With an insane amount of output and touring, it’s been an amazing and groundbreaking year for Tech N9ne and Strange Music, but in Tech N9ne’s eyes there’s still so far to go.

In this second part of our podcast interview with Tech N9ne, we touch on the future: future projects, future shows and future collaborations.

For those wondering how Tech N9ne continues to amaze with his constantly changing and evolving flow patterns, this interview is a must-read. As it turns out, Tech’s been keeping a lot of his tricks from us a lot longer than we knew.

You were at The Midland and you announce this show you have coming up at The Sprint Center. How did this come about?

Yeah man, Travis called me and said “Hey, you want to do a show with 2 Chainz, Rocko, Juicy J, Tyga?” and I’m like “Those all my niggas! Hell yeah! At the Sprint Center too? I ain’t never performed at The Sprint Center, that’s a milestone. Hell yeah, let’s go!” It’s called The Made Man Tour. The Made Man Tour and I’m a made man.

The Sprint Center is a big deal here in Kansas City. The first time you touched the stage, if I’m not mistaken, was when Wayne brought you out. The crowd showed you a lot of love.

Yeah he brought me out just to say hi man. Oh my God, I’d never heard nothing that loud before. It was rumbling.

I’m sure you’ve seen some shows there, have you pictured yourself performing on that stage?

Yeah, I’ve thought about it. I can’t wait until I get to the point where I can have my burnt cathedral on stage and bring my own stage and sound and really do that Tech N9ne show that’s going to have Las Vegas wanting us to stay there and do it every night. We’re one of those groups that could do that. Outkast could do it too I think.

Let’s talk about projects man, what’s cooking up in your brain? What do you want to do in this new studio you have down the street? You’ve only really recorded two things there.

I did “Public School” there and then a verse for Hopsin.

How’s it feel walking in there and looking at all that shit? I don’t know that it was part of the original blueprint, was it?

It was a long time coming. We always wanted to do this. We always wanted to have a studio and this is one of the best studios I’ve ever been to all my life.

There’s no half stepping with Trav. When he wants to build something…

Nah, and when I walk in there I feel at home man. Thank God.

Are you looking forward to working there a lot? It’s close by, you don’t have to drive as far anymore – it’s yours.

I think we’re about to start working on the collabos LP next. I think I want to call it Strangeulation like “strangulation.” I like that word. “Strangeulation,” the act of Strange artists collectively having the industry in a chokehold. This is the first time I’ve ever said it out loud.

You’ve had some new additions to the label since the last collabos LP, CES Cru and Rittz are now in the fold.

There’s some more I can’t even talk about that you probably don’t even know.

Oh wow, well we’ll just keep it at that then. What are you excited for when thinking about this project?

There’s so many lyricists that I’m worried. My artists are treacherous. I’m going to have to bring everything. I want the first song to be the cypher song, the Strange Music cypher, even if it’s ten minutes. I want it to be. I’m looking at the players like ¡MAYDAY!, Rittz, Stevie Stone, Tech N9ne, Krizz Kaliko, Jay Rock, Kutt Calhoun, Brotha Lynch Hung…there’s a lot of people man that go. I didn’t say everybody but yeah there’s a lot of people that can go my nigga so I’m like “Uh oh, it’s time to pull out all stops.” I got them though.

I love that about you and the artists on this label. You all inspire this “Oh shit…” reaction in each other from doing so well, but you guys still go all in on tracks even in the face of that reaction. Like on “Kill Shit” and many others.

It was hard to do – “Kill Shit”.

This feels like this could be another one of those tracks where you’re like “Oh my God I’m about to rap alongside…” But they feel that way about you too.

CES Cru’s crazy man. ¡MAYDAY!’s crazy. You gotta rap behind Krizz Kaliko, a monster that I made. Kutt Calhoun is a monster that I made as well. Everybody on this motherfucker can really go. Rittz? Come on man.

This is something that fans have been asking for for a minute and I think I can speak for them when I say we can’t wait to see how it goes down.

Totally. You just gave me an idea. I know exactly how I’m going to do it now to where they don’t have to be that long.

Well okay! What else do you want to do and explore musically? Do you have any specific sounds or textures that you want to fuck with?

I trust my producer Seven man. I let him know what’s on my mind. He feeds off of me. I told him I had an idea for a beat called “Off The Hook” for Special Effects and he gave it to me already and I’m like (gasps). I told him what I wanted and he did it. I just got to let him know where I want to go man and I just have to know that it’s going to be hard to beat Something Else, but I beat All 6’s and 7’s in my opinion.

You never back down from a challenge. Us in the office, we’re always like “What’s he going to do now? How is he going to invent a new way to spit now?” and then you find a way to do it. Do you surprise yourself as well?

Yeah, I do but I have so much that I’ve been bottling up over the years that people never heard inside my head.

So you’ve got some tricks.

Yeah, I’ve got some tricks man and on Special Effects I’m about to pull them all out.

No shit? What do you see for it? Is there anything in particular you want to do?

We’re going to play with the music more. We master music making on Something Else. We’ve got shit like “Believe” and shit like “So Dope”, us and The Doors, stuff like “Straight Out The Gate”, “Love 2 Dislike Me”, “With The BS”. It’s like all different types of hip hop and that lets you know. “Meant To Happen” covers all sorts of emotions and everything. We let people know that we got this musically, so now it’s time to play with you motherfuckers but keep it hardcore. I’m going to play with the lyrics a lot more (raps “Unfair” verse). That’s old shit I used to do back in the day and it’s like nobody’s ever heard it. Shit that I do with my rhymes. When I say (slowed down and backwards rapping turns really fast). That’s shit that I did way back then. Tricks for Special Effects. With the beats too, it’s time to start fucking with effects and the beat and everything and see what we come up with. It might be some crazy, mechanical sounding shit. Tech N9ne The Robot, here he comes.

Speaking with playing with the music, I’ve heard you talk a lot lately about Jay Z and Kanye, whose albums are doing some different shit like “Oceans” on Jay Z. Pretty much all of Yeezus is like “what the fuck?” I know you’ve been wanting to link up with these guys.

Well before the tour started I went out and bought Magna Carta Holy Grail and Yeezus and I played them the whole tour. Kanye always taught me a lot, musical boundaries, there are no boundaries. To sum it up, you can do whatever the fuck you want, there’s no canvas. I learned that on the last album. I was like “Damn, I’m about to start adding everything,” and it don’t have to be a 16 bar. You can just have niggas come in and sing right here and it doesn’t even have to match with that. I’m trying to figure out what he’s trying to tell me, that’s why I want to talk to him. “Are you trying to tell me that some of the music ain’t gotta make sense, it’s just got to sound good?” It doesn’t make sense but I love it. And Jay Z, I’m just wild about his beat selection. I just want to talk to him and see the style he uses that I know is there for me too.

Do you see this happening?

Yeah it’ll happen. I make everything happen. I speak it and it comes to fruition.

Anything you want to say to the fans before we wrap this up?

I love you for loving Therapy. I love you for loving me. Thank you to everybody. Thank you for giving me that extra push.

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THERAPY: SESSIONS WITH ROSS ROBINSON

• What do you think of the Strange Music cypher?
• What do you want to see from Tech N9ne and Strange Music in 2014?

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