Peeking in from the outside, it would appear everything comes easy for Tech N9ne these days. He’s one of the top selling independent artist on the planet. He’s annually listed on Forbes’ vaulted Hip Hop Cash Kings list. His most recent album, Special Effects just debuted at #4 on Billboard, notching 66,000 (units plus streams) and includes a major-label type lineup of features including Eminem, Lil Wayne, Corey Taylor, 2 Chainz, B.o.B., etcetera. He’s still on tour. His label, Strange Music is still posted in that beautiful, expansive compound in Kansas City. He’s still winning easily… it would seem.
Away from this latest victory, though, Nina had to overcome a series of albatross’ in order to release Special Effects. Emotionally, he’s still reeling from the loss of his mother, which he’s discussed at length in recent interviews. He initially sampled Halloween on “Pyscho Bitch III” (featuring Hopsin) but had to recreate the song since the new owner of the iconic theme song attached an unreasonable price. He had to completely change Special Effects’ lead single due to a conflict with Universal Music Group, all of which he details for the first time in this conversation with HipHopDX (presented entirely in his own words).
“And this big ass single I was supposed to have first,” Tech explains before continuing, “I did it before Bruno Mars put out ‘Uptown Funk.’ It was on some funk shit before the Mark Ronson shit. It was gonna be at the forefront of that shit. And… it didn’t happen. I listened to the song today and the shit that bites me hard about it—and I’m gonna tell you because you’re my brother and we didn’t use anything illegally so I feel like I can talk about it—the song was called ‘We Strange’… I was gonna do the other side of the spectrum, my black side, [and sample] Cameo! These mutherfuckers said I couldn’t use it. It wasn’t Cameo. It was someone else up at Universal. I feel like, ‘Ain’t we distributed through you mutherfuckers? What the fuck are you talking about?”
Tech N9ne also delves into the likelihood fans will see Eminem join him and Krizz Kaliko on stage for a rendition, of “Speedom (WWC2),” dissects the “Choppers” series, details a number of tracks off of Special Effects, reveals the title of his next album and explains resolutely, why he’s nowhere near the end of this incredibly awesome, gloriously Strange ride.
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Tour Life
“Something told me it was going to be crazy because right before this tour we went to Australia, New Zealand, and Honolulu for the first time and it was this over abundance of love. It’s always been love but it was more than ever. I was like, ‘This tour is gonna be crazy.’ As soon as we got on this muthafucker man, it was so many more people, so much love, so many more tears. I’m like, ‘Wow! This the most tears we’ve ever gotten from meet-n-greets from people—people who say we saved their lives and helped them through shit.’ It’s like my mom’s spirit is here for real. It was so crazy.
“It could be a combination of things. We’ve let out a lot of new songs before the album. ‘Aw Yeah (Intervention)’ touched a lot of people. ‘Hood Go Crazy’ is banging everywhere now. The song I dedicated to my fans that don’t want me to go further and just want to keep me to theyself and call me a sellout—I did ‘Dyin’ Flyin’’ for them. We let out one with me and T.I. and Zuse called ‘On The Bible.’ We’ve just been letting out jewels. And then the one with Eminem (‘Speedom (WCW2)’) just blew everybody’s mind. We let that one out, but we didn’t let out none of that before we went to Australia, New Zealand, and Honolulu so, for the stage, it’s a lot more people coming [to the shows]. I can’t explain it, brother. I wish I could put something on it. It’s just so much love in the air, man.”
Who Had The Best Verse On “Speedom (WCW2)”?
“The majority say that everybody killed it. A lot of them say Krizz [Kaliko] killed everybody. A lot more of them say Eminem went fucking off, and he did. It’s like, when Tech N9ne, Eminem and Krizz Kaliko get on a track, it’s gonna be murder all the way through. That’s the most I’ve heard: ‘All three of you murdered it. This is a fire track. Rest In Peace Richie Havens.’ People got their favorites. I think Krizz and Em really showed out. I always show out. Mutherfuckers expect me to show out.
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“This is the last ‘Choppers.’ They got all the other ‘Choppers.’ They like, ‘Yeah, we expect Tech, but we want to see all these other mutherfuckers go.’ And these other mutherfuckers stood up, dawg. Eminem, I always knew that he was a chopper because of some of the styles that he kicked, but he proved it on this one, like crazy. He liked it so much, he went a full 24 bars instead of the original 16 that I asked for. When we send you a verse and we write our verses and we send it to whoever we’re trying to push everybody to do their very best. When somebody sends you the ‘Choppers,’ you gotta bring it. Everybody brought it. I’m really critical. If anybody didn’t come the correct way, I wasn’t going to use none of it. We’ve been through this before. Like, ‘Nah, this ain’t gonna work. I can’t use this one.’ It’s hard to tell somebody that they didn’t do good on a ‘Choppers’ track or any track. It’s hard to tell anybody, ‘I gotta try something else.’ These are pros that I’m working with. Krizz Kaliko’s a pro. Eminem’s a pro. Tech N9ne’s a fucking pro, man. When we go, we go all the way. I didn’t have to change nothing. I didn’t have to fix nobody’s verse. I didn’t have to do none of that.”
Breaking Down The “Choppers” Series
“It’s ‘Worldwide Choppers 2’ because the first one is called ‘Midwest Choppers.’ The second one is called ‘Midwest Choppers 2.’ The third one is called ‘Worldwide Choppers’ where I got people from everywhere on it—From New York, Turkey. Everyone was on the first ‘Worldwide Choppers,’ but that’s the third of the ‘Choppers’ series. If that first one was ‘Worldwide Choppers,’ this would be ‘2.’ Now I had other people in mind to do it like this 19-year old from Atlanta. Her name is Gabby Gab and she’s a murderer. I was gonna get this guy from my area named Hurricane. He’s a murderer. I was gonna get these two guys from Germany. They’re from different sides of the spectrum but people that I found that were dope choppers when I was out on my European tour. I was gonna call Snow Tha Product. I was gonna get Rittz.
“This is a tribute to Richie Havens’ song ‘Freedom.’ The estate, they left like 19 percent and rightly so because they didn’t have to leave us nothing. We wanted to use the idea to give an ode to ‘Freedom,’ so by the time the estate got done, there was only 19 percent left. And the fact that Eminem wanted to do it, it was like ‘Fuck, let’s go.’ Nobody else would’ve got paid. Nobody. People were like, ‘Why isn’t it just ‘Midwest Choppers 3?’ I was like, ‘Well, these guys that are on it—all three of us—been all over the world chopping mutherfuckers heads off for years. We all are worldwide. We are WWC. That’s why it’s only us three on it. The business part of it was like, there’s no more money left to give anybody residuals. But when you think about it, when me, Krizz Kaliko and Eminem spit on it, what is anybody else gonna do? We did every style you could possibly do on that beat. What are you gonna do, use different words but every style that we use? What can you do? It’s perfect to me. ‘Worldwide Choppers 2.’”
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Recording “The Anthem” With Sway & King Tech
https://youtu.be/wrwF2b_t4RI
“I was the first one on ‘The Anthem’ beat. I was staying in LA at the time at an apartment in Northridge that QD3 put together for us. Sway and King Tech sent me a beat and said, ‘Hey man, we’re gonna do this ‘Anthem’ thing and we want you a verse on the song.’ I wrote it right there. We didn’t have no furniture. I was sitting on the carpet in this little bitty apartment. It was right across the street from a college that says ‘CSUN’ [California State University Northridge]. I was right across the street from there writing this verse. The next time I heard it, KRS-One was on it and he was bustin’. So, I was like the lead [on the song] and everybody was busting on it. I was like, ‘Yeah, still Tech N9ne giving everybody the idea on how to rap on this.’ Next thing you know it was ‘The Anthem.’ Now we weren’t all in the studio together but we were on the video set together. That’s when I first ran into Eminem. That was 1999.”
Eminem & Tech N9ne Live Together
“If he can spit that verse live, dude, I’ll stop rapping. Nah, I ain’t gonna say that because that mutherfucker might be able to do it. But, shit, I don’t know man. Put it like this: Me and Krizz Kaliko would have to rehearse with him and pick up words like Run-DMC. like we do on our shows because there’s a lot he said. That would be dope if we could do it live. We were taught to write to performing. That’s why it’s easier to sell our products. We take breaths. A video? Yes. Live would be a stretch. [Laughs] I mean, that nigga don’t breathe. He don’t breathe. He don’t take a breath. Kendrick [Lamar] did the same thing on ‘Fragile,’ which is why we never did it live together.
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“He breathes on ‘Rap God.’ Just listen to the verse. It just keeps going, my nigga. And he murdered it. If you don’t take a breath, we ain’t gonna be able to do this shit live. Or we’re gonna rehearse it and we’re gonna pick up words. We know how to do this. I’m just keeping it real. We gonna have to rehearse that bitch.”
“On The Bible” With T.I. & Zuse
“It’s fucked up that it has to come from a fucked up and bad place. Loved ones, my blood, my family was upset at me. I was busy in the studio and I didn’t have any cash on me. They needed me to get some cash. I was like, ‘Call my uncle, I’m in the booth right now. I ain’t got it on me. It’s 8 o’clock and my bank’s closed.’ When the Forbes list tells you you got $8 million last year, $1,500 ain’t shit. And it ain’t. During the day, nigga you say you need $1,500, I got you. Meet me at the Capital Grill. Come get it. It’s nothing. But if I’m in the booth, bank’s been closed since fucking 6PM. I guess when they called my uncle, they didn’t answer the phone.
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“By the time I got out of the booth, I checked my messages and it was like, ‘Fuck you you cheapskate mutherfucker. You ain’t never been shit. We should’ve killed you a long time ago.’ It scared the shit outta me. It broke my heart, too. I called like, ‘Yo, you got the wrong idea. I was busy…’ ‘No, fuck you!’ They talked to me like I wasn’t nothing. So, I went home and the way that they were talking, ‘Show us you a Blood, mutherfucker! Fuck you! Fuck Uncle Ike, Fuck Makzilla. Fuck all y’all niggas.’ It made me go home and load my gun for my family. It broke my heart. That’s why I said I felt like their tone said ‘I’m coming to get you.’ That’s when the heavy artillery came in the picture. And luckily because of your past, you can have someone come and assist you. I can call the cavalry and I’ll have anything I want. I can blow this whole mutherfucking city up if I had to. I wouldn’t blow the whole city up. I love my city. [Laughs] I’m saying blow anything up that fucking hindered me.
“So that verse came out, man. I swore I’d never let another man’s hands take me to my grave, nigga. I don’t care. I have to be here for my children. That’s how that verse came about and that song came about. Zuse already had that killer hook on it. Seven did that beat around it. Tip was so cool, man. He just came through and waved the verse and then came all the way to Atlanta from LA. I guess he was coming from a screening of Get Hard. He came to the video set at 11:30 at night after going to his nephews wake and everything. Came straight there dressed how we was supposed to be dressed and did the shit. Love, man. Love all the way around. That’s how that song happened.”
Seven Is “Rick Rubin Mixed With Timbaland”
“He’s shy as fuck. Seven don’t wanna be in the limelight. Seven is so quiet and you wouldn’t even think that boy makes all these crazy ass beats. He did ‘Bass Ackwards’ with me, Yo Gotti and Lil Wayne [and Big Scoob] and all that shit. He’s so diverse. He did ‘Wither’ with me and Corey Taylor, man. He did that metal shit on there and then turn around and do ‘Aw Yeah’ with the 9 piece choir. He put that shit together.
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“A long time ago, DJ Fresh—really popular deejay in Kansas City—did this CD that brought all the surrounding cities together called The 50 Emcees. I happened to get on a track with Ray Dee. Ray Dee was a really popular rapper in Kansas City before I was. They called him the reaper. It was a song called ‘Get Ready For The Meat Wagon.’ Seven did the beat. It was real eerie sounding and I rapped on it. That was the first time I ever heard of him, but I hadn’t met him. I didn’t know he was a white boy from Wichita, KS. I can’t remember what year ‘Meat Wagon’ came out. It was in the mid-90s, maybe early-90s, maybe 1993 or 1994 or something like that. I don’t know. We recently took that beat and redid it and made it the ‘Strangeulation Cypher’ beat and put the drums on it to say that this is the first song of Seven’s that I ever rapped on. We brought it full circle. It’s fucking crazy.
“After the mid-1990s, he didn’t land anything with me again until 2006. The first track he ever did for me was as song called ‘Come Gangster’ on Everready. That was the first song I’d chose like, ‘Yeah, that one I can use.’ We had been trying to hook up for years after ‘Meat Wagon.’ From 1995 or 1994, we didn’t work again until 2006. He didn’t land anything until ‘Come Gangster.’ From there it’s been slowly but surely. Then we made him an in-house producer and he’s been really fucking shining.
“After this album, everybody should want to work with him. He’s like Rick Rubin, dude, and people don’t even know it. He’s like Rick Rubin mixed with Timbaland and everybody. Anybody that’s supposed to be the shit making beats, he’s that and then some, man.”
“Dead Alive (Skit)” & Godemis’ Voicemail
“All my voicemails that I ever used in my music are real. People always choose me to call and leave suicide letters and shit. People always choose me. Usually the people who do that to me, I cut them off because I have so much darkness already, then why would they fucking want to do that? There’s people that have done that to me in my phone and I block them and they never get to talk to me again because I think that’s fucking disrespectful to do that to somebody. Why would you choose me, The King Of Darkness—just losing my mom—why would you do that to me?
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“So when it first happened, I was pissed. That first message—I’ll be dead and gone—I was like, ‘What the fuck?’ I called Ubi because Godemis is always partying and he don’t ever answer his phone. That’s so real coming from Godemis because he’s really a rock star, man. It can happen. It’s scary but it pissed me off. I can’t block the nigga. He’s my artist. I have to care. I give a fuck about his wellbeing. So I called Ubi like, ‘Man, what the fuck is wrong with Godemis.’ He said, ‘I don’t know, man. I ain’t talked to him in a couple of days, man.’ I said, ‘This nigga left me a fucking message talking about ‘By the time I listen to this I’m gonna be fucking dead and gone.’ I don’t like that shit. I’m already going through so much fucking shit, Ubi. If he’s still alive, tell him I’m fucking pissed.’
“That’s why the second call said, ‘Yo brother, I heard about that call…’ [Laughs] He heard about it because Ubi called and told him that he left a message with Tech on some suicide shit. He said, ‘I don’t even remember I was so fucked up.’ That’s why it got funny. So I told him, ‘Nigga, just for that, I’m putting it on my album!’ [Laughs] And I called it ‘Dead Alive,’ because the nigga said he was gonna be dead but he’s alive and well. I was mad at the first one. I had to laugh at the second one.”
“Bass Ackwards,” Lil Wayne, Yo Gotti & Big Scoob
“I love it. I can say it word for word. I love what Yo Gotti did. I love what Wayne did. Big Scoob. I choose people perfectly for beats, I think. I really do think I choose ‘em well. I just put Em on ‘Speedom’ or Corey Taylor on ‘Wither.’ I know I have an ear for music. I grew up around deejays. To hear Yo Gotti [quotes Yo Gotti’s verse], I love it! He brought himself and that’s what I need people to do. I need them to bring to the game what they bring to the game. Wayne did the same. That’s why we put him on that last part where it breaks down like the song him and Drake does. It breaks down really slow. ‘These niggas bass ackawards.. Let me hit that ass backwards.’ It was perfect.
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“I just do what the beats tell me to do. That song is gangster. I don’t go into it thinking, ‘Ooh, this is gonna be a single.’ When you hear the beat to ‘Hood Go Crazy,’ it was like, ‘This could probably be in the club’ because I used to be a dancer. If it makes me move, it’ll probably make other people move. When I go in for a song, I never think—and I know that my partner’s probably gonna be like, ‘You’re stupid, Tech’—but when you get big names on your album, it’s supposed to be something you can take a long way. I do art. I don’t care. I don’t care about status. My fans are gonna buy my shit anyway. Maybe some other people will get a whiff of me. But it’s not written in blood that millions of people are gonna hear ‘Bass Ackwards’ like ‘Oh shit! I gotta buy that shit.’ No! I don’t do music for that shit. I don’t do music for the name recognition. I knew Corey Taylor could bring something to ‘Wither.’ We on there cussing like a mutherfucker! ‘So get the fuck out my face!’ We said it like seven times. We ain’t care about no goddamn radio, but good music will make its way if it’s meant. I just do good music, man. I just try to do really good music. I don’t think about the name recognition. If we make good music, it’ll go a long way. I didn’t go in there thinking that ‘Bass Ackwards’ was gonna be a radio single. I don’t know what it can be. I just know it rumps like a mutherfucker and I want people to bang it in their trunk.”
“Psycho Bitch III” Was Supposed To Sample Halloween
“It was challenging because this is the last of the series. ‘Psycho Bitch I’ was on Anghellic, the first LP. ‘Psycho Bitch II’ was on Killer, if I’m not mistaken. Here’s ‘Psycho Bitch III.’ I didn’t know what I wanted to write about because I don’t have that shit in my life anymore. I’ve encountered psycho bitches but I’m not with a psycho bitch anymore so it’s like, ‘Damn, it’s time to do this song but what the fuck am I gonna write about?’ So I just started rapping and it was, ‘Nah, that ain’t it.’ I can’t do what I did on the first one. I can’t tell you what I told you on the second one. I have to create something that’s near to me, something that touches my heart and that’s crimes of passion. That’s how my best friend, Brian [Dennis], got killed. The third time I balled it up, I was like, ‘This is gonna be about a crime of passion. I had to write a movie script. It’s gonna be about a chick that’s fucking with two known rappers and she’s gonna tell one nigga one thing and the other nigga the other thing and they hate each other because of it and they end up killing each other because of her. And in the end, she’s gonna end up being with some other nigga and these niggas are dead.
“That’s pretty much what the story is about: Crimes of passion. Makzilla called me like, ‘Nigga, I saw the bitch you fucking with in the club with the other rap nigga. What’s up with that?’ I’m on the other side of the phone like, heartbroken for real. If you listen to it, I’ve been there so I knew how to act that out. I’ve been there when someone call you like, ‘Hey dude, I saw your girl with [another nigga].’ It’s like, ‘Forreal?’ That’s all you can say, ‘Forreal?’ because your heart is pounding. ‘Man, she making you look like a clown, man.’ And I’m like, ‘No shit,’ and you don’t want to hear that from your homeboy. You don’t wanna hear that, so I knew exactly how to act that out. Once I got them on the phone and calling, I’m like, ‘Quit calling my girl phone, nigga, you know who this is!’ Then you ask him to break it down like, ‘Are you fucking her?’ like real vulnerable, like damn-near about to cry. He laughs and that pisses me off like, ‘Oh, you think this shit’s funny, nigga? I’ma see you…’ And then he say, ‘Hoe ass nigga.’ This is the shit that happens, man. This is a real thing. I created this movie, but it was hard to write this last of the series. It was hard, man. And Seven with this humongous beat had everyone downstairs in our video department—which is like nine or more people—come upstairs and stomp on the beat. He played trash cans, beating on trash cans with aluminum bats and shit. Alien War happened to be in town—my drummer—so he came and played the drums on Hopsin’s part. It’s a really big production, man.
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“I originally wanted to use another piece of the Halloween theme but it broke my heart because John Carpenter sold it to—and this is the first time I’m saying this because I’m such a huge fan of Halloween and Michael Myers and I wanted to use a piece of the theme that nobody’s ever thought to use—sadly, John Carpenter sold it Malek Akkad, Moustapha Akkad’s son. Moustapha Akkad is who produced the first Halloween. You see Debra Hill’s name and you see Executive Producer Moustapha Akkad on the first one and the second one. The new ones with Rob Zombie say Malek Akkad. I’m like, ‘Wow, they’re carrying on tradition and it’s fucking wonderful.’ I’m such a fan of them. The people who own it now want to charge me $50,000 and 80%. John Carpenter let me use the first one in 2001. He only charged me $5,000, man, and it was so wonderful. Don’t get me wrong, it’s worth $100 million to me, but don’t do me like that, Malek Akkad. I know he don’t know me. I know he don’t know what the fuck’s going on, but to take 80% and charge me $50,000 [is excessive]. So we had to change the whole thing and it broke my fucking heart, dude.
“But what Seven did was way more creepier now and I had to get used to it. It’s fucking creepier than the first idea that we had that we were gonna sample. He took everything out of it that was fucking Halloween and made it this eerie shit that I never heard. I’m still fucked up about it. If I see Malek Akkad anywhere at Comicon signing shit, I’m gonna be in like, my nigga. I’m that fucked up about it.”
Conflict With Universal Music Group
“There’s a couple of things that happened on this album that I wanna go talk to people about. Somebody said something at Universal. They thought that I was running from them back in 2001. It wasn’t us that did not pay everybody. It was fucking MSC. All the producers for Anghellic didn’t get paid. I never got paid for none of the shit I was doing on MSC still to this day. When the sample clearances didn’t get paid, now when I got to get something, the people that might’ve been working for those companies at that time are like, ‘Nope, we’re not doing it because Tech owed us this in 2001 and we think he did it on purpose.’ I’m like, ‘Me? I still didn’t get paid, mutherfucker.’ It was a big song that was supposed to be my first single other than ‘Hood Go Crazy’ on this album that somebody at Universal said ‘No’ because of ‘Einstein’ back in the day. Fuck’d me up, Justin, and they still owe me millions of dollars and we still ain’t never got paid. None of the producers of Anghellic, none of the sample clearances, nothing because MSC said he feels like we lost so much money. Are you fucking crazy? They’re still selling it!
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“It’s a couple of things: The Malek Akkad thing really hurt me. I do this music for real, Just. I’m not just fucking doing it to do it. When I pay tribute to somebody—that Richie Havens shit—we pay for that shit! We’re giving a tribute. I am a Michael Myers fan. I’m lyrically Michael Myers. Malek Akkad don’t know that. I get it. Nobody spoke up like, ‘You know that’s Tech N9ne, right?’ No, nobody gave a fuck. $50,000 and 80%? Fuck you, nigga. You’re not about to do me like that, man. I am independent, man. Don’t do me like that, man. Don’t treat me like some kind of poo-butt, nigga. I’m tryna take this shit further. I am a fan. They don’t give a fuck, money talks, my nigga. I hate to think of it that way, but you’re standing in the way of my beautiful music. People ain’t gonna keep doing me like that. I don’t care what they see on the Forbes list. Be fair. Be fair. We created this shit. Don’t fucking play with us, man.
“When you own something, you can charge as much as you want to. Yeah, you can do that. It’s yours. You can charge as much as you want to, but when the originator showed so much love and he shows it to you, don’t play me like that, man. Don’t come up with no fucking ideas like ‘Tech N9ne’s been dodging us on purpose since ‘Einstein’ and all this shit.’ They’re gonna have to see me. I’m going to the top. I ain’t talking about fighting nobody or nothing, but I really need to have conversations with these people. Don’t ever do me like that again. If you have a problem with me, please talk to me. I’m talking about the mutherfuckers at Universal, whoever said it. It makes you want to go the street route like, ‘What’s his name? OK, we’re gonna make sure we send somebody and I’m gonna be with them.’ But I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not gonna do that. I’m not gonna be a fucking ignorant nigga.’
“That’s how much I care about this music, Just. I had so many force fields and so many barriers and so much time and this is the album that’s showing people that there shouldn’t be any barriers. We can take edm, and take metal and take Hip Hop and take trap and take r&b and take jazz and all of us get together and put together a wonderful fucking project. Team work. No fucking genres, just wonderful beautiful music. In the midst of all that and people still creating barriers, I wanna talk to these people, man. It’s over and done.
“We Strange” Was Intended To Be The Lead Single
“The album is out already. People love it. We’re done now. Those songs didn’t make it. We had to change ‘Psycho Bitch III.’ It’s even better even though I’m a fucking fan of the goddamn Michael Myers theme and they didn’t let me do it. And this big ass single I was supposed to have first. I did it before Bruno Mars put out ‘Uptown Funk.’ It was on some funk shit before the Mark Ronson shit. It was gonna be at the forefront of that shit. And… it didn’t happen. I listened to the song today and the shit that bites me hard about it—and I’m gonna tell you because you’re my brother and we didn’t use anything illegally so I feel like I can talk about it—the song was called ‘We Strange.’ On the last album I did the rock & roll version called ‘Strange Days’ off my whole love for The Doors. On this one I was gonna do the other side of the spectrum, my black side, Cameo! These mutherfuckers said I couldn’t use it. It wasn’t Cameo. It was someone else up at Universal. I feel like, ‘Ain’t we distributed through you mutherfuckers? What the fuck are you talking about?’ I don’t know how that shit works, but I want to have a sit down and talk to whoever said it. When my name comes through there, don’t halt me. You don’t know me. You don’t have to help me do nothing. But I fucking care about the music. I ain’t no pussy ass nigga doing pussy ass music like, ‘OK.’ No, my fans cherish this shit for life. It means something to them. It means something to me. Fucking barriers. So I didn’t get to do my ‘We Strange,’ my other culture. It fucked me up, man.
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“The fucked up thing is that they got a letter from MSC years ago stating that he’s the mutherfucker that owes the money! That’s what I heard. Why did it turn to me? Because the Forbes list bullshit. Don’t get me wrong, the Forbes list ain’t bullshit. But it’s bullshit that we gotta report how much we make because it makes mutherfuckers look at you different and charge more money rather than good business. We were going to try to perform it but Travis said no because we might still want to use it. But the fucked up thing about Tech N9ne is that when I make it for an album, dude, it’s for that album. I’m always going somewhere else, so, next album it’s not gonna feel right to me. If they don’t hurry up and do something now [it’ll never happen]. It’s the principle of it. MSC owes this money. I never got paid none of my money. Why am I gonna pay thousands of my money when they ain’t paid me my money. I’m getting fucked more than one. I just want to talk to Malek Akkad face to face, introduce myself, see what kind of mutherfucker he is. Hopefully he won’t say nothing slick to me because I feel slighted. I wanna talk to the nigga who created the story that ‘Tech N9ne’s been dodging us for all these years. $10,000’ What? Who would come up with some shit like that? Fuck these mutherfuckers, man.
“I do music for real, Justin. I did this album to show that I’m not playing with you niggas. Stop halting me. Don’t do that to me, man. My fucking journey has been hard as it is. Everybody fucked with me. ‘He’s a devil worshiper. He’s Illuminati. He’s a Mason.’ Fuck you! I ain’t none of that shit. ‘Look at him! He looks like a fucking clown.’ Yes I am? And what? ‘Ya’ll can’t beat me doing nothing except stalking these thoughts I spew and suck it.’ That’s what I say on ‘Give It All’ with Audio Push. Stop playing with me, man. Listen to the verses on ‘Yates.’ The first verse and the second verse: Busting on niggas! I still got a chip on my shoulder because everybody else is followers and shit and I’m a fucking innovator, man. The fact that I’m weird and I wear face paint and I wear scrub pants on stage instead of bling’d out shit and expensive shit on stage I’m a weirdo. Yeah, I’m a weirdo. But I go there to work and that’s why I got the fan base I got, nigga. Where you gonna be at next year? I have a chip on my shoulder. I do this music for real and the mutherfuckers who do music with me like Wayne, B.o.B and Chainz and Corey Taylor and Eminem, they know. That’s why they fuck with me like they do. They know. Everybody on this album, they fuck with me because I do it for real.
Tech N9ne’s Next Album To Be Called The Storm
“These industry mutherfuckers, F.T.I., Fuck The Industry, is because of these mutherfuckers right now halting me like they’ve always done. There’s no ceilings after this album. There’s no ceilings. I’m going through all ceilings. There’s no ceilings. It goes the fuck up, Justin. Fuck these mutherfuckers, man. Watch me on the next album. I’m calling it The Storm. I’m planning the next album already and I don’t even have this one out all the way. Watch me do something with Gary Clark Jr. Watch me get a song with Lana Del Rey. Watch me and Alanis Morrissette finally do it like we’ve been talking about. Watch Jay Z come through, man! I’m not stopping! I’m not stopping! I am fucking serious, dude. I’m so serious. I love music, man. I love it so much it saved my fucking life. I be so happy out here on tour, Justin. Man, all these people smiling at me. I was fucked up! I wasn’t supposed to make nothing out of myself, the teachers told me in school. Nigga, I’m #1 independent rapper! What? You don’t think I ain’t gonna keep doing it? I ain’t complacent, nigga! I’m not complacent! This is world domination!
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“This album’s gonna make a way for me to go even bigger! I tell all the people that’s with me, ‘Nigga, this is not ‘Nigga we made it!’ We got Eminem. Yes! That’s a fucking dream come true, 10 years in the making. Same thing with Corey Taylor and Slipknot. T.I., Yo Gotti, Wayne, 2 Chainz, thank you so much! Insidious and all these people. E-40, my relative, thank you! All these people came together and helped me show people that I’m the real thing. All these people doubting me like a lot of mutherfuckers on Worldstar talking shit like, ‘He’s a clown ass nigga. He corny.’ I can tell they from New York because they all use the word ‘corny.’ I’m like, ‘OK. I’m gonna get you niggas. It’s all good.’ I look at all this shit. It hurts. It’s like, ‘Damn, I don’t get how they don’t get that I’m rapping.’ Oooh, they so brutal on Worldstar. I’ma show these niggas. Watch. Everytime I go to New York, more and more black people are like, ‘What’s up Tech!’ Yep. Breakin’ Into Colored Houses [‘B.I.T.C.H.], I was not playing. I was not playing. ‘Hood Go Crazy’… watch, man. I am not playing, man. I’m not playing. It’s cool. Everybody think I’m corny, that’s funny. Nigga, I’m bustin’ on their ass. When they heard me bust acapella when Envy asked me to rap on the Breakfast Club. Them niggas can’t outrap me, man. Watch. I mean this shit so much, man. I’m so happy out here doing this. My mom’s spirit is in my chest. I’m walking on sunshine and don’t it feel good. This is the King Of Darkness singing to you ‘I’m walking on sunshine’ because I write that shit. I get all that shit out, Justin. That’s my therapy. All my darkness goes into my music and the response that I get has me, The King Of Darkness walking on sunshine. What a Klusterfuck, dude. I love it.”
