Tech N9ne: the King, Clown & the G

Kansas City, MO born and raised Tech N9ne believes that if rap was strictly based on music that he would be a billionaire. What he has learned and wants to pass on to all other up and coming artists is that this art turned industry juggerknot is now based on who you know and then what you know about who you know. Tech N9ne decided that Kansas City was his foundation but to truly touch the masses he would have to transcend a bigger market, hence the move to California right about CNN’s Larry King Live studio. This King, Clown and G has become all three through his experiences in and out of the industry. Tech N9ne believes he is one of the highly exhaulted and if you listen closely you can hear it in every verse.

Scheme: Coming from Kansas City what was that upbringing like and how did you get introduced to music?

Tech N9ne: My next door neighbors had all kinds of rap music and Kansas City is like any other city just smaller. We have the hardcore, gangsta and the backpack hip hop scene, we’ve got the spoken word, b-boys and so forth.

Scheme: Was it hard getting recognition and notoriety coming out of KC?

Tech N9ne: Yeah because we don’t have Def Jam or Sony Midwest. I had to build my name within the city and it took a while but once they got on to it, it spread like a forest fire and started branching off into a lot of other spots which is wonderful right now.

Scheme: For the people who don’t know where did Tech N9ne stem from?

Tech N9ne: I got the name Tech N9ne when I was in a group called Black Mafia in 88. I did a song called New Breed and this guy named Walker Jefferson was looking through a guns and ammo magazine and back then Black Mafia was really radical and forceful and that’s how I came about the name.

Scheme: Let’s talk about the album Misery Loves Kompany, is there any symbolism in the fact that when you spell that out it spells out M.L.K.?

Tech N9ne: Totally, and when you picture MLK it’s usually in the hood, and this album is really hood. I went down South to make this record and half the album was done by this guy named David Sanders out of Alabama. I wanted that deep bass like Three 6 Mafia and Lil’ Jon. This album is extremely hood more so than my past release and I really wanted that for this summer and it fit perfectly. We’re in Missouri, we call it Misery and every ghetto in the country has an MLK in the hood.

Scheme: How did the transfer from Kansas City to L.A. come about?

Tech N9ne: It’s all expansion we did everything we had to do in Kansas City and it was time to expand. We moved to L.A. and moved right above the CNN building right above Larry King Live. We expanded and now can affect more people and that’s the goal and California is a big piece of the rest of the world.

Scheme: So what can people expect on this album and who are some of the other artists you’re working with on this album?

Tech N9ne: On M.L.K. I pretty much kept it homegrown. Rappers that I felt were elite in my section, other than my label mates. I reached out to a lot of other artists in Kansas City that I know are elite like MC Shadow, Money Hungry and Agony. The only two that I reached out to that were outside of the Kansas City area were Yukmouth from the Luniz and D-Nutty from Sacramento.

Scheme: What is your objective for Tech N9ne and then for the whole crew?

Tech N9ne: My ultimate goal is to get my word to the rest of the world. I’m not just talking about regional, I’m talking about global in Australia, New Zealand and we just came from Denmark where we did a festival with Kanye West, Tool, George Clinton and Floetry and it was wonderful. They let us know we had fans over there. If everybody is not speaking your name whether it be positive or negative then who the hell are you?

Scheme: What kind of content do you guys touch on in the album?

Tech N9ne: The new album is like a rollercoaster ride just like every other album. My life is a rollercoaster so I rap about how it progresses for better or worse. There is a lot of sexual content on this one because I didn’t get to do it on the last album but there is also a song on there called Message to the Black Man and that’s going to surprise a lot of people because you have to have b*lls to say what I’m saying on that song. It’s pretty personal to me, it’s wonderful. This is real music and real talent and I’m not just saying that because this is my music. Everyone has their preference and you can choose what you like and what you don’t like, when you hear some of the beats they sound simpler, its coming from down south.

Scheme: Why did you feel it was important to create a song called Message to the Black man in this day in time?

Tech N9ne: It’s time, as you know it comes from the title of the Malcolm X book and a lot of people might be offended that I used that title and used the word n*gga throughout the song. The song is about not to many Black folks coming to hip hop shows and it’s sad that our own people won’t come to the shows, won’t support the music and are being reclusive. When you go to these big concerts like Smokin Grooves, the majority of the audience is Caucasian. I have no problems with White people I love all people like God loves all people but when you look out in the audience and you don’t see our people you wonder where we are.

Scheme: What made you decide to choose that down South bass heavy sound?

Tech N9ne: Mannie Fresh, Lil’ Jon Three Six Mafia always pulls me in and Kansas City is a deep bass town if there’s no pulse there’s no life and some kind of beat has to catch you. If the beat didn’t bump nobody would listen to it. I made this album heavy bass for that reason. There is a track on the player called Gangsta shap and it’s a dance we used to do back in Kansas City and if you listen to that you’ll get a jist of what the album is about.

Scheme: What have you learned on the business side for other up and coming artists who are coming out of the same type of situation you are?

Tech N9ne: If it was about who was the best rapper I’d be a billionaire and that’s a sad thing to tell somebody. It’s more of who you know that what you know, if you can get to this person they can put you to the masses. We didn’t have a Diddy putting us out or a Russell Simmons behind us, we did this from the ground up. The more you connect with people in the industry it’s easy to get to where you’re going. So its about who you know and once its who you know its what you know.

Scheme: Are you still a fan of the music or is it a love hate relationship you have with hip hop right now?

Tech N9ne: I’m biased because I’m a lover of music and I listen to everything. When it comes to rap I’m biased because I love Young Joc, Young Dro and the Ying Yang Twins. I love people that can make music move and that can make people dance. I’m happy because hip hop is a way for people to get out of the slum, get out of the ghetto and do something positive with their life. So having the world banging your music and you having enough money to take care of your children and that’s a wonderful thing. I love that young people are able to come up like that and get into an industry that’s snake-ish but still get some money and take care of their little ones, that’s positive to me. I know the state of hip hop is on the decline as far as record sales that’s why we’re doing the independent thing. I love the fact that beautiful music is being displayed and the rest of the world is embracing it.

Scheme: If you had three words to describe Tech N9ne what would they be and why?

Tech N9ne: The king because I feel like I’m highly exhaulted in rhyme, I might be humble as hell but I feel that not to many people can do what I do. The clown in me loves to party and almost overdosed on drugs and ecstacy and I’ve had wild sex everywhere but it also let me see that I have that side. The G in me understands family values and how important it is that when I have time off, to spend time with my children. If you really want to find out more about the King, Clown and the G pick up my album Eveready and they brakes down all three.

Scheme: Do you have anything coming up on the solo side?

Tech N9ne: I have my new solo album in November called Killer, and the way that we’re using the word is not like I’m coming to murder somebody but I mean get at them lyrically. It’s like rock & roll talk, like, “That’s a killer beat or everything about this album is going to be killer or top notch.”