A lot of people are not free. A lot of people are still slaves. You are not. You are free,

Exactly. I’m free! I can’t be a slave. I’m a leader. I’m an innovator. I go against all grains. If it says in the books that you aren’t suppose to dye your head red if you’re a Black person and have spikes, then I’m gonna do it because I go against the rules. The rules don’t apply to me. I’m an individual.

A person who is free can never follow another person’s rules.

Exactly! So I go against it. But whenever someone sees me they say, that’s beautiful!. They know I’m an individual. There’s no other like me. They got to love me. They love my music. When I do my music I don’t label it. The label labels it. They think it’s urban, slacker or alternative, or cross-over. I don’t put those titles on it. I just write my music, my life as I see it. The executives put a title on it to market it. You got Black folks on the urban side that are listening to "Mama say stop or I’m gonna tell Papa." They love that shit. As soon as they hear "Slacker" they are like, that ain’t Black people shit. I say, what is Black people shit? Is Black people shit just gold platinum chains and Benz’s? Is that Black people shit? They stigmatize us like that. That’s all we know and all we do. They say that I’m crazy, but they let Andre 3000 come in with "Heeey y’aaaall." That ain’t what Black people are used to listening to. They’ll accept that from him and they won’t accept this hardcore rap shit from me. That ain’t fair. So I say fuck everybody, I’m gonna do what I feel, and if you miss, it’s on you because you missing something beautiful. That’s all I know. They’re gonna catch on too late. My people in Kansas City, Missouri, they missed the "Mitch Bade", a song when I first came out in ’96. They missed that hardcore ghetto shit. But if they listen to all my albums as I progressed, I still got that kind of shit on my albums. It’s just not an album full of that same shit. For every beat there’s a different topic. I’m not gonna keep on talking about the same shit on every song. They want my album to be dirty, lowdown, gangsta shit but I got a lot more shit to talk about.

Some gangsta topics have been used too many times.

Exactly. If my niggaz sit down and listen to my shit, it’s the most innovative shit. It’s a nigga talking about his life in a different way. I got different tastes. You can tell that cause I got red hair. I got different tastes but it’s beautiful. Take the time to listen to some of my shit. The very first song on Absolute Power, "The Industry is Punks", is bustin’. It’s just me talking about how muthafuckas don’t want to fuck with me because it’s different. When you’re in the music business, a lot of execs and a lot of people don’t like change. They don’t like to go to something different because: if the world turns to this what are the other niggaz gonna do? That’s why it’s like, keep that nigga out. He’s about to change the game. I got the kind of shit that can change the game.

Kansas City Rap has a heavy Bay influence. I don’t hear that in your music.

Kansas is totally on the Bay. They love E-40, Spice 1, Mac Mall, Mac Dre, Dru Down, the whole Bay Area. I love it too. Luni Coleone, Killa Tay, Messy Marv, C-Bo, Keak Da Sneak.

It’s good that you have developed your own sound.

Exactly! That’s what Tech N9ne acquired: my own style. Throughout listening to all that music I gathered my own shit. Everybody can’t do that. Everybody don’t got the mind capacity to do that.

Everybody’s not free.

Exactly. Everybody’s not free. There you go. You’re the first muthafucka to let me know that that’s real. You’re the first muthafucka to recognize that that’s what I am. Everybody else, they’re followers. I’m the leader. I’m not going to lead you to hell.

You broke out of your prison. A lot of people are still in prison.

When I took them out of the prison, they saw that my life is beautiful. We’re kicking it, we’re doing shows, we’re performing for beautiful people for vast, mass amounts of muthafuckas. But then when we’re not together no more, they’re in prison again. To tell you the truth, I’d love to run into the Rogue Dogs again. I love to get with Big Scoob. I miss Big Scoob more than anything.

Is he older than you?

No, I’m the oldest out of all of us. I’m the daddy but I appear to be the younger one. Big Scoob deserves to have big things. I miss him most of all. I miss rollin’ with my dogs. Hopefully in the near future I’ll run into them and they’ll hopefully want to do something again. The 57^th Street RDV’s – that was a beautiful time. I had a lot of fun and I miss those niggaz. I hate that money can break people up. I ain’t saying that’s what broke us up, but money and people in everybody’s ear can fuck up a good thing. I lost a lot of homies in that little circle. And when I’m on stage, and Skatterman & Snug are doing their thing, and Kutt Calhoun is doing his thing, and Big Krizz Kaliko is doing his thing – my new homeboys. My new people are way talented, because I only fuck with the best, but I also miss my other talented homeboys, the 57^th Street RDV’s.

Did you grow up with Big Scoob?

No, Scoob and them was when I moved in the 50’s after I was eleven years old. From twelve years old on through seventeen and eighteen, that’s when I lived in the Fifties—58^th & Forest, then there was the 57^th Street right across the way, 57^th and Tracy where Bakarri’s from, he’s one of the Rogue Dogs. His real name is Michael Whitebear but he changed it because of his Muslim beliefs to Umjad Bakarri. He was on 57^th Street right on the next block. We all grew up together from fifth grade all the way up through high school, me and the Rogue Dogs. That’s why being away from them hurts the most, because we all grew up together.

How did the name Rogue Dog name come about?

They got the name Rogue Dog Villains a long time ago before I was back hanging with them. I had moved away from the block when I was seventeen, running from my stepfather. My stepfather was a Muslim. He was pretty stern. I had to get out of there. I left the block. They came up with the Rogue Dog name years ago just being on their block and being roguish. Older folks around used to call them rogues. They was the 57^th Street Rogue Dogs before. 57^th Street Rogue Dogs and Five Six Vills are two different gangs. 57th Street Rogue Dogs is Umjad Bakarri, Tony Kennedy, Michael Whitebear, Diamond Shields. Scoobie and them were across Paseo, but still in the 50’s. 55th and 56th was Certiniti, Doc, Marco, Scoobie, T-Will, all them was on that side—they were the Five-Six Villians. They wore brown. We all grew up together but there was two different gangs. With the music the gangs merged into one. I brought them all together as the 57th Street Rogue Dog Villains. Put them together and made a beautiful group. After that all the gang shit stopped

How did the rap come in?

I went away at seventeen and I got back with them niggaz when I was twenty-five.

Where did you go?

I moved away from the block and moved in with my auntie. That was across town on Slow Parkway. I came back on the block and got with them. Don Juan and Diamond Shields gave me a record deal on Midwest Side Records. That was late ’95 when I came back on the block. I was reunited with my Rogue Dog niggaz. I told them niggaz, you all should rap. You all got so many stories, you all should rap. Bakarri, he already rapped. Short Nitty that got out of jail, he already rapped. T Will already rapped. Scoob was the only one that wasn’t a rapper. So me and Scoob hooked up and started writing rhymes together. I told Scoob, ya’ll need to a group called 57th Street Rogue Dog Villains. He was like, fuck that man, we gonna bring all that blood gang shit. I said, fuck this gang shit, let’s get this money. Let’s just tell our stories and let me be the front man. Everybody already loved me.

Were you part of the group?

Yeah. We did three albums together and it worked.

Are those albums still available?

I don’t know if they’re still available because I think they stopped doing music. It’s On Now was the first album. Then there was a summer edition of It’s On Now. Then we did one called My Dog’s For Life. That was the second, really third for real, because there was two versions of It’s On Now. The last one was Roguish Ways. I was on that one. I did four or five songs on that one.

Who was doing the production?

Keith and Kevin. They died last year.

Were they from the same block as Rogue Dogs?

They were actually from Blue Springs, Missouri. But they were always down in the hood doing beats for us. They were twins. They were younger than me. They were older than Scoob and them. They were just little dudes. They had Sickle Cell. I miss them. They both died.

Is Kansas a big enough area for selling a pretty good amount of records?

When we first started selling Anghellic, in three days I sold twenty thousand copies just in Kansas City. That was before all the White folks caught on. It’s a beautiful thing when other races and cultures begin to love your music. That means you are not in just one little circle. You’re not in your prison. You broke out. You’re free, and you are appealing to everybody else because they want to be free too. Even if they are not free they love hearing a nigga that is free, and can talk all kind of shit. They love it. A rebellious nigga, that’s me! A rebellious nigga with red hair and war paint on my face. I’m a complete MC.

Where was Don Juan from?

He was from the block. He was the music man. He used to make beats for me and Lejo, out of Kansas. He used to make beats for everybody but he was my producer. Not anymore; we fell out. A little money made everybody fall apart. I wanted everybody to follow my lead because I figured I had the right direction. I wish they would have followed me, and not try to run me. Stop trying to run me and trust my judgment. I was so nice that niggaz don’t trust my judgment. They think I’m gonna do something stupid, but I ain’t done nothing stupid yet. I’m still going strong. And they’re not with me no more.

How did you connect with your new artists Skatterman, Snugbrim, Kutt Calhoun?

I found them in open mic bars in Kansas City. I’m vice-president. I got to bring in new groups. I went out looking and I found these cats. Grant Rice, a Mexican and White cat. He’s one of the hardest. Anybody I’m affiliated with, even the Rogue Dogs, have star quality. Anybody in my reach, anybody I used to fuck with, anybody I’m with right now, are the hardest in Kansas City. The Zoo, Rock, the Boogie Man, Legion Cane, Southside Posse, all them niggaz—Money G, he’s with Southside Posse. Lejo is in our circle; he’s on the Kansas City, Kansas side. Hobo Tone. All our people, everybody in our radius that’s done work with me, that I’ve been family with and done multiple songs with, them’s the hardest cats. I chose them wisely because I know music. Music is me. That’s all I know. So when I chose a muthafucka to work with, they’re hard. Robots is hard. The Zoo is hard. Southside Posse’s hard. The Doughboys is hard. Anybody we are affiliated with like that.

What’s behind your name Tech N9ne?

My name means Technique Number Nine. Nine is the number of completion. Nine months completes a pregnancy. A cat has nine lives. Three plus six is nine. Three hundred and sixty degrees is a complete circle. Technique number nine – I am a complete technique of rhyme. That’s why you can hear me on a track with Yukmouth and C-Bo or Lynch Hung. You can hear me with Tupac and you can hear me with Spice 1. You can hear me with all these people because I’m well rounded. You can hear me with Eminem on The Wakeup Show. You can hear me with any emcee because I am the complete technique of rhyme. I’m every nigga in one. It’s beautiful.

As an artist it’s good whenever someone buys your music because it brings you money and name.

That’s what we do. We make a living selling music. I’m liking my life. They pay me to be me. That’s a beautiful life. I love it. I just wish my Black folks would start coming to my shows more. I want them to see what I do. Because they be proud. It’s not scary. It’s just me up there being me. I bring the utmost energy. When Busta Rhymes comes to me and says I’m the hardest cat he’s seen in a long time. I just did a show in Vegas with Busta Rhyme and DMX last month. They told me I was the hardest cat they’ve seen in a long time. Busta Rhyme gave me his numbers and everything. That felt good coming from somebody like Busta and Spliff. Spliff is Busta’s hype man. They are the hypest cats on stage. For them to tell me that me and Krizz Kaliko, my crew, are one the hardest they’ve seen since them, that was a helluva compliment. I bring a lot of energy and a lot of my people are missing it. My show is an hour and twenty minutes. I kill myself up there every night. I just killed myself last night in Santa Cruz. Sold out show in Santa Cruz. I had never been there. It’s beautiful. That means my shit is spreading out. I didn’t even know about the people in Santa Cruz.

It’s a little town but it’s a college town. When you do that show the next day those kids go buy your records.

They loved it last night. They didn’t want me to go off stage. They still wanted more after an hour and twenty minutes. I kept them into it throughout the whole show. That’s how I do it. That’s a high right there. Last night in Santa Cruz, all those hands up, feeling me like that, and yelling through out the whole show, that’s the best high in the world.

All that energy coming at you. All that love.

Yukmouth, Kurupt and Dru Down, last year they took me to Auchland, New Zealand to do shows and they took me to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Australia. I saw that there was big Tech N9ne fans. That was the biggest high, because I always wanted to be global. For me to all the way on the other side of the county, out of the hood, across the muthafuckin water overseas. They were wearing Tech N9ne shirts and "Fuck the Industry" shirts. It was the biggest high in the world. I love Yukmouth, Dru Down, The Luniz and all them for taking me there and letting me see that they loved Tech N9ne over there, letting me see that side of the world. I always wanted to travel. I made my music to travel. Yukmouth, Kurupt and Dru Down made that possible for me. We kicked it like donkeys. We performed six shows overseas. We stayed at every spot for four days, and saw everything, and went to radio stations. We were talking to the cats over there.

You probably have fans in places you never heard of.

When you get into the business, you got to get into it all the way. Me, being vice-president of Strange Music, and Travis, he’s a shrewd businessman. He lets me know what’s poppin’. He lets me know when my shit is being sold in Australia. He lets me know when my shit is being sold in South Africa. He lets me know when my shit is being sold in Germany. We keep track of that shit. A lot of niggaz that got record deals don’t even know if there shit is selling over there. Especially independent. We’re independent and we know where the demographics are and if shit is selling. That’s why we went to Santa Cruz. We knew we were selling shit. But you never know what kind and how many people are going to turn out unless you know the exact numbers of what you are selling. You go the places and it’s sold out, you’re fuckin surprised. Goddamn, they know all my music from back then! That means they’ve been buying my music since 2000. It took me this long to get up in the Bay. Now I’m about to do the Bay the whole way.

Do you run around like a maniac during your show?

Totally. I ain’t got no deejay. We ain’t added deejays to our show or nothing. On stage, there’s just me, Big Krizz Kaliko, Cut Calhoun, Grant Rice, Skatterman and Snugbrim, and BG Bulletwound. After that they caught the plane from Santa Cruz to go back home.

All of them are with you when you do shows?

I bring my crew for every show. I bring a beautiful show and I want my people to start coming. I just don’t want them to miss it because I want to share it with everybody. I want that devil worship to go away. Black Folks: I do not worship the devil. What the fuck is a devil?

They made up God. If God is good they need someone bad, so they created a devil.

No doubt. The good and the bad. This is what you do and what you do not do. To try and keep them in line and control. I’ve been controlled by Christianity in the past. I’ve been controlled by Islam in the past. I’ve read books on Confucianism. I’ve read books on Shintaoism, Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism, and all that shit.

All those things are to control us.

Exactly. I didn’t choose nothing. I just believe there’s a higher power. That’s all I know. I’m not playing with what they think is God and what they think is Satan. I don’t play with it. I can keep trying to free them with my music. With my "fuck you" attitude maybe they’ll say fuck it with me. That don’t mean they got to dye their hair red or orange. It’s the inside of you. Just because I went crazy doesn’t mean they got to go crazy. Just learn from me, laugh with me, have fun with me, drink with me.

Now that you are in LA, you can do more stuff in the Bay.

Exactly. I want to hook up with my nigga E-40. I haven’t seen him in years. I miss 40.

You should do something with 40.

I will. I will. We did a Midwest thing years ago, me, 40, Mac Mall, Brother Lynch Hung, Mr. Doctor, and Tony Roma. We did three shows together in the Midwest in the winter time and it was beautiful. I didn’t even get to see him when he was in Kansas City the last time. Last summer we did a show at Starlight Theatre with 40 and I didn’t get to see him. It was me, 40, Kaiya, Messy Marv, Luni Coleone, Yukmouth. But I didn’t get to see Forty. I haven’t seen 40 for years. But I miss him.

Where do you sell most of your records?

In the Midwest and the Bay Area. I’m just now getting into New York and Down South. They are just now catching on in Atlanta and Austin, Texas. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, I’m a fuckin’ God. We’re the Beatles in Albuquerque and El Paso. In Albuquerque we have to run because they’ll chase us. We had to run when we were signing autographs. They mobbed me. It’s growing. A lot of Latino muthafuckas love my music. I love my Latinio people, all my Mexican and Hispanic cats. Colorado is the same as Albuquerque. All my shows in Colorado, Denver, Pueblo and all those spots, we’re fuckin’ gods. We sell out all our shows there. The cat who brought me to Denver was a cat by the name of Basic. We sold out our first show there. All my shows sold out in Denver. Even in Minneapolis, it was beautiful. I just did Chicago for the first time last month, and it was beautiful. I did House of Blues in Chicago. Killed it. We just did the House of Blues in Vegas. We’re doing all the House of Blues circuit. It’s getting bigger. Not quick enough for me though because I know where I’m suppose to be. I know I’m suppose to be in that 8, 9, 10 million spot with Eminem and Nelly and all them. So here I come. I’m building a strong fan base. We’re the roots and once the tree is strong like it’s hard to chop it down.

Even if you chop it down, you still have the roots.

Exactly. You see my hair is red, but I always keep the roots black on purpose.

What music were you listening to when you were growing up in Kansas?

I was on 9th Street from about one year old to ten or eleven, we started down there with Blowfly. That’s the very first rap shit I heard—the Sugarhill Gang, and all that type shit. When I moved up into the 50’s, 58^th, it was more like NWA, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, KRS-1, Mantronix. All that shit really influenced me to be a hardcore rapper. I love music. When you used to go to a Public Enemy show you’d see White folks, Black folks, Chinese folks, White folks with "Niggaz With Attitude" shirts on. It was like a big following like that. It’s always been like that. That music with power is what inspired me. Public Enemy, Chuck D, Flava Flav, S1W’s and Terminator X, Ice Cube, DOC, MC Ren, and all them muthafuckas with that hard strong music.

Are you working on a new Tech N9ne album?

My new album is called Eveready: The Religion. I named it like "Eveready" like the battery. Like keep going and strong. Absolute Power is still going. Eveready is strong. It’s subtitled "The Religion" because of they will believe in this album – that I am the truth. That’s why I call it Eveready: The Religion. I’m gonna have all that. I’m gathering beats right now. I only got four beats selected right now. I got one from Sweden, one from a guy out of Jamaica, Queens, by the name of Robert King. I got one from Buck Wild, he’s a producer on the East Coast. I got this new White boy by the name of Seven who’s doing a couple of the them for me. I’m waiting on more from the guys who did my last shit, Technique O’Brothers. I’m still waiting on them to give me some new shit. I got so many tour dates I haven’t been able to work on my new album. I’m just choosing beats. After we get through with these tour dates maybe I can start. I’m gonna come with it. I’m gonna use some of these hardcore muthafuckas that Jay-Z uses. I’m gonna get Timbaland. I’m gonna get all them. I’m gonna get some shit from Eminem. I’m even gonna fuck with Insane Clown Posse on this one. I love them niggaz. I love them for putting me on like they did on they’re tour last October. I was on the "Wicked Wonder" with ICP.

How many towns did you do with them?

I did thirty-two cities with them. It was beautiful. They loved me. All their fans, the Juggalos and Jugglettes that listen to ICP, they come to every show, wherever I’m at, the Juggalos are always the first to be there. They show me so much love and I love the ICP fans for coming to all my shows and showing me that much support. I’m doing a big gathering of Juggalos this year in July. I’m going to Cleveland to do a four day tour with them, it’s called The Gathering. I love the ICP fans for supporting me and I love ICP for supporting me and putting me on their shit. I never forget and I shall repay them for that.

Did you ever do anything with Esham?

I just met Esham on Halloween. The last show we did in Detroit with ICP was on Halloween. I met Esham for like two seconds. He shook my hand and he left the studio. I didn’t get to talk to him. But he seemed like he’s cool but I wouldn’t know because I never talked to him. It was just a handshake, "What’s up, man? I heard a lot about you." and he got out of there.

What was the biggest break you’ve gotten? What opened the door for you?

It was a person and it was a song. The person was QD3, Quincy Jones’ son. He did a lot of production for Ice Cube, Tupac, and everybody. QD3 did a song for me called "The Questions" on The Gang Related soundtrack on Deathrow. They put out Tupac’s last movie called "Gang Related, with Jim Belushi. QD3 put my song on that soundtrack with Tupac. It sold millions of copies and a lot of people got to know about Tech N9ne. The reason people got to know my face is Sway and King Tech on the "Wake Up Show" put me on the Anthem video with Eminem, Wu Tang, Chino XL, Velmont, Xzbit, Jayo Felony, Bullet Loco. We all got together and did a song together called "The Anthem" and we did a video for it. That came out in ’99. That’s when everybody knew my face. That’s how the world got to know me. Those were the major key things that happened in my life that got me in the industry.

When did you start your record Label, Strange Music?

It happened in 2000. That’s when I got away from Don Juan and everybody that I had been working with for all those years, from ’95 to 2000. In the middle of ’99, me and Travis started Strange Music.

How did you meet Travis?

He was doing clothing called Paradise Clothing. They wanted me to wear their clothes because I was the big rapper from Kansas City. I said I would wear their clothes and I did a couple of shows for them. They told me the owner of the clothing line wanted to talk to me and it was Travis. I went to Travis’ big ass house in Kansas City. He was like a fan of my music. He said he watched MTV and BET and he said he liked my shit and that he thought my shit was good enough to blow up, and what would it take? I was trying to get out of my deal with Warner Brothers at the time. I told him that it would take a lot and he said he had a lot, his own furniture business, houses. He asked if I wanted to do a fifty-fifty partnership. I said, hell yes! I told Diamond that I wanted him to meet this big dude. I did everything fair and square because Diamond Shields was the muthafucka who put out all my albums before I met Travis, from Mitch Bade all the way up to The Calm Before the Storm, that first independent album that we had.

Diamond Shields is from Kansas?

Yeah. He was the first muthafucka to put me out in Kansas City to start to get the rest of the people to know who Tech N9ne was. I wanted to do it fair and square because I knew that me, Diamond and Don Juan had exhausted all our possibilities. We had gone as far as we could go together. Travis was the muthafucka that could take it to that next level. I told Diamond that someone wanted to give me my own label, Strange Music, and I wanted them to meet. Diamond said he never wanted to be the nigga to stand in the way of my progress. He told me to do my shit but not to forget about him. I told him I would never forget about him. Me, Travis, and Diamond, we did a show down in Fulton, Missouri. That’s how Travis and Diamond met. They came together and everybody talked and it was a beautiful thing. Through the years as me and Travis started working, I didn’t get to see Diamond and them as much. I didn’t get to come on the block no more because Travis had me working working to turn me into the star that I’m suppose to be. I guess Diamond and them started feeling like, this nigga doggin’ us. But no, I’ve been grindin’ trying to get my money. I ain’t at home. I’m missing my family and my kids. I’ve got two kids in California and one in Kansas City. I’m about to move my son from Kansas City to California with me. I have two little girls with me and my wife, Aliya and Rain. My little boy in Kansas City, his name is Dontez. We call him, Donny for short. Dontez is my middle name. They call me Donny too. I’m Big Donny, he’s Little Donny. I miss them everyday, because I’m sharing myself with the world to make a better life for them. What my homeboys don’t understand is that I’m out here grinding, nigga. Just because I’m out here grinding don’t mean I forgot about you. He told me never to forget about him, and I never will forget about Diamond and what he did for me. But when niggaz don’t see you they feel like you’re doggin’ them. You got other people in his ear saying Tech said you ain’t shit. You got bitches in his ear saying, Tech said this, Tech said that. Whenever I heard something that Diamond was tripping on me, I would go to his house. We’d talk about it like men, but since I’ve been gone so long, it’s gotten to where I can’t even see him no more without some shit jumpin’ off because of that hurt that I’m not around no more. But I’m like, nigga let me go out here and make this money. When they see me on BET or uncut on my video, or when they got to a different town and hear me on the radio all day. they think I’m a millionaire. I’m still grinding. They think I’m a millionaire, but they’re gonna know when I’m a millionaire because it’s gonna show. Right now, I’m still in Dickies and sweatshirts. I still will be in Dickies and sweatshirts, but I’ll be wearing diamonds and shit then. I don’t talk about diamonds and shit like that because I don’t got the money to do it. Until I got the money to do it, I won’t talk about it. I’m building my company. I’m building my name and I’m building my money. I ain’t never forgot about the niggaz. But when you ain’t in the hood with them everyday they feel like you dogged them. One of the things Diamond said to me that I don’t come around no more, I don’t drive up in the hood. They feel like I’m too big to come into the hood. No, nigga, I‘m grinding! I’m trying get money. I’ll be back one day. But now niggaz seem like they want to kill me before I do it. It would be a pitiful shame for me to die before I make this beautiful thing happen to me. I guarantee you, nobody’s going to kill me before I do this. The demons aren’t strong enough to take me away. I was put here to do this. Nothing will stop me. Nobody or nothing will stop me. Niggaz know that. No matter how hard they try or who tries to do anything to me, it’s not going to work.

Do you like it in California or do you wish you were back in the hood?

I don’t wish I was back in the hood. I wish the hood would come with me because the hood would experience so many different things and places. Let’s take the hood overseas, to England, to Sweden, to Japan. I don’t wish I was in the hood because niggaz won’t let you live in the hood. If I wanted to build my fifty million dollar mansion in the hood where I grew up, do you know how many niggaz would come and get me? That’s like inviting the ants to a picnic, because in my hood there’s poverty, and wherever there’s poverty, there’s gonna be crime. Because niggaz are out to survive. It’s about survival. You don’t drive no motherfuckin’ Bentley through the hood unless you’re looking to get it took because niggaz is broke. Driving that muthafucka through the hood, you teasing niggaz. Niggaz ain’t looking at it like, if you do this and you go to school and get a higher education, you can achieve this. Niggaz ain’t looking at things like. Niggaz looking at like, I’m gonna take that shit, because I ain’t got no muthafuckin education. As far as niggaz talking about building a house in the hood, that’s bullshit because niggaz won’t let you live. Not just niggaz, White folks. If you build a house in Leeds, where the poor White folks are in Kansas City, Missouri, where my boy Grant Rice is from, niggaz are gonna come and get me. Those White muthafuckas, they ain’t got no money, they’re going to try their best to come get that shit. You can’t flaunt that shit around muthafuckas that are in pain, that don’t have money to eat because they don’t have no motherfuckin’ job or education to have them a good job. All them niggaz talking about how they want to stay in the hood, that’s bullshit. The object is to rise above that shit and make a better place for your kids, muthafucka. You can’t build no motherfuckin’ mansion in the hood because that’s inviting ants to a motherfuckin’ picnic.

Why do you think so many niggaz get killed on Prospect, flossing that shit? My nigga Charlie Will got shot for some goddamn wheels, for some rims on Prospect. So you can’t invite ants a picnic. I will never invite ants to a picnic. I’m not gonna build no muthafuckin mansion in the hood. I’m not gonna drive no muthafuckin Bentley or 600 Benz on Spreewells through the muthafuckin hood to tease these niggaz. Wherever there’s poverty there’s gonna be crime. That don’t mean you can’t go to the hood, but don’t taunt these muthafuckas. If you are gonna go in the hood you gonna recruit some of these cats to work for you. If they’re worthy recruit them to work for you so they can make money too, and they don’t have to take your shit. That’s what I do. I get niggaz that the same love for music as me, and I say come with me and let’s get this money together, so they won’t be hungry. I don’t have to worry about them trying to get mine because I’m giving back to them anyway. There’s a lot of rappers in the hood. BG Bullet Wound just got shot six times two weeks ago. Last year he got shot five times. He’s Kutt Calhoun’s homeboy, we about to sign him to Strange Music. He’s a real talented cat but he’s involved in all this street shit. We trying to save him and get him all the way into the music. He’s on all my shows. We let him open up for us all the time. He’s a way talented cat. You’re going to hear a lot about him. He’s healing up right now. He even did his show the day after they released him the hospital, in a wheel chair. We’re trying to rescue that nigga from his surroundings because niggaz is trying to kill him. Niggaz are trying to kill Fat Tone. He does a lot of shit with C-Bo. They were trying to kill but music can get him out of that. Music can rescue these niggaz. That’s what I do. I try to get these niggaz that got this love for music and get them out of that bullshit ass game into this game, and make a way for their muthafuckin kids. That’s what it’s all about. Making a way for their kids and making them a beautiful education so they’ll have shit. So they won’t have to worry about them going to this gang shit like what we went through. That’s what I want to do. Rescue BG Bullet Wound, rescue 57^th Street RDV’s, rescue Big Chris Calico, rescuer Cut Calhoun rescue Scatterman and Snug Brim from this prison that niggaz call home. Let’s take what we learn is good in our hoods and everything we learned from when we grew up because the hood is a beautiful thing when it’s peaceful. But let’s take that shit that we learned from the hood and spread it abroad. People want to hear these stories. That’s why all these niggaz are rich. Jay-Z telling his story. Tupac telling his story. Mac Mall telling his story. E-40 telling his story: "I remember when the world went crazy back in 1985…." Know what I’m saying. Niggaz telling they’re stories from their hoods, getting paid. Let’s journey outside our prisons and go get this money. Stop thinking Tech N9ne won’t come to the hood. Nigga you come with me, fuck that. There’s trouble right there. Niggaz trying to kill you because you doing your thing. The thing about our community is that a lot of people don’t want to see people get ahead. It’s a disease that we got called jealousy. That’s because of poverty. I wish that we didn’t have that disease because niggaz don’t want to see other niggaz get ahead. But there’s a lot of niggaz that congratulate but not enough of us that congratulate other muthafuckas for doing good shit. I just wish that niggaz would want to come with me, get out of their prison, and let’s tell those stories when we were young, selling dope, gang banging, and how we came out of all that and are doing better things in life now. Our teachers thought we would be nothing, dead or in jail, but we are still hear telling our beautiful stories. Let’s journey outside our prisons, get the fuck out of here, overseas. Let’s get the fuck out of here in Cali. Let’s get the fuck out of here in New York, in Houston, Dallas, everywhere, in New Zealand and tell our stories and make a better way for our children through this rap music because they are paying us for it and it’s a beautiful thing.

Did you have a nice childhood?

Yeah. It was. My family was Christians and they nurtured me. My uncles were wild. My Uncle Ike was a good dude, a good heart. He was into women a lot. He was a womanizer. That’s where I got that from. My Uncle Rickie was into music, beating on to tables, taught me how to do my thing, taught me rhythm. Now he’s a preacher, a minister. My family’s always been good people.

Is that your mom’s side?

Yeah, my mom’s side. My dad moved to California when I was five. He was LAPD.

Do you have contact with your dad?

Yeah, I see him every once in awhile. He’s in LA. I haven’t seen him in a minute because I’ve been on tour.

Is he surprised by who you are?

No, he loves it! I love him too. He’s a good cat. He walks around with a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand every time I see him. He’s a cool cat. He looks young. That means I’m gonna age pretty good. I’m thirty-two and I still look young. I feel like I’m eighteen. I thank my father for that. My mom has always been Jesus Christ. She is such a pleasant person. When I was young they gave me morals. The drugs almost took it away. I still had that deep rooted teaching that they had that made me break out of that drug dependency. It was because of them, and because of my kids and my wife, Lecoya Lejeune. She’s French and Black. She’s from Louisiana. She is a strong Black woman. She brought me through all that shit. She got my head right and I owe her the world because she let me see that I need to be serious, and I need to grow up. She’s younger than me but she’s older than me. Woman are smarter than men anyway.

Woman are more rooted to the earth.

Yeah. She let me know that I needed to grow up, take of our kids and make an example. My kids are my biggest fans. They love Tech N9ne. Their teachers love Tech N9ne. They’re teachers send them home with magazines. When this Murder Dog comes out, one of their teachers is gonna send them home with the magazine for me to sign for them. They do it all the time.