Tech Nine (N9ne) interview

This is an edited interview with the famous underground rapper Tech N9ne with Phara the infamous "Queen" admin of late great ninjavideo (has since been taken down).

download mp3 here

Tech N9ne talks about his past, his darkness, his mother's illness, and future plans - new album this summer and developing his record label - signing new artists.

The original source audio is from ninjavideo.net and all credit is to them, I just edited out the questions and comments to make for a quicker, snappier, cleaner and a little less interruptive interview.

Feel free to give me feedback whether I ruined or made this better, let me know!

Text transcript:
What you gotta understand that when you talking to Tech N9ne I'll actually answer all your questions in a big conversation. Thank you for taking the time to want to talk to me.

Where are you now?
Now I'm in the back of the tour bus, somewhere in California, writing an album for my new collabos.
Called The Gates Mixed Plate It's totally different from my last album K.O.D.
I'm truly trying to go into the light because the darkness has really kept me down in a hole where I didn't want to be in.
And it makes for beautiful music, K.O.D. music, it was all because my mom's was battling pancreatitis and almost didn't make it.
Her being so spiritual, asking god to 'give me a sign', 'show me something' because there is now way that this angel is suffering like this. All her life.
As a result of my feelings toward my mom, and her almost dying K.O.D. came forth.
A lot of dark stories, lot of madness, lot of sadness, lot of insanity fo' real main and now I realize that all that material, it's good material to listen to when you can enjoy it, but at the same time I can't be sad all the time, I cannot be disgruntled all the time, I cannot be angry because of my life situations all the time although I would like to.
So I'm really reaching towards the light on this new album it's been going pretty good.

When is your album coming out?
It's coming out July 27th.

How many albums have you made so far?
I think this is going to be my 10th or 11th, I don't really count.
I lost count a long time ago. I write my life so I really don't count the albums.
I just write my life, it's my life being documented and putting it on tape, on to CD, on to mini disk, on to iPod or whatever you listen to. I just record my life.
People ask me how many albums have you done? I really don't know, they have to count because I don't count. I think I heard someone say 10 albums.

Who did you collaborate with?
I've done stuff with Tupac, Eminem, RZA, MC-ran, E40, Too$hort... it goes on and on. Everything...

Why did they get mainstream and you didn't?
We're independent radio and video haven't really messed with us, they're starting to now, but everyone like Eminem, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, all of em have that major machine, the major video play all that is something I never had.
So what I've done is I've built an underground movement that's leaning over into the mainstream now and now they're gonna have to see me.
Now you're hearing me on Rock the Bells tours and Pay Dues tours and Pay Dues festivals and now you're seeing me overseas and now your hearing me on MTV jam, now you're seeing me on BET, now you're seeing me on winning MTV awards.
It never happened because radio and video never messed with us like that because my music is a lot different than a lot of music.
I started with major label before Strange Music and I just got tired of em.
They didn't know what to do with my sound, it was like no other.
They didn't know what to call it, alternative, rap or rock, gangster, it's everything, so how do you place something somewhere when you have urban, metal, hard rock, classic rock, R&B and I fit in all those categories so what do you do?

Do you label yourself?
Hell no, I'm everything, and me being everything can possibly stifle me, cause nobody knows what to call that.
Kris Kalico has the same problem, we're all everything all types of different types of music and I love being that way.
That's what I am. If they had a genre called clusterfuck I would be at the top of it.
I could be touring with slaughter house, pay dues, on the hip hop...rock, death metal, R&B with R Kelly...

It's hard for major label to place me.
What they were supposed to do is start with this one, urban one, on the next one...

How did you get your sound?
It started with my family being so diverse, my uncles being into rap and my other uncles being into rock. I was exposed to all kinds of music, jazz. heart of kensas city

I just dropped a five song EP called lost scripts of K.O.D.

I had to go back into the darkness and it really hurt me.

I did it for the love of my fans