m not on TV. The chip on my shoulder is getting bigger.”

For three weeks, ever since Kansas City’s urban, powerhouse radio station invited the city’s local rap star to share top billing with Cole and rapper T.I., Tech N9ne had fantasized about how Friday night would play out.

The show was his black resurrection, a chance to reconnect with the inner-city audience that adored him throughout the 1990s and abandoned him in the new millennium as the perception of his music and image pinballed from gangsta to Juggalo to demonic to dope fiend.

Tech N9ne, real name Aaron Yates, envisioned Summer Jam as a moment to set the record straight with his urban audience. He anticipated a drama-free, emotional catharsis. Most of his family, baited by Hot 103’s nonstop hyping of the show, requested tickets. His mother, Maudie Yates, a deeply religious woman, even agreed to attend the concert, her first-ever Tech N9ne live performance.

Friday’s gig in front of 6,000 fans, with N9ne’s set sandwiched between a major R&B singer (Cole) and one of the biggest names in hip-hop (T.I.), provided Tech the perfect showcase to floss his newfound financial success as an independent artist and overwhelm disgruntled African-American fans with a high-energy show.

His fantasy was ruined long before he hit the stage at 8 p.m. Upon arriving at Sandstone — concert promoters told me — the 24-year-old Cole learned she would perform before Tech N9ne and immediately exploded, demanding that she be driven back to her hotel, refusing to play.

Over the next several hours, promoters said they negotiated with Cole’s representatives about a resolution. Her appearance was canceled at least twice, they said, and both sides threatened lawsuits.

Eventually Cole’s tour manager requested a meeting with Travis O’Guin, Tech’s partner at Strange Music. The conversation turned heated and ugly, O’Guin said. The Cole camp said it had never heard of Tech N9ne. O’Guin countered with Pollstar numbers that reflected Tech N9ne’s remarkable tour strength. He’s one of only three rap acts (Jay-Z and Kanye West are the others) in the top 50 for concert ticket sales. Cole is not in the top 50.

While the camps bickered backstage, concert-goers baked in the near 90-degree temperatures for more than an hour waiting for the final three acts: Cole, N9ne and T.I.

“To be honest, we didn’t really care about  who performed first,” O’Guin said Saturday. “Our thing was about making sure it was dark outside because we have an impactful lights show, and we needed the sun to go down behind the hill.”

A compromise was reached. N9ne would perform 10 to 15 minutes before he’d originally agreed, and Cole would go on after him and do half of her show.

“I love Keyshia Cole,” N9ne said. “I love her music. I love her story. She’s from Oakland. She should know I’m part of The Regime with (Oakland rapper) Yukmouth and all of them. Even if she didn’t know, one of her dancers started with me. Her people didn’t have to belittle me. They didn’t have to come with this, ‘I ain’t performing after no local nigga’ shit.”

“We have no comment on any of that,” said Manny Halley, CEO of Imani Entertainment Group and Keyshia Cole’s manager. “This must be some kind of publicity stunt.”

Tech endured one more blow to his ego before the end of the night. Not long after he completed his performance, Sandstone security ordered that he and his entourage vacate the backstage area.

“The shit was embarrassing,” he fumed Saturday. “In front of my mama, they made me act a nigga. They said they were going to call the federal marshals. I said, ‘Go get ’em. We ain’t leaving without my set.’ Fuck that. They fucked up my whole night.”

A slight exaggeration. Not only did security let him stay, but Tech and his crew joined KPRS deejay Sean Tyler and former Kansas City Chief Eric Warfield at Club N.V. for some post-concert partying. And, more importantly, the backstage drama failed to overshadow a performance by Tech and label mates Krizz Kaliko and Kutt Calhoun that was universally hailed as the best of the day and evening.

By the time Tech closed his show — with his hardcore white fans and skeptical black supporters all mouthing the words to longtime club-banger “I’m A Playa” — it was clear that the Kansas City King is well on his way to reclaiming all of his Kansas City Kingdom.

What might surprise the locals in the second half of 2008: Their discovery of the depth and influence of Tech N9ne’s reach.
Aaron Dontez Yates, 36, and Strange Music are no longer “local.” They are arguably the strongest independent force in hip-hop music today, moving units, selling merchandise and attracting concert-goers at a clip that has industry insiders hailing Strange and its snake-and-bat emblem as the next No Limit Records and tank logo.

The Blue Springs-based record label is on pace to gross more than $11 million in total revenue in 2008 and plans to relocate to a $1.6 million office building in Lee’s Summit.

To put Strange’s success in terms traditional rap fans can appreciate, O’Guin is pushing a $350,000 Maybach, the Rolls Royce of rap. A new Mercedes is also parked in the garage of Tech’s three-bedroom townhome/condominium. Tech and Trav both sport the stereotypical platinum, iced-out and oversized necklaces, bracelets and watches worn by rap superstars. They’ll soon introduce a Strange Music custom-watch line priced anywhere from $6,000 to $50,000.

The constant touring (150 shows a year worldwide), the relentless, grassroots marketing through MySpace and Therealtechn9ne.com, and plastering city streets across the U.S. with Tech N9ne posters turned a talented, misunderstood local rapper into the Kimbo Slice of hip-hop.

And much like the path traveled by the out-of-nowhere MMA phenom, Tech is the underground artist who went neighborhood to neighborhood challenging all comers, including the music industry itself, and emerged with a following — primarily white — that insists the mainstream take notice.

“There are no casual fans of Tech N9ne,” said Violet Brown, the director of urban music for FYE, a consortium of commercial outlets that buy and sell music. “Tech fans are usually over-the-top fans.”

His organic and deliberate ascent over two decades assures Strange Music of an even greener future.

Tech’s 32-track, double-CD Killer is scheduled for release on July 1, and demand for the album is unprecedented for an independent rap act. Killer features collaborations with big-name rappers Ice Cube, Paul Wall, Scarface and Brother J from X-Clan. Conservative estimates for Killer project 30,000 units sold in its first week, enough to crack Billboard’s top 20 for all albums and make a strong bid to be the No. 1 independent seller the first week of next month. By August, Killer should push Tech beyond a million units sold in his career, a historic plateau for an independent rapper.

“The fact that he can sell this many units and merch without radio play is simply amazing,” said Brown, who has worked within the music industry for more than 30 years. “I buy for approximately 800 stores and I’ve probably heard from 200 of them about this Tech album. The demand for his music has never been higher.”

And neither has the quality of his music. Killer, more efficiently than Friday’s concert, answers all of Tech’s critics and exposes a performer who has crossed the bridge from rapper to artist.

The tracks are incredible in terms of content, diversity, lyrics, music and arrangement.

On the cover, Tech wears a white straitjacket mimicking Michael Jackson’s Thriller cover art. It is a bold, egotistical and ridiculous analogy comparing anything to an album that sold more than 100 million units worldwide and is regarded as one of the top five albums of all time … until you objectively listen to and study Tech’s Killer.

It is what rap music aspires to be: 1. The ultimate party starter. 2. Rebellious. 3. Danceable. 4. Thought-provoking. 5. Sexual. 6. Colorblind. 7. MC competitive. 8. Humorous. 9. Versatile. 10. Groundbreaking.

From the moment Tech and his musical soulmate Krizz Kaliko open the onslaught with three radio-ready hits — “Like Yeah,” “Wheaties” and the first single, “Everybody Move” — Killer assails your musical soul, infects your brainwaves and takes your mind on a never-before-explored rap journey.

You convulse, you laugh, you cry, you gyrate, you reflect and you wonder if the mainstream will get it.

Is Killer as startling and mesmerizing as Tupac’s All Eyez on Me, as ghetto funky as Dre’s The Chronic, as precise as Eric B. and Rakim’s Paid in Full or as important as Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet?

Probably not. But it captures more of everything than any rap CD ever released.

In “Crybaby,” Tech N9ne rips his rap peers for complaining about Soulja Boy’s success, and later, in “Why You Ain’t Call Me,” he wonders why commercial rap stars such as Jay-Z didn’t do tracks with him earlier in his career.

Tech’s “One Good Time” is a beautiful tear-jerker about his inability to express his emotional pain with tears. He challenges religious hypocrites on “Holier Than Thou” and gun- and Iraq-war lovers on “Hope For A Higher Power.” He and Kaliko team up and produce the best rap romance song, “The Sexorcist,” since L.L. Cool J whined that he needed love. And finally, Tech offers two rock/rap cuts — “Shit Is Real” and “I Am Everything” — that are as good as anything Kid Rock has done.

Oh, and “Pillow Talkin’” and “Beat You Up” are gangsta, gutter classics.

“Tech’s skills are so far beyond other rappers that he finally understands that he doesn’t need gimmicks,” said Brown, who is based in Los Angeles. “I think that’s why he took away the red hair. He’s comfortable now. He doesn’t need to shock and awe people.”

Shock and awe? For a time, Tech scared the hell out of even his more ardent fans.

It was more than just the spiked red hair he wore, the paint he still plasters on his face during live shows and his past addiction to ecstasy, ’shrooms and sex.

Tech courted confusion of his lyrics and religious beliefs. His first major release, Anghellic, a 2001 joint venture between Strange Music and JCOR, opened with a deep voice saying “Welcome to hell.”

Those first words, dark songs such as “Suicide Letters,” “Real Killer” and “Tormented,” and CD art picturing Tech as a screaming, crucified psychopath sabotaged any chance of the album being a commercial success. The rapper being trumpeted as Kansas City’s Nelly came across more like Ozzy Osbourne on crack with a death wish.

It was too much. After a promising first week, Anghellic bombed at the box office.

The inner-city fans that partied to Tech’s collaborations with the 57th Street Rogue Dog Villians — the Blood gang members-turned-rappers he grew up with in middle and high school — wondered if he was a devil worshipper.

Things didn’t improve much when Absolute Power debuted a year later with Tech on the cover in all red, on a stage that appeared to be on fire, looking like a growling mad man emerging from a musical hell. Tech started the CD talking about bitterness toward the industry and mumbling words that couldn’t be understood. Throughout the CD, he railed against an industry he claimed was the enemy of creativity while presenting a creative alternative that was spiritually frightening to most.

He came back in 2003 with a remake of Anghellic, and the first song was “Devil Boy,” a cut making light of the people who labeled him a devil worshipper. He just didn’t get it. The rap world might be ready to die like Biggie, but it believes in an afterlife, and is unwilling to risk its pie in the sky listening to a druggie interpret the Bible.

In two years, Tech effectively threw away a decade of goodwill in Kansas City’s black hip-hop community and defined his act as a hipper, black offshoot of the Juggalo rap band Insane Clown Posse, the white, painted-face group Tech toured with. It’s a decision he does not regret.

“I love the Juggalos,” he said. “They’re the reason I have success today. My music is for everybody. Black people, Mexicans, Juggalos are all part of the human family. I want everybody to experience my music.”

The Rogue Dog Villians and the other local rappers who had hoped to ride Tech’s coattails to major record deals and stardom in 2001 and 2002 began to openly criticize and despise their former colleague. In interviews with hip-hop magazines, KC rappers blasted Tech’s 2002 radio release “Slacker” as too pop and Tech as too sellout, too weird and too willing to play with religion.

“Tech got away from the RDVs and he didn’t have anybody to teach him how to keep it ghetto,” Michael “Bakarii” Whitebear, a member of the RDVs said, taking a not-so-subtle shot at Tech’s partnership with O’Guin, who is white. “We weren’t afraid to challenge Tech and tell him when he was fucking up.”

Whitebear, the RDVs, Icy Rock, Don Juan and Diamond Shields helped Tech create “Mitchell Bade,” “Let’s Get Fucked Up,” “Planet Rock” and “It’s On Now,” the hits that marked Tech as a rising star in the late 1990s and early 2000.

Tech’s split with his old crew cost him street credibility. He lost the ’hood to the legitimate Rogue Dog Villian gangstas he had fronted for as a rap artist.

KPRS backed away from its earlier, enthusiastic embrace of Tech’s music. The station’s listeners didn’t have the desire to filter and decipher what Tech was saying. And Tech’s music no longer resonated strongly at house parties and with club deejays, vital precursors for mainstream rap-music success.

By late 2003, when Shields assaulted Tech at the KPRS-sponsored special movie premiere of a Tupac Shakur documentary, “The Resurrection,” it was clear that Tech had little choice but to leave Kansas City or face possible death in a rap war.

Tech, his wife and two of his three kids — along with O’Guin and Strange Music — soon relocated to Los Angeles.

In a 2004 interview with Murder Dog magazine, Tech acknowledged the obvious. “Niggas seem like they want to kill me,” he said, referring to his then-beef with his former cronies.

On the West Coast, Strange partnered with Mark Cerami, one of the founders of Priority Records, which launched most of the key artists and acts in the gangsta rap movement such as NWA, Ice T, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Easy E.

Cerami saw Tech N9ne as the transcendent talent who could recreate what Dr. Dre accomplished in the 1980s. For two years Strange headquartered on an entire floor of a high-rise office building and spent lavish amounts of money trying to get radio airplay for Absolute Power singles. It did not work.

“Mark tried to create what he had at Priority,” O’Guin said. “But he couldn’t see that the game had changed in 20 years. What worked then didn’t work now. We threw a bunch of money at “I’m A Playa.” It’s a great song, but it was three years old when we were trying to get it spins.”

O’Guin, who had made millions with a furniture repair business and a clothing line, was hemorrhaging cash. His pockets were nowhere near as deep as the pockets worn by Cerami, who owned a home in one of Oprah’s neighborhoods.

Perhaps embarrassed but certainly more determined, Tech, O’Guin and Strange moved back to Blue Springs in 2006. Rather than hunt a major record deal or fish for a big-money associate, Strange Music recommitted itself to independence, touring and, most important, recapturing the streets.

“When I got home, niggas was like, even my boys were like, ‘The streets ain’t feeling you,’” Tech said. “Everybody said Rich (The Factor) had the streets. I supposedly wasn’t giving niggas what they wanted to hear.”

Rich The Factor is a Kansas City Original Crip and underground rap legend.

With a rap style similar to Master P, the same been-shot-and-survived street credibility as 50 Cent, and a willingness to generate mix tapes a half dozen times a year, Rich The Factor has been the No. 1 music seller for several years at the 75th-and-Troost 7th Heaven store, KC’s ground zero for hip-hop.

The Ghetto Russell Simmons, as Rich is called, is about as authentic as they come in the gangsta rap world. He ascended to Tech’s throne and got airplay on KPRS with “Quit Callin’” and others. But even he has acknowledged he can’t come within a football field of Tech’s musical talent.

Tech’s wonderful 2006 release, Everready, was his initial salvo to win back his local rap kingdom. The crazy red hair was gone and Tech looked super hip and non-threatening on the cover. But, given his circumstances, the CD was flawed.

He subtitled it “The Religion.” Why? He says because of his and the label’s belief in the high quality of the songs. The CD’s first radio single, “Bout to Bubble,” was once again a bit too pop, and the first song on the CD, “Riot Maker,” was too rock and roll.

Those small mistakes got in the way of hardcore rap fans discovering “Welcome to the Midwest,” “Night and Day,” “Flash,” “My World,” “Fuck ’em Girl” and “The Rain,” Tech’s most powerful song since “This Ring.”

With far lower overhead and the support of well-organized tours, Everready kicked off Strange Music’s escape from financial ruin.

But Tech didn’t really make any headway in the inner city until 2007, when he put together Tech N9ne Collabos: Misery Loves Kompany, a collection of collaborative songs with local rappers.

The songs “Midwest Choppers,” “That Box,” “Gangsta Shap,” “Sex Out South” and others shed light on Skatterman, Snugbrim, D-Loc, Dalima, Agginy, The Philsta, Joe Vertigo and Big Scoob, the former money man for the RDV’s label Hogstyle Records. The Tech N9ne Collabos was a better idea than a mix tape.

“Why would I rap over somebody else’s beat when we have so much good music?” Tech said. “And we have so many talented artists who I can expose to my fans.”
And their fans, primarily black, can be exposed to Tech. The second to last song (“Message to the Black Man”) on Collabos is a direct plea from Tech to black rap fans to support his music. The chorus goes:

My people, you’re supposed to be my people, ain’tcha? But my people ain’t something that I see ’cause ain’t enough you at my shows. We been all over the globe, yeah we making that dough, but y’all ain’t spending it. My people, you’re supposed to be my people, ain’tcha? But my people ain’t something that I see cause ain’t enough you up on my records and deep at my shows. Y’all don’t know that I’m about to become boss and take control.

Killer is likely to determine whether Tech’s request fell on plugged ears. Michael Jackson’s music was so good that despite straightening his hair, bleaching his skin, narrowing his nose and marrying Elvis’ daughter, he never lost his black support.

Tech’s sold-out April 25th show at the Uptown Theater caused enough citywide buzz to get concert promoters and KPRS to include him on Summer Jam.

Kansas Citians were surprised to see a national star and platinum-seller, Paul Wall, open for Tech at Uptown. And they were probably shocked to learn Wall opened for Tech the entire Fire and Ice Tour, including the shows outside the KC area.

The deal to perform at Summer Jam included putting Killer single “Everybody Move” in rotation at KPRS. The song has been well-received, and Strange intends to finance a relatively big-budget video for the rump-shaker within the next three weeks. You’ll soon see commercials promoting Killer on MTV and other networks. There are full-page ads throughout The Source, XXL, Vibe and other hip-hop magazines. There will be as many as nine billboards sprinkled around Kansas City.

“Killer is the truth,” O’Guin said. “We have a lot riding on this CD.”

Support from Tech’s suburban fans is a given. A week ago at a Blue Springs restaurant, Tech’s teenage and 20-something white fans treated him like Tupac Shakur, stopping by his stool at the bar one by one for two straight hours, chatting, flirting, begging for autographs. Several girls passed him notes, asking him to call if he “wanted to have fun.”

Later in the week at Diamond Joe’s, Tech partied with family members and longtime friends.

“He wants the ’hood back bad,” offered Tony “Roma” Cody, a rapper and Blood. “What he needs is a real nigga by his side. I ain’t talking about someone in his business. I’m talking about someone who has respect on the streets, someone who can check a nigga talking crazy about Tech in the streets, someone who can say Tech is real.”

Roma supported Tech and his kids back in the 1990s when Tech was all talent, hype and no money. Tech remembers the benevolence and honors Roma. But his inner circle seems full. Estranged from his wife LeCoya, who still resides in California, Tech lives with Krizz Kaliko’s cousin, a comedian Manzilla “Makzilla” Queen. Tech’s uncle Ike is a constant companion. Of course, O’Guin, Kaliko and Kutt Calhoun are part of the stable.

Of the group, Calhoun, a Deuce Click Blood, is the lone member with strong gang affiliation. Makzilla, Ike, O’Guin and Kaliko could all make cameos on Tyler Perry’s wholesome “House of Payne” television comedy show. The point is that Tech’s circle of influence is dramatically different from his days of rolling with the Rogue Dog Villians.

“I’m surrounded by love, angels,” Tech said. “I love the RDVs and what we did together. But in my past there was too much drama, too much negative energy. It was too dark. Now I’ve got angels all around me. You know, Big Scoob is an angel and he tries not to show it all the time, but he’s an angel. He’s love. That’s what I want to be surrounded by. That’s why I like women who are upbeat and positive and not lost in baby-daddy drama and negativity. I got a lot of love to give in music and to women. I’m all about love, but (they say) I’m a devil worshipper. What’s my crime? Sin, loving too many women and doing drugs in my past?”

Tech laughed after saying that. It’s probably more sad than humorous, especially if his expression of love and begging for black acceptance gets rejected.

So how does Tech fit in context with your recent articles in playboy and such?

Posted 14 weeks ago by newmove

So how does Tech fit in context with your recent articles in playboy and such?

Posted 14 weeks ago by newmove

Whoops - read your response in "Love for a deeply..." thanks. I appreciate the perspective. Maybe post that link at the bottom of this page as a follow up. Tend to lose it in the format of this long web page. Thanks.

Posted 14 weeks ago by newmove

nice article WHIT

Posted 14 weeks ago by calebcauthon

wuz good Tec FANS ! ! I wanted to drop a line as someone who had the op to see things develop from an inside perspective......all i know iz music doesnt have to be gangster to be creditable ! ! i was there, Don Juan iz my FAM an i engineed for all the local and calli greats for him, including TEC.......he's one of the coolest broz on the planet, and i'm greatful for the op i had to open for him! ! i remember the hood music days and i see what he's doing now.....dont knock his hustle money iz shades of one color... GREEN ! ! Curv - Vertigo, former opening act for Tec, and eng. for Mizery/Midwestside--- we dont disappear....jus fly under the rader from time to time! ! ! Get at ya gurl ! ! Wuzup TRAV ??!?

Posted 14 weeks ago by curv

That makes no sense to me at all. Whether your show required complete darkness are not is irrelevant. He made plans for a stage show that didn’t take into account that he would likely be opening. Then to through throw into the mix exaggerated and padded numbers is retarded. Keshia Cole has sold AT LEAST 3 million records within two albums. The chic has her television show and has been nominated for Grammy’s, American Music awards, Vibe, BET..etc. Technyne has sold just at 1 million over the course of how many albums? And I doubt very seriously that the “Top 50 Concert List” mentioned holds any real validity. That’s likely for a week without much concert activity ……Eyewash. He acts like he doesn’t know how the game works. She has achieved more than you have so she has the privilege of being opened for regardless, end of story. That’s the game. I would love nothing more than to see a local cat blow up and get paid, but not like that. Show some class kid you’re supposed to be representing us. When you blow up and sell millions your going to expect the same respect. . With that being said the market may be ripe for him to blow up. There is very little substance of out there. Most of the songs all have the same premise; “I sell dope, I got hoes, I got money, and will pop a cap in your %$#…Did I mention I sell dope”. The other half is some candy dance song made by a cat with questionable rhyme skills. There is nothing really connecting him/her to the listener on a personal level. Technyne should fit right in.

Posted 14 weeks ago by Maximus

All I'm gonna say is Friday night belonged to Tech! He got up there along with Krizz Kalico and Kutt and performed for and hour and a half in the heat and earlier than they prepared for and they had an awesome show. It sucks that Keyshia Cole's ego is bigger than her tiny frame and that she cares more about who she performs before rather than just performing for the fans who have bought her CDs and watched her show to give her the ratings and CD sells that have made her what she is today. When she got on stage she had a 40 minute show because she wasted so much time in the begining. She also looked like she was wearing a trash bag...not cute! I'm not disputing that deserves respect but KC is Techs HOME...can't she return the favor. She's had huge success and by the way for being an independent artist Tech set to sell 1,000,000 albums is record setting so I don't see any reason for her beahvior except she's on an ego trip. TI show was good but I think he talked too much.

Posted 14 weeks ago by KAMI