The JAR makes its foray into Hip Hop! Tech N9ne always presents something unique, how is the newest album Asin9ne?

So I’ve been a fan of Tech for a while. Which checks out right? Since Tech is constantly told he makes music for white people. It also doesn’t help that I was actually marginally excited when I learned that Tech N9ne was in Devil’s Carnival II (a gothic musical, think like Rocky Horror) and I went to go see a live showing of it. His part was well done, but that whole story is also very white…so again, boxes have been checked.

Prior to Patrick Mahomes joining the Chiefs and making them relevant, Tech was probably the biggest to happen to Kansas City since they acquired Joe Montana. But with Strange Music having some artists leave and a bit of drama last few years, I guess people have been curious how Tech would respond.

It’s safe to assume this is his response to some of that. So let’s get going!

• Artist: Tech N9ne
• Album: Asin9ne (2021)
• Label: Strange Music
• Total Track Time: 63:00

The Herder starts with a rewind effect before kicking in with a ominous beat and then Tech utilizes his quicker flow, even throwing in a symphonic effect to punctuate the chorus. The song goes over a lot of the names he’s worked with and helped into the business, basically equating himself to something like Jesus by shepherding and herding many names in the rap game. I Don’t Fit this is a little too simple. It’s got that West Coast Choppers fast as hell flow, but the lyrics are vapid and the beat is just a very simple drumbeat. I would expect this from like a college demo tape. Kickiter is another minimalistic song, but it keeps a really nice bass kick and electronic snare hit. So it sounds menacing and cool, I really enjoy the siren/mechanical sound through the simple instrumentation as well. The lyrics red off a bit like a resume, but the beat was cool, the flow with Tech and Shao Dow was cool, so can’t really complain.

Too Good starts with an interesting James Bond-esque intro from Mumu Fresh, and it stays very subtle. There’s a really cool light drum kick and piano effect helps to keep the vibe like a really interesting Jazz club atmosphere. Lil Wayne’s verse kicks in and he’s not nearly as smooth as Tech, and I’ve never really enjoyed Wayne, but it seems to fit with playing as a different side in the story it’s telling. Like a buddy cop movie where they are different, but Mumu Fresh ties things together nicely with her great vocals. No See Umz decides to address all the people that thought Strange was dying when they had a few people leave the label in the last few years. But it’s a good concept of Strange is still around and they can’t see the haters. Snow tha Product is a nice element to this collab, it just makes the vibe really chill. The song is really just vibin on existing and keeping it straight, and Tech is hollering his verses calling people out. So it cuts through nicely.

Face Off so this is the song that many people have been aware of because of Dwayne Johnson being involved in it. This is a great fight song, it keeps the energy up, the verses have a chant that feels like the crowd cheering along and there’s a lot of lines for different wrestlers and fighters. King Iso even drops a Nicholas Cage line referencing the movie Face Off. Also a lot of Jackie Chan references in this album. Dwayne gets the last verse and it punches. Even if you haven’t heard the song, I’m pretty sure it’s one of those popular TikTok clips, but Dwayne smashes it. Wrestling fans of course knew he’d be fine in the rap game and this ended things well. Clydesdale can be chalked up to a club banger about thicc girls. E-40 adds to the old school chill vibe. Thicc girls getting love on this song, and it bops, so I’m not mad at it. “Woah now, it’s enough for them to go ’round, Those sounds like a packing clap in showdown, Hell yeah that’s what I came to see, I dig strippin’ on TV, I ain’t Jermaine Dupri” – this made me laugh, it’s a good line. Still Right Here starts with some falsetto airy vocals from Garrett Raff and another song that has a bit of a stripped down back beat. This seems to be a little more somber, reminding people that you’re still here even if you went through stuff you had to survive, you’re still right here.

Take Your Halo kicks off with the intro line of “You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain”. Given what we know about all the drama and comments with Strange the last few years, this is obviously another song about all that. Basically just discussing how people try to vilify Tech for personal gain when they weren’t complaining when the money was lush. Spiteful, but a cool vindictive little song. Knock That Noodle starts with a new bulletin about murder rates going up in Kansas City, so the song revolves around that concept. The chorus seems to be pleading to stop the violence while Tech’s verses embrace it and talk about how to roll with whatever happens, to give as good as you get. It’s interesting with the dynamic and the flow. Heightened is basically a Hitchcock movie in a rap song. The instrumentation, even adding Exterior into his opening verse like when we’d get an old Hitchcock film or Twilight Zone with the spoken start. It almost feels like a filler song, but the Hitchcock aspect was cool.

What Rhymes with Threat’ll Kill Ya well this kicks with an altered voice that sounds like a little kid sorta, reminds me of Insane Clown Posse and then keeps with this Dark Trap beat, reminds me a bit of Corpse and it works really well. Just this cool Dark Trap/Techno/Underground sound that is awesome. The last line brings the song to a poignant finish where they say “You really wanna know what rhymes with threat’ll kill ya, it’s pedophilia” – so the lyrics seem to be more about killing pedophiles. So that put things into a different perspective from just being dark and cool, to more of a call to arms in a way. I Been Thru A Lot the title gives away the song. Which that’s not bad, it’s definitely a very tempered song, just expressing a bit of self-doubt, surprise at people that don’t treat you like trash and thoughts of suicide. It’s not a new concept for Tech, but it has the correct tempo to just vibe along and deal with things. Dial it Back starts off more like an R&B love song, minus the vernacular he uses initially. The song seems to be discussing how he sees the person as better than everyone else has forced in their head. So it comes off like when someone thinks you’re giving them advice from on high, instead of because you care about them and are trying to lift them up. It’s like a realistic love song, where “you’re great, but excuse the fuck outta me for trying to help you”.

Zaza the end of the last song says “if you don’t like sex, skip the next song”, and yeah it wasn’t lying. This whole song is euphemisms and analogies for sex. The beat is kind cool and drives in a cool way, I feel like the chorus loses the beat a little. Feels like it tries to mimic like an old Ginuwine kind of beat and flow in the chorus, but it doesn’t quite fit. Still definitely a good song to play during the deed, but I don’t like how Marcus Yates transitions the first half of the chorus to the second. Close Your Eyes Kiddo Ai does the chorus here and she ties things nicely. She’s got a very typical vocal tone nowadays, like Skyler Grey from Dr Dre’s I Need a Doctor. This song seems to really just be that she’ll always be there even if he has no one to trust, so the close your eyes and I’ll be here kinda vibe is cool since most things have been dark or vindictive on the album.

Special ends things with an odd tone. It opens like a biography with how things started and he’s thankful for all the fans that stuck with Strange. The chorus hits with the “everyone’s special” which is a stupid term. So it’s supposed to be uplifting, and it’s not objectively awful, just in context of the album it doesn’t work and the lyrics are stupid.

What to say, it was definitely a little less fun and energetic on whole it seemed to be much more moody, angry and sad. Some songs like Clydesdale and Zaza were the expected level of raunchy word play and subject matter, but I’ll admit with 17 songs to pick from, only like 6 or 7 stick out to me. Which is rough. This really felt more like Tech had to get shit off his chest, so this album was more therapy than music.

All that said, nothing was offensive, just things lingered or missed the mark at times. So Tech and Strange Music fans will probably enjoy this, Face Off will keep this album relevant for a little bit and here’s to hoping the next one returns to more of what Strange was known for.

Final Judgment: 6.15/10