Tech N9ne: Organized Confusion

[Fatal Guillotine]

Source:hiphopdx.com http://cdn.hiphopdx.com//images/features/200807FTECH9_160x240.jpg
Tech N9ne is crazy. And, just for clarification, this is not the funny, Martin Lawrence, “you so crazy,” type of crazy. It’s closer to the Britney Spears, shaving her head without any panties on, type of crazy. At least, that’s what Tech wants you to think. It seems like the only logical way to explain the bright, red hair, the straight jacket and the frequent use of the words “psycho” and, yes, “crazy.”
Over the course of 11 albums, Tech N9ne has put his entire life on wax. He openly pens gut-wrenching lyrics about his own insecurity, infidelity, drug use and vanity. The global fan response is undeniable, and with his latest effort, Killer, debuting at number 12 on the Billboard 200, Tech will likely become the first Hip Hop artist to sell a million albums independently. A more globalized economy and the impending implosion of the recording industry could bring the mainstream recognition that Tech N9ne has been craving for decades. Any emcee in a similar position would have to be certifiably crazy to even think about quitting at this point, right? Of course.
HipHopDX: You say you wrote this entire album during a 30 day tour, so you must’ve had a lot on your mind.
Tech N9ne: I did all those songs in like a month, man. Once I stopped doing that Ecstasy, it opened up a whole new world. I swear to God I almost died. I took like 15 pills in one night. I’ve been clean for about a year or so. Since I stopped that, it’s like a whole new ballgame opened up in my brain. I have different subject matter and everything now.
It’s insanity. I thought with Everready, I had said everything—with “The Rain/Welcome Back/Party Hard” [click to read] and my little girl and everything. I had “My World” with Brotha Lynch Hung [click to read], and I thought it couldn’t get any better than that. But, I was still on that drug then. You know what I’m sizzlin’? I’m not saying that held me back or nothing, because a lot of beautiful material came out of that. Now look what a clean me brought. There are titles like “Hope For A Higher Power,” “Cry Baby,” “Can’t Shake It” and “Why You Ain’t Call Me.” This is stuff I’ve never addressed before. It’s shit that I’ve been wanting to say to Jay-Z [click to read], Nelly, Ludacris [click to read] and all these cats that I’ve toured with. There’s shit that I had wanted to say, and it finally came out.
DX: Early in your career Quincy Jones told you, “Rap what you know and people will forever feel you.” Is this Killer album cover a way of paying homage to him?
Tech N9ne: Yes I am. It’s for Quincy and Michael [Jackson], because I’m affiliated with Quincy. They used to always call me "the Michael Jackson of rap" back when I was signed with Qwest and Warner. They called me that because they thought I was lyrically elite—one of the top [emcees], if not the top, even if the whole world doesn’t know it yet. I had the idea to do that for a long time and now I think I have the mind and spirit to carry that out. Killer is what came out of that.
DX: Thriller moved over 30 million units and you’re on the verge of moving one million independently. What’s you mind state as you approach that milestone?
TN: I’ve got high hopes, man. I’ve been having high hopes. It’s like the Jim Carrey syndrome, when he got that first role in Batman [Forever] playing The Riddler. They asked him in one interview if he was ecstatic or surprised that they offered him $25 million, and he was like, “No. I’ve been waiting on this my whole life.”
I’ve been planning this all my life, so I have high hopes for this. That’s why the album has a chip on its shoulder, because I have been doing elite music since I started. But, only a handful of motherfuckers get it. I feel like I’m making music for the world. Being independent is a hard task. You don’t see me on TV or hear me on the radio, yet I have all of these fans. My fans are the world. I want to be global and that’s why the album has a chip on its shoulder. That’s why I’m like, “This is my last album and y’all don’t get it. You niggas don’t get it.” That’s why the album kind of feels like that…well, not kind of. It hella feels like that, because that’s how I hella feel. Quincy said, “Rap what you know and people will forever feel you.” This is what I know. I know that I’m frustrated. I know that this shit is elite.
DX: You can chill with Quincy Jones or Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, you have fans with your face tattooed on them and you’ve got money. Are just you frustrated because you feel your peers don’t recognize?
TN: Yeah. A lot of these cats don’t know me because they don’t see me on TV. That’s where everybody gets discovered. Kid Rock got discovered at the MTV Awards. Everybody saw Motown 25 when Michael Jackson did “Billy Jean” and the Moonwalk. It’s that dummy tube. We ain’t on it, but look what we’ve built without that. We’re still chasing it. They better not let me get on that TV, Omar. If they do, I’m taking it all—their women and everything else


This is something different from Tech N9ne because I’m a different cat. When they see and hear me it’s gonna be a new day. A lot of niggas say that like, “I’m gonna change the game and blah, blah, blah.” Nah, I ain’t saying that. If I happen to change the game, then praise the Lord. But, I’ve got to get into these people’s hearts and minds.
What makes my story so important? What makes me so important? Why should they buy my album? Because I’m an inside-out nigga. I ain’t afraid to let people know what’s going on inside of me without fabricating shit and holding my face tight. Some people do that as a defense mechanism. I walk around here with red bandana shoes. That’s like screaming, “Nigga come kill me.” And, I’m a smart guy.
DX: I gotta say, Tech. That’s one hell of a contradiction.
TN: The [wearing] red thing…I don’t want my kids to lose me to that either. That’s stupid nigga shit. But, this is all I know. When it comes to my homies and my hood, this is who taught me how to be a man and take care of my family. I was taught to do anything to take care of my family. How can I shake that? That’s the only negative thing that plagues me to this day. Everybody wants to belong to something. I wish as black people, and even the people they call trailer trash, I wish we could belong to something way more positive. I’d much rather me be a Kappa [Alpha Psi]. But the [Bloods] who were running from the cops in ’85 moved into our neighborhood. That’s one of the only things that plague me to this day. Well, that and the fact that I owe the IRS a little money. [Laughs]
But, you’re gonna hear confusion in my album. You’re going to hear grown-up shit and everything else too. I am inside-out, and that’s what makes me so special. What I mean by inside-out is letting my fans experience everything that I’m thinking. When they meet me they realize I’m that same guy they’ve been listening to the whole time. When chicks meet me they go, “That’s that dude I’ve been listening to the whole time.” That makes them tingle in the middle, and that’s why I’m taking their women.
DX: Since you brought up the ladies, I noticed your album is divided into sections. Then you have a group of six songs labeled “The Sextion.”
TN: Ah, man I got to have it. I’m a Scorpio male and “The Sextion” had to happen. I was supposed to do it for [Misery Loves Kompany], and I let them get a piece of that with “Sex Out South,” “That Box” and “Get Ya Head Right.” But, I really hit them hard with this section on “Seven Words.”
DX: That’s actually the first song I listened to, because I thought you were doing something like George Carlin. Then the hook comes in and you say…
TN: "I love it when you suck my dick!" Yeah, everyone falls out when they hear that because they ain’t expecting the seven words to be that vulgar. It’s the perfect seven words because it works for males and females. Cats love it because it’s funny as hell and they know that the bitches love it, so they’re going to try and act that out. That’s why I tried to teach the world about hot water, because a young lady in Minneapolis, Minnesota taught me about hot water. I had to reenact that so I could teach the world to sing those seven words. It’s the funniest situation, but it’s also the realest situation. Why not share pleasure with the rest of the world? That’s why “The Sextion” is dominant.
DX: You say you never make a song just to make it. So did “Psycho Bitch II” come from fan demands or more crazy experiences?
TN: In dealing with women, if indeed you say you’re girl crazy, you’re gonna keep encountering psycho bitches. With more success and more fans—newer fans came because the Alpha Dog movie, [had] “Caribou Lou,” and I’m A Player. Those people didn’t catch the first “Psycho Bitch.” You know how they remade Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the new generation? I felt like, “Yes, I’m still living it.” I’m just teaching these young motherfuckers some new shit, but it’s on some old shit. “Psycho Bitch” came out in 2001, and now that ’08 is here there are new lessons. They won’t ever learn because psycho bitches will always be here. When you play the game of hearts you end up with crimes of passion—bitches tapping your phone, looking through your wallet and wondering why there are condoms in your dresser when y’all don’t use them.
DX: Although it’s divided into sections, this Killer album seems like the best balance of all the different sides of your personality.
TN: Yeah, I’ve got control of it. I’m the king, the clown and the G. I let the clown get out of hand with the Ecstasy and the women, and that’s how I lost my wife. She knows I’m girl crazy. The stripper bitch that I had an affair with told my wife and taped me talking about an abortion with the bitch. I was gone on that shit, man. I was getting caught up with bitches and shit. That’s all that the clown side had to offer me, and I’m not saying it’s still not a part of me. I’m still girl crazy, but I cut that drug out. I don’t want my kids to have to lose me to something ignorant

[Fatal Guillotine]

[quote]DX: It sounds like it’s been a long grind.
TN: We’re an underground movement, but it’s starting to make its way to the surface. I’ve been in this since ’85 man—since the Jordan shoe. I wrote my first rhyme in seventh grade back in 1985. I’ve been doing this professionally since 1990, and I’ve been elite since I started. That’s why you see me on a video with Eminem, or on a song with 2Pac, or on stage with Snoop Dogg. I’ve rocked with George Clinton, Slipknot and the list goes on and on. Tech N9ne is everything and I’m a fan of it. I feel like I’m trapped in a psycho’s body. I’m trapped inside this motherfucker that writes this elite shit, and he’s just taking me places. He took me to Denmark to do Roskilde Festival last year. I was in Australia with Kurupt, Dru Down, The Luniz and everybody. I was in Alaska last year. This is what this guy Tech N9ne is doing for me. I’m just like this little kid inside this cat that writes this elite shit.
My goal is to give this music to the rest of the world and let them hear non-fabricated Tech N9ne. We don’t slouch, and we’re en vogue—in style all day. Sometimes we might be a little bit ahead of our time, but we’re right here in the middle of the map. Kansas City, Missouri…misery. We get our music from everywhere. We get it from the south, the east, the west and everywhere else. Once you get all this music from all these places pumped into one person, you get something astronomical. You can hear the influence of rock, opera, gang-banging, spoken word and everything else.
DX: With you being trapped inside your Tech N9ne persona, could you ever see yourself not doing something artistic for a living?
TN: No, I was born to do this. I’ve had jobs in my past. If I had to work for somebody and not have my own business like Strange Music, I’d probably be dead or in jail. I hate to be that negative though. I have a keep on keeping on, warrior state of mind. If something negative is going to consume me, I’m going to lash out. This music thing is a positive thing for me. I was put here to do this. My mom, uncles and aunties instilled this rhythm in me. With rhythm came rhyme. Who would’ve thought it would be me to make people say, “I ain’t never heard anything like you, man. I think you’re one of the best rappers.”
I’m just this little normal cat who’s abnormal at the same time. That’s probably what makes me crazy, because I think I’m normal and I can’t go to the movies with a bitch without getting swarmed. That’s why my bodyguards are always trippin’ with me like, “Nigga you can’t go out there like that!” I’m thinking, “Yes I can. Y’all big ass niggas draw too much attention and I’m a little dude.”
People hear that abnormal shit in my music. If I had to be a normal dude and do a nine-to-five at the post office, I’d go crazy. I have to be able to lash out spiritually. What would I do if I was at work all day flipping burgers, and I hear Kanye [West], Eminem, 50 Cent [click to read] and all these motherfuckers on the radio? I would go crazy if I knew that I had that in me and I couldn’t get it to anybody. Tech N9ne is getting it to people, but he ain’t getting it to enough motherfuckers. If Lil Wayne [click to read] can do a million in the first week I’ve got to do something. I know these motherfuckers love me. Some of them just don’t know it yet.
DX: Throw on your A&R hat for a minute. Now that the recording industry is so different, it helps an independent artist like you. How do you make that work in your favor?
TN: Man, you name it: iTunes, ringtones and everything else. We don’t have a lot of overhead, so all that coming in is ours. We don’t have to pay a middleman anymore like a [Priority Records Co-Founder] Mark Cerami or Jay Ferris. We don’t have a problem with Quincy because Quincy is still our people. We don’t have a problem with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. When I see them in the airport and stuff I give them love. They know it wasn’t our fault; it was the bitches they had running their labels.
At Strange Music we are the label. Our distribution is with Universal through Fontana, and they’re a good partner. We get our shit monthly and it’s wonderful. While everybody is on the decline, we’re on the incline as an independent. We’re not putting $500,000 towards a damn single. We ain’t paying all that payola. Most of these motherfuckers can go gold, even triple-platinum, and won’t even see a damn royalty check. That’s not happening here. My mechanical [royalties] are coming in from Everready as we speak. I’m vice president of my label, and I’m the first artist on Strange Music—the floor plan, if you will. Look what it’s turning into

DX: With that in mind, you guys have been doing stuff that people are just catching on to. You met Ronnz over the Internet and he ended up doing a few songs for Absolute Power.
TN: Oh, you’re talking about Ronnz from Berlin? Yeah, all day. I work with producers from everywhere. If they’ve got the heat, it doesn’t matter if they’re high or low on the totem pole. That’s how we found David Sanders II, Matic Lee and Ronnz. These cats actually sent beats in. I don’t care if you live in the basement at your grandma’s house, if you’ve got that heat, it’s going on my album. And then it spreads.
People in Berlin have been waiting because that word spread that Tech N9ne fucks with them. I like my music to travel. That’s why on “Everybody Move” I say, “I’m naughty, naughty, naughty boy, boy boy/when I’m in the Aussie, Aussie, Aussie (what)/Oy! Oy! Oy!” When I was over there, that’s what they were screaming. Now that was against us. That’s pretty much saying, “I’ll fuck you up if you’re over here tripping, you American.” When I say that now they know what’s up. When I go to Australia they’re gonna yell it to me, but it’s going to be love this time.
DX: I want to switch gears real quick. As Hip Hop fans we’re exposed to a lot of Five Percent teachings from Rakim on down to Brand Nubian and Wu-Tang Clan. “Can’t Shake It” is one of the few songs that openly questions that.
TN: Man, that’s reality. That’s what I mean by being inside-out. People wouldn’t dare speak against The Honorable Elijah Muhammad or Noble Drew Ali. I’ll tell you something though. With this religion stuff it’s all man made, brother. What other reason would explain the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? He found the God plan. That means everybody is created equal. You know that speech about Jews and gentiles.
Same thing with Malcolm X when he took his pilgrimage to Mecca. He saw that everything he was saying about racial separation was wrong and it was made by man. When he was in Mecca and drinking out of the same cups as Muslims of different races, he had to come back to the states and say, “I was wrong.” That was going to fuck up Elijah Muhammad’s money, and their solution was saying, “We’re gonna kill this nigga and silence him.”
That’s nigga shit, man! That’s not spiritual and it’s not godlike. If God exists that’s not it. Everybody with the God plan seems to die in this world. What does that tell me? This world is run by evil deeds. Look at Bush. I hate to speak about it because I can speak about it forever. That’s why [on “Can’t Shake It”] I said, “I was brought up in a Christian house/but my mama married a Muslim/threw the Christian out/what they did to Malcolm X threw the Islam out/so my homies with money seem to be the glistening route.” That’s where the bloodshed came in, and I say what I feel. I read Message to the Black Man when I was younger, but then you read the story of Malcolm X and find out it was his own people that did that in front of his kids and everything. Then Spike Lee put it in a film, and it’s like, “Ah, man.” Here was somebody that understood the remedy for man was togetherness instead of separation, and they’re not here anymore. Man can’t speak to me, and that’s why I love women. Don’t get me wrong because bitches can make you do some shit like that too. Look at the Adam and Eve story—they’re tantalizing and they make you do shit you’re not supposed to do. They’re the gateway to evil, but they’re beautiful. They’re angels; man is self-destructive. Everything man has created he has also single-handedly destroyed.
That’s why on “Hope For A Higher Power” I said, “What A gamble/that’s what life is and it’s hard to handle/the Bible says worship this/but the scripture’s written by man though/so when man destroys us/the word might not stand so/’till that day I’m just gone protect my fam with ammo.” The higher power may be firepower, and if that’s the case, we’re gonna lose. That’s a dark thought, man. Who has the most firepower? The government. Niggas in the hood can shoot and kill each other all we want to, but if it ever came down to marshal law and anarchy erupts, we ain’t winning against those tanks. So, what do we do? We do the best we can to protect our loved ones until we can’t anymore. We party like it’s 1999, even though it didn’t end in ’99 like Prince thought. We party like there’s no tomorrow. [Laughs]
DX: So we’ve got the conspiracy theory and you dabble in the numerology as far as your name goes…
TN: Yeah, man I’ve got to. Nine is a number of completion. It takes nine months to complete a pregnancy. A cat has nine lives. There’s nothing else like nine, because it’s the highest single digit. After that it’s double, triple and quadruple. The technique is complete and I have the complete technique of rhyming. I’m everything in one
DX: Where did you pick that up?
TN: I don’t recall. When I got my name in ’88, it was because I spit fast like a semi-automatic tech nine, and I was in a group called Black Mafia. I read a lot when I was younger. As far as when and how I ran across numerology back then, I could not tell you. But, I’m so glad it happened because it put me in a spiritual place. With my name being Aaron, off top, that’s Moses’ brother the high priest. So I got that and the number nine to symbolize completion, and it made me feel like I’m supposed to be here doing this.
Now if I feel like king of all kings, imagine how it feels when the whole world isn’t getting it. I’m watching 50 Cent on MTV Jams right now with the mute button on—he’s in Africa. I love it. G-Unit is in Africa enjoying life, doing music and learning new shit. When I was on tour with Paul Wall, he had just come back from Sierra Leone with Raekwon doing [Blig’d]. That’s what it’s all about with this music thing. We’re from the hood. Who the fuck chose us to do this?
It’s got to be a spiritual thing, man. I pray every night, and I want to believe that. If this is just something like how they say The Bible is just a parable and it contradicts itself, and man contradicts himself…if there is not anything higher than us, then it’s going to be a problem. What happens when people start knowing that? We’ve been knowing it for a long time. This is divine that we can stick our genitals inside of a woman, bust, and then another human being that looks like you comes out. Creation versus Darwinism? This shit grew like a plant. Creation tells you that God created everything, and yet Darwinism sounds more logical. Niggas don’t know what to think, but we pray daily. We need all the good luck in the world, because we’ve had dark days so many times in our lives. I’ve got too much to say to the world, man.
DX: I see. It’s pretty obvious that you’re well-read. Is there any particular book that stands out?
TN: A lot of my reading went on in the past. After this Tech N9ne thing sped up, I had no time. I haven’t rebooted in years. Everything that I’m speaking right now is over the years from reading about the Illuminati, Message to the Black Man, The Celestine Prophecy…it keeps going. This is shit I picked up years and years ago, and it broadened my way of thinking. I had all these different religious beliefs and I was kind of screwed up. My mom was a hardcore Christian and my step-dad, who was a Muslim, married her when I was 12. That made me question Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism and Shinto. It made me think that there were all these different places and languages. It’s like how the Christians thought Allah was a different man, but it was just a different language for God. It’s just a misunderstanding. People are different, but we all have something in common. We’re human beings.

[Fatal Guillotine]

DX: Where did you pick that up?
TN: I don’t recall. When I got my name in ’88, it was because I spit fast like a semi-automatic tech nine, and I was in a group called Black Mafia. I read a lot when I was younger. As far as when and how I ran across numerology back then, I could not tell you. But, I’m so glad it happened because it put me in a spiritual place. With my name being Aaron, off top, that’s Moses’ brother the high priest. So I got that and the number nine to symbolize completion, and it made me feel like I’m supposed to be here doing this.
Now if I feel like king of all kings, imagine how it feels when the whole world isn’t getting it. I’m watching 50 Cent on MTV Jams right now with the mute button on—he’s in Africa. I love it. G-Unit is in Africa enjoying life, doing music and learning new shit. When I was on tour with Paul Wall, he had just come back from Sierra Leone with Raekwon doing [Blig’d]. That’s what it’s all about with this music thing. We’re from the hood. Who the fuck chose us to do this?
It’s got to be a spiritual thing, man. I pray every night, and I want to believe that. If this is just something like how they say The Bible is just a parable and it contradicts itself, and man contradicts himself…if there is not anything higher than us, then it’s going to be a problem. What happens when people start knowing that? We’ve been knowing it for a long time. This is divine that we can stick our genitals inside of a woman, bust, and then another human being that looks like you comes out. Creation versus Darwinism? This shit grew like a plant. Creation tells you that God created everything, and yet Darwinism sounds more logical. Niggas don’t know what to think, but we pray daily. We need all the good luck in the world, because we’ve had dark days so many times in our lives. I’ve got too much to say to the world, man.
DX: I see. It’s pretty obvious that you’re well-read. Is there any particular book that stands out?
TN: A lot of my reading went on in the past. After this Tech N9ne thing sped up, I had no time. I haven’t rebooted in years. Everything that I’m speaking right now is over the years from reading about the Illuminati, Message to the Black Man, The Celestine Prophecy…it keeps going. This is shit I picked up years and years ago, and it broadened my way of thinking. I had all these different religious beliefs and I was kind of screwed up. My mom was a hardcore Christian and my step-dad, who was a Muslim, married her when I was 12. That made me question Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism and Shinto. It made me think that there were all these different places and languages. It’s like how the Christians thought Allah was a different man, but it was just a different language for God. It’s just a misunderstanding. People are different, but we all have something in common. We’re human beings.
I have never seen something supernatural. When they say some place is haunted I go stand right there. We’ll be on tour, and someone will say one of the basements in those old venues is haunted. It’s one of those things like a little girl died there, and you can still hear her playing with her ball or some shit. I’ll go in the basement and stand in the corner for like a minute and see if I feel anything different. It never happens. It’s kind of eerie, and you never know if there’s a psycho down there who just wants to fulfill everybody’s dream and kill you. But, I’ve never seen anything supernatural.
Can you imagine how drastically my music would change if I saw something higher than a human being? When you hear people like Floetry sing, that’s divine. Talent is divine to me. Nobody can sing like Marsha Ambrosius. The way Jimi Hendrix played was divine. The nigga played with his teeth! But, I’ve never seen anything higher than a human being. I’ve seen towering human beings, like Shaq, but I’ve never seen anything spiritual. That would be validation. I’d think, “Okay, I really need to get my shit right.” But what’s really right—the stuff that’s in The Bible or The Koran? Then you go crazy. You’re so smart, yet you go crazy.
DX: That’s ill. I’ve never heard you mention The Celestine Prophecy in any interview or song, but I just had this feeling you were gonna say something about that book and energy.
TN: Yeah, man. You can feel my energy through the phone. I’m calm. This is my life. It’s not a thing, but it’s some thing for me to be that way and it exudes happiness. Sometimes it exudes confusion or madness, but right now I’m in a quiet place. My children are out of school, they’re kicking it and they don’t want for anything. I’m taking my son to the movies after awhile. You can feel that energy and it’s me all the time.
DX: Do your kids know what you do for a living? And if they do, what do they think of your music?
TN: My kids are the biggest Tech N9ne fans ever, man. I let them listen to whatever they want to, and they’re really eclectic. I’ve got two 13-year-olds and one nine-year-old. They listen to me, and they’re so proud of me. My two little girls live in Los Angeles and my son lives here in Kansas City with his mom. They love me and my music. They have been on stage with me since they were born, introducing me on the mic at the age of three. There’s no shyness or nothing. They are my reason for growing up and they’re the reason I stopped doing Ecstasy, acid, ‘shrooms, GHB and all that shit. I can’t be killing my body because I need to be there for them. I still drink, but I stopped smoking weed in ’98. I’m working to take them to Hawaii in mid-July. They call me everyday asking, “Daddy, are we still going to Hawaii.” I have to keep telling them, “Yes, I just have to find the correct time.” They are why I do this.

[Fatal Guillotine]

My children are in awe when it comes to my music. Me and my wife were just talking about my nine-year-old.
“Do you know Rainbow’s favorite song on Krizz Kaliko’s album?”
“‘It Ain’t Your Bitch,’ right?”
“Yeah, how did you know that?”
“I don’t know. I just know my little one.”
She would come home and play that ten times in a row after she came home from school. It’s the one where I’m singing on the chorus, “It was cool when I met her/the type of chick who wanna do whatever/I think you better let her/cause nigga that ain’t your bitch.” What is my nine-year-old little girl thinking listening to that? What, she gets kick out of that? But, she’s smart as hell. That tells me she loves music that relaxes her. So yeah, my kids have been on it.