In 2006, I was only 15 years old. Still discovering artists through Music Choice and their On Demand services, I clicked play on my very first Tech N9ne video. Why? I can’t even remember. It might’ve been his name being so unique and intriguing. This video was “Bout ‘Ta Bubble”. It was a giant party that opened the doors into the world of Strange Music, which I didn’t fully understand the impact until I started blogging.

Two years later, I started up Sermon’s Domain being the music lover I am. It was the year that Tech released Killer that featured one of my favorites: “Psycho Bitch II”. That was the first time I heard a song from him that featured fast rapping and I loved it. Lyrics were heavily on point. However, at the time, being a high school student and all, Killer didn’t quite strike in that time period like it has now.

Sickology 101 changed it all. I could begin naming the songs that I like but it’d be easier to name the ones I don’t like. I started to see that Tech was able to outshine a lot of the guest features while still getting the quality out of artists. Chino XL’s verse still remains one of the sickest he’s done by the way. I digress, though. This project is really when I started to become a true fan but far from putting him in my top 10.

October 1, 2010. The Strictly Strange Tour came to Seattle. It was my first time coming to see Tech and company. JESUS. I remember being in the crowd watching Tech and looking to the crowd thinking, “this man is a music God to everyone here.” His performance game is second to none. Never in my 20+ shows have I seen anybody go for like an hour and 15 minutes. That’s how you get your money’s worth, not to mention the other acts that night.

Shortly after this show, Lil Wayne went on the radio saying he wanted to work with him for Tha Carter IV, which led to Tech wanting him on his album. Turmoil amongst his fans who thought he’d end up selling out in doing so. I always knew he wasn’t going to, I mean he brought Ice Cube, Yukmouth and the countless others to HIS world on any song. Bad Season was right around the corner too boasting more great songs and marked a turning point for his buzz.

Leading up to All 6’s and 7’s, I built a Tech N9ne playlist of like 23 songs that were my favorites (of course there is more). I swear I played it every day until the album came out and then overplayed the album loving most of it. The fact that he had versions with special bonuses made it so much better too.

This is when I placed Tech N9ne in my top 10. A lot of events worked their way to this point. Strange Music has always been sharp with the music, fan interaction, putting on a great live show and everything else that occurs. There isn’t a label in the game that shows more passion and a large part of it comes from Tech N9ne. To quote him, “the mainstream will go Tech.” Anybody who can do a quote like that and actually prove it, slowly but surely, mixed in with everything else, deserves a spot in my top 10.

Next stop…. number one.

– Serm Knight, @sermonsdomain
http://www.thesermonsdomain.com/