Music / TechN9ne

Here he comes.

"For short, you can call me N9NA!"

Aaron Dontez Yates (born November 8, 1971), aka Tech N9ne, is a face-painted rapper from Kansas City, Missouri, named because of his rapping style: not only is he one of the fastest rappers in the game, he is also one of the most skilled. It helps that he began rapping at an early age - in order to remember how to spell his real name, Aaron Dontez Yates. His rapping skills have made him one of the most successful underground hip hop artists in history, and his business skills and ability for signing talented and viable artists made the label he founded, Strange Music, a powerhouse in independent hip hop.

Much of his early worked is marked by a lenience toward the darker side of hip hop themes, which Juggalos found really appealing, and earned him some dedicated fans among this subculture. Tech N9ne is generally lauded for his insightful lyrics and skillful delivery of unique subject matter with intelligence and humor.

He really gets around collaboration-wise, having worked with musicians as diverse as Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (there's alot of Cross-pollination regarding the fan bases), Eminem, RZA, Lil Wayne, (həd) p.e., Insane Clown Posse, Kendrick Lamar, Twiztid, T-Pain, Music[Xzibit, Pharoahe Monch, Jayo Felony, Chino XL, KRS-One, Kool G. Rap, B.o.B, E-40, Snoop Dogg, Mint Condition, Busta Rhymes, Twista, Yelawolf, Hopsin, Deftones, Wes Borland, Serj Tankian, Five Finger Death Punch and The Doors. Because of the massive gets he's had over the years, he has recently gained the nickname "The Herder", after a song on ASIN9NE about how he's been able to work with a lot of big names.

He has also appeared in the film Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival.

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:

• All Men Are Perverts: Anghellic alludes to Tech's lustful side, not Satanism.
• 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.
• Boastful Rap: "Worldwide Choppers"
• 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.
• Cool Car: The McLaren Senna he's filling up with gas in the ASIN9NE cover.
• Darker and Edgier: K.O.D., at least compared to the two albums he released before it. The darker tone was due to his mother's illness. She got better after the album was finished, so the follow-ups were lighter.
• Darkest Africa:
  Unga bunga bunga, ingda bing da binga bunga
  It's fun ta hunt the cunt ta ding the dink ta feed muh hunga
• 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.
• Horrorcore: 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 Rock elements, a fast "chopper" flow, and Refuge in Audacity lyrics that frequently made use of ridiculous Black Comedy scenarios.
• Horror Hunger: Tech just wants to be a normal boy...
• Juggalo: They admire him, and he admires them.
  You in killer klown land, face paint and Juggalettes with bubble butts
• 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.
• Lighter and Softer:
  • Everready (The Religion) is somewhat lighter on the Horrorcore elements 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.
• 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
• Motor Mouth: Everyone on "Worldwide Choppers".
• 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.
• Nice Guy: Very loving, caring and extremely humble.
• 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
• Nu Metal / Rap Metal: All of Therapy: Sessions with Ross Robinson. Also add "Riot Maker" to the list.
  • Plus, "URALYA".
  • Don't forget "Wither".
  • Also, "Starting to Turn".
  • "Bitch Slap" counts.
• 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 Phantom of the 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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