7.75/10
Tech N9ne has
been on his independent grind for thirteen years, beginning when Tech and
business partner Travis O'Guinn founded the Strange Music label in 2000. Since
than, Tech has said "the mainstream
will go Tech" from the start, reassuring fans that he would never sell out
but instead, the mainstream recognition would come to him. "Something Else"
will be the album that will likely make his promise true. It's his most
ambitious album yet, and features quite a few big names in music, across several
genres (Wiz Khalifa, Game, Serj Tankian, Cee-Lo).
The album follows a timeline of events in which a meteor
crashes into Tech's hometown of Kansas City. Thus, the album is subsequently broken up into three sections:
Fire, Water and Earth, each representing different moods, which allows Tech to
showcase his wide variety and offer something for everyone: dark and emotional
tracks ("I'm Not A Saint"),
reflective storytelling ("Meant to Happen"), hyphy party bangers ("Dwamn"),
radio-friendly songs ("See Me"), and inspiring anthems ("Believe").
Tech sets the tone for the album with the first track, "Straight
Out the Gate", featuring System
of a Down's front man Serj Tankian
on the hook, a band he's stated his admiration for several times before.
The beat is strewn with guitar riffs and has a definite rock sound. Not
surprising, considering Tech has been experimenting with rock since the early
2000s, and has recently been on a roll. Tech
enlists R&B hit-maker T-Pain to sing the bold hook of the bass-heavy trap
banger "B.I.T.C.H." (Breaking Into Colored Houses), in which
Tech once again addresses his alienation from the black community and promises
to "break in" once and for all.
"So Dope" is a dark sex anthem highlighted by rapid
fire lyricism from Tech and his four guests—Wrekonize, Twisted Insane, and Snow Tha Product. This is classic Tech
N9ne, the double (or triple) time flow and the remarkable complex rhyme
schemes. The alliteration Tech utilizes in his verse is nothing short of
awesome: "Wanna sit beside a sick
and seductive sinner, see /
Something so sinister
seeking sookie somethin' like a centipede / Slitherin', she's searchin' for
synergy / Suckin' my seed, chakra tease stickin sippin' Hennessy, shittin'..."
Tech raps about several tragedies that occurred in recent
times on the Krizz Kaliko assisted "My Haiku - Burn the World",
a serious, angered track that touches on the tragedies that occurred in the
last few years, including the Batman movie theatre shooting, Boston Marathon
bombing and a case of child molestation that occurred in Tech's hometown of
Kansas City. The track that is bound to be Tech's biggest record of his career
thus far is "Fragile", a song he was inspired to pen in response
to a critique who claimed Tech was "gimmicky" in a review of one of
Tech's shows. The hook is beautifully sung by fellow Strange Music signees
Wrekonize and Bernbiz of MAYDAY (who also produced it) and features two great
verses, one from Tech and the other from one of Hip-Hop's biggest stars,
Kendrick Lamar, who absolutely slaughters the track. Tech spits: "It's real, I'm mad / Clueless when you scribble on your
pad / How you gonna criticize now with a chisel on your nads sizzling your ad /You
don't really get why I'm so pissed? Understand this: I'm an artist, and I'm
sensitive about my shit". Tech hits a huge personal milestone with "Strange
Days 2013", the album's closing track that he was able to record with
the remaining members of The Doors (featuring
a Jim Morrison sample on the hook),
the very band that inspired him to create Strange Music. The concept should
make any longtime Tech fan very happy for him, however, while a fantastic concept, the song didn't quite live up
to expectations—the Hip-Hop aspect of the track—the heavy bass and quick snares—sound out of place with the Rock instrumentation.
It's no secret—Tech has always been known for his unique speed-rapping
ability, intricate rhyme schemes, unique vocabulary and enunciation, and of
course, his consistently solid lyrics. He's rarely one to spit a lazy line or
resort to cheesy hash tag rap. However, on "Something
Else", Tech's biggest weakness is lackluster lyrics on a select few
songs. Lines like "Always looking
for the pussy: CAT-scan" and "The
ladies pop the monkey and drop the donkey" are out of place considering
the rest of the album is quite strong in the lyrics department.
As a whole, "Something
Else" is a huge success for the N9na. Tech's enjoying the highest
point of his career. He continues to release good music at an alarmingly fast
rate, while at the same time expanding his
Strange Music roster, which includes signing and developing artists as well as
building an entire recording studio and more warehouses to house merchandise.
He's never received so much mainstream coverage until now, and he doesn't show
any signs of slowing down. It goes up!
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