Music / TechN9ne

Here he comes.

"For short, you can call me N9NA!"

Aaron Dontez Yates (born November 8, 1971), better known by his stage name Tech N9ne (pronounced "tech nine"), is an American rapper and singer. Known for his Wolverine Publicity (to the point where he has a whole series of albums called "Collabos") and fast, technical rapping style, which he calls "chopper", a style Tech N9ne has helped promote via his series of "Worldwide Choppers" collaboration singles which see him working alongside fast rappers from all around the globe.

His stage name was given to him by rapper Black Walt because Yates' rapping sounded like fire from a TEC-9 semi-automatic handgun. It helps that he began rapping at an early age - in order to remember how to spell his real name. Yates later applied a deeper meaning to his stage name, saying that it stands for the complete technique of rhyme, with "tech" meaning technique and "nine" representing the number of completion.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Yates came up in Hip-Hop in The '90s, though mainstream success eluded him through most of his career. As a member of the 57th Street Rogue Dog Villians, he saw some success with their single "Let's Get Fucked Up", and signed with Perspective Records in 1993 as a member of Nnutthowze, though they'd break up after the label dropped them. In 1997, Tech N9ne joined Yukmouth's group The Regime, and had a solo song on the soundtrack of the movie Gang Related, which starred James Belushi and Tupac Shakur. In 1999, Tech N9ne had his biggest break up to that point, when he appeared alongside RZA, Eminem, Xzibit, Pharoahe Monch, Jayo Felony, Chino XL, KRS-One, and Kool G. Rap on Sway & King Tech's "The Anthem", and later that year, Tech N9ne formed his own label, Strange Music, named after the song "People Are Strange" by his favorite band, The Doors.

In 2002, Tech N9ne released his most successful album up to that point, Absolute Power, which debuted number 79 on the Billboard 200. The album's sales are said to have tripled following a campaign, going by the name of "F.T.I.", started by Tech N9ne and Strange Music, which asked music listeners to legally download the album free through the artist's own website was in response to the anti-downloading campaign by the RIAA. The following year also saw more noteworthy collaborations with big name rappers, as Tech N9ne appeared on a song with Jay-Z and on Insane Clown Posse's 2003 "Hallowicked" single alongside Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Esham and Kottonmouth Kings, as well as on Twiztid's song "Serial Killa", both of which endeared Tech N9ne to a Juggalo audience, as well as some of the darker Horrorcore lyrics which Tech N9ne was putting out at the time (a style he would subsequently distance himself from).

In 2008, Tech N9ne's sales exceeded one million album sales over his entire catalog. Post-2011, Tech N9ne began to dabble in Rap Metal, collaborating with Deftones and forming a Rap Metal group called K.A.B.O.S.H., consisting of him, Krizz Kaliko and the Rap Metal band Dirty Wormz. They were going to release a full LP, but it still hasn't come out yet, and instead Tech N9ne recorded a Nu Metal EP with producer Ross Robinson, Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland and Hardcore Punk drummer Sammy Siegler. Tech N9ne would further emerse himself into the Rock world by collaborating with Serj Tankian, Corey Taylor and the remaining living members of The Doors, as well as remixing Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People" for Dr. Dre's The Pharmacy on Beats 1 radio, and performing in the Rock Opera film Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival, which displayed his singing ability, which he rarely got to show off on his Rap albums.

He probably reached his highest level of mainstream recognition when Dwayne Johnson made his rapping debut as a guest on a Tech N9ne album, resulting in Retroactive Recognition for Tech N9ne having appeared on so many other big rappers' songs before he got famous, as well as for the rappers who appeared on Tech N9ne songs before they were famous, like Hopsin and Yelawolf.

Albums

• The Calm Before the Storm (1999)
• The Worst (2000)
• Anghellic (2001)
• Absolute Power (2002)
• Celcius (2002)
• Anghellic: Reparation (2003)
• Vintage Tech (2005)
• Everready: The Religion (2006)
• Misery Loves Kompany (Collabos album, 2007)
• Killer (2008)
• Sickology 101 (Collabos album, 2009)
• K.O.D. (2009)
• The Lost Scripts of K.O.D. (EP, 2010)
• The Gates Mixed Plate (Collabos album, 2010)
• Seepage (EP, 2010)
• Bad Season (mixtape, 2010)
• All 6’s And 7’s (2011)
• Welcome to Strangeland (Collabos album, 2011)
• Klusterfuk (EP, 2012)
• E.B.A.H. (EP, 2012)
• Boiling Point (EP, 2012)
• Something Else (2013)
• Therapy: Sessions with Ross Robinson (EP, 2013)
• Strangeulation (Collabos album, 2014)
• Special Effects (2015)
• Strangeulation Vol. II (Collabos album, 2015)
• The Storm (2016)
• Dominion (Collabos album, 2017)
• Strange Reign (Collabos album, 2017)
• Planet (2018)
• N9NA (2019)
• ENTERFEAR (2020)
• MORE FEAR (EP, 2020)
• FEAR EXODUS (EP, 2020)
• ASIN9NE (2021)
• BLISS (2023)

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Tropes:

• Badass Creed: The Pledge, as written by Tech for his fans, the Technicians.
  Together we are a powerful force, as one mind, body, and soul.
  Let no evil enter, nor attempt to reduce us, because of the beliefs we hold.
  And with this love, combined with our strength, we ward off pain and stress.
  Technician I am, wholeheartedly, in life and in death.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: In the first verse of "Awkward", the opening act at a concert wants to close instead of Tech, claiming that he is the better artist. Tech convinces the promoter to let this happen, and as soon as the other guy gets on stage, all but 300 of the 22,000-person audience leave.
• Berserk Button: In "The Pick Up", the skit preceding "In The Trunk", Tech is flirting with a woman and offering her a free copy of his CD. She refuses it, calling it "Devil shit". He responds by snapping like a twig, putting the woman in a headlock and shoving her in the trunk of his car.
• Bilingual Bonus: Absolute Power
  For those who not knowing that Mizzou thee true,
  Imma tell ya like the swedish would say it;
  sug min kuk ^note suck my dick
  • Although his pronounciation makes it unintentional comedy to anyone who has a first language familiarity with Swedish.
  • "Sut Mig", a bonus track from Strangeulation, is Danish for "Suck me", which Tech repeats frequently in the song.
• Conspiracy Theorist: "Going Bad". He is much more blatant on "The Grench". It is possible that he is referring to the United States Government, Illuminati and the Jesuits. There are also references to his former label JCOR.
• Deep South: Discussed on "Red Necro", where he analyzes the moral justification of murdering Neo-Nazis and Klansmen who bombard him with racial epithets.
• Driven to Suicide: On "Should I Killer", Tech accidentally gets a woman pregnant while cheating on his wife with her. When she shows hesitation towards getting an abortion, he begins to consider killing her. However, when he realizes how difficult it would be to make it happen without getting caught, he decides that it would just be easier to kill himself, so he does.
• Fun with Acronyms: Boy howdy. The man can basically turn anything into an acronym.
  • Fuck U Niggas
  Any time somebody come and disrespect I say F.U.N.
  • Breaking InTo Colored Houses
  • Evil Brain, Angel Heart
  • The Poem Aaron Saw Extremely Ordinary
  • Seductive Human Erotica
• Goodbye, Cruel World!: The aptly named song "Suicide Letters" is a serious, deadpan delivery of this trope. Tech claims that it's composed from parts of actual suicide letters he once wrote. However, he eventually found a way out of the pit.
• Jerkass Ball: In K.O.D., although, it's a given because he made the album because his mother was on her deathbed from pancreatitis.
• Intercourse with You: "Slither" starts out like this only to take a twist into horror.
• Justified Criminal: "In The Trunk" is about kidnapping a woman who disses him. When the police finally find her, she's a little crazy.
• Lyrical Dissonance: Raps over-the-top material in a serious tone, which makes his lyrics funnier.
• Lyrical Tic: Yes, he has one, and you'll know it when you hear it (Chyeah!)/In a lot of his songs, he'll throw in a "Chyeah!" between each lyric (Chyeah!)
  • He also tends to go "Rrrr" between lines as well, but somewhat less frequently.
• Madness Mantra: At the end of "In The Trunk", spoken by the woman he kidnaps.
  • The woman from "Psycho Bitch II".
  I think you're amazing and I think you're wonderful and I think you're amazing and I think you're wonderful and...
• Mayan Doomsday: Tech N9ne references 2012 in his Rage Against the Heavens song "Show Me a God", released in 2009.
  What's gonna be done in 2012 when hell's gonna be
  When the Earth aligns with the sun
• Monster Clown: Tech commonly goes by the alias of Killer Klown. Played fairly straight in "Sinister Tech"
  Say my name five times
  TECH, TECH, TECH, TECH N9NE
  I will appear in your mirror
  Thru your chest ripping out your spine
  Hungry like an Ethiopian
  Living off the blood in your veins
  Alias Donny Kevorkian
  Never were you ready for the pain
• N-Word Privileges: Referenced on the Strangeulation Cypher.
  And when she compare me to Eminem I said I'm different
  She said "How?" I said "I'm black and I can say nigger bitch!"
• New Media Are Evil: Infrequent, but it comes up occasionally, most notably in response to Spotify and it's infamously low payout for artists. From "Anti":
  Fuck everything that ain't righteous
  Spotify's the reason the music became lifeless
  70 percent of a fraction of a penny is a game crisis
  Make a nigga wanna blow up they headquarters and blame ISIS
  • "A Real 1" deals with harassment on social media.
• New Sound Album: Along with Eminem (circa Relapse), Tech and the Strange Music catalog served as a Trope Codifier for the Midwest Horrorcore style that was popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s, characterized by heavy Rap Metal elements, a fast "chopper" flow, and Refuge in Audacity lyrics that frequently made use of ridiculous Black Comedy scenarios. Everready (The Religion) is somewhat Lighter and Softer when compared to Absolute Power and Anghellic. This was due to a time when Tech's tour bus flipped while on the road between shows; everyone inside was only mildly injured afterwards, which Tech saw as a sign that they were in God's good graces, which was cause to celebrate.
  ...and it felt good to be in God's graces. The ambulance—the people that came—they said that we were all blessed—ya know what I'm saying—to still be alive after flipping 5 times, man. So ever since then, we been celebrating life, baby. Kickin' it hard! Every day's a party, baby...
  • Due to the mental strain of working on a project as dark as K.O.D., Tech vows on "Last Sad Song" that his next project would be more upbeat; that next project would be The Gates Mixed Plate.
  • The Therapy EP featured a Nu Metal sound.
• Obsession Song: "Psycho Bitch" features an actual answering message from the titular stalker.
• Out-of-Genre Experience: Out of nowhere, "Devil Boy" briefly becomes a Thrash Metal song, then quickly jumps back to Tech's normal genre:
  Y'all act like I'm sayin'
  I LOVE LUCIFER I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU
• Rage Against the Heavens:
  • "Aw Yeah? (interVENTion)" is this, with Tech angry at God for the suffering he has caused not only Tech, but the rest of the world.
  • "Show Me a God" features Tech specifically calling out God for the trauma his mother has endured throughout her life.
• Rated M for Manly: "Face-Off" fits this trope to the T. Made more apparent by having Dwayne Johnson rapping.
• Rule of Three: Several of Tech's albums are divided into three sections, with the songs in these sections being similar in subject matter and tone. For some examples:
  • Anghellic: "Hell", "Purgatory", and "Heaven"
  • K.O.D.: "Anger", "Madness", and "The Hole"
  • Something Else: "Fire", "Water", and "Earth"
  • The Storm: "Kingdom", "Clown Town", and "G-Zone"
• Sampling: Halloween theme on "Psycho Bitch", and The Phantom Ofthe Opera on "Psycho Bitch II"
  • Blazing Saddles clips on "Red Necro".
  • "I'm a Playa" samples "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco.
  • A rare example of a song from an anime being sampled in a Western track would be a sample from "Rain by Yoko Kanno sped up to produce "The Rain". At the very end, the clip slows down and Mai Yamane's distinctive voice can be heard.
  • He used a sample from a cartoon once. "He's a Mental Giant" sampled the title lines from a 1930's Walter Lantz cartoon called "Boy Meets Dog".
  • "Speedom (WWC2)" uses "Freedom" by Richie Havens.
• Sequel Song: "Midwest Choppers 2", "Worldwide Choppers", and "Speedom (WWC2)" to "Midwest Choppers".
  • "Psycho Bitch II" and "Psycho Bitch III" to "Psycho Bitch", naturally.
• Serial Killer: "Trauma" is written from the point-of-view of a serial killer, boasting about how evil he is and that he's more deranged than "Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Manson combined".
• Shout-Out: Tech references a lot of movies in his lyrics and he seems to have a very particular fondness of Pootie Tang.
  • Has made several to The Doors, of whom he is a massive fan. So much so that he even named his label Strange Music as a reference to their album Strange Days.
• Spiky Hair: Tech donned this type of hairstyle starting in 1999 or 2000, when Anghellic was in production. Bonus points for it being crimson red/blood red. Labelmate Skatterman gave him the moniker "Red Head Wonder" because of this. After 6 years with this hairstyle, he chopped it off back in 2005.
• Spoonerism: "Mitch Bade" is one for Bitch Made
  • "Bass Ackwards" is goddamned full of them.
• Start of Darkness: "Going Bad" counts as this, considering he has been jumping from label to label in the late 90's.
• This Is a Song: "Sickology 101", on which Tech and guest rappers Crooked I and Chino XL break down the styles of rapping they're using.
• Take That!: "The Industry Is Punks" from Absolute Power, is one to the entire industry, as well as "F.T.I." from Anghellic: Reparation. "Going Bad" is also one of these mostly to Warner (Bros.) Records/Warner Music Group and Qwest Records, well at least the third verse.
• Too Kinky to Torture: In his verse on "Am I a Psycho?", N9ne pictures extremely graphic, disturbing sex scenes where he is the bottom.
• Updated Re-release: A non-video game example in the form of Anghellic: Reparation. The original Anghellic was released by JCOR Entertainment, but was rereleased by Strange Music Inc. with the Reparation subtitle, as well as a few new songs.
• Wolverine Publicity: Collaborates with a ton of old school and new school rap artists, either on their albums or on his own. Also worked with rock bands like Deftones and (həd) p.e.. As of recent years, he started calling himself "The Herder" because he's worked with a lot of music's biggest names.
• Word Salad Lyrics: Often verging on Indecipherable Lyrics.
  • Lampshaded even on "Caribou Lou":
  Yep in my white tee and Nike's
  You might sight me slightly hyph and
  Might see dry heave
  Die we shall not need i-v's
  Beside me Siamese
  (Tech!)
  (Huh?)
  (You're not making any sense)
  I might make her wanna sah-wing her Prada
  But once I get up on the mic and do my thing I got her
  (TECH!!)
  Hey batta batta batta batta, sah-wing a batta
  He can hit, he can hit, he can hit, sah-wing a batta

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