“Interlude” with Andre 3000.

Here’s what critics had to say about Tech’s appearance:

“There is an act of diplomacy (or is it exhaustion?) to Wayne’s handling of the album’s best recurring musical moment: Willy Will’s ascending and collapsing brass construction, which provides a fungible foundation for ‘Intro’, ‘Interlude’, and ‘Outro’. Taken together, these tracks comprise the head, heart, and toes of Tha Carter IV, creating a space for rappers of disparate styles to work out. The roll call includes: an authoritative Bun B, an unusually engaged Nas, an uncredited and typically dazzling Andre 3000, plus the album’s most fortunate guest, gifted Kansas City indie-rap vet Tech N9ne, who will pick up a fan or 5,000 with his tenacious verse.” – Spin

“At the very least, Wayne earns cool points for having a who’s who of Hip Hop royalty rhyme his interlude and massive ‘Outro’ posse cut without actually joining in on the fun. It’s a flippant move, but the pairing of Tech N9ne and Andre 3000, is nearly worth the purchase price alone. In the end, it’s almost symbolic because the Wayne who once rhymed hammock with sandwich and previously held court with these top-tier emcees isn’t here this time around.” – HipHopDX

“Oddly, two of the album’s strongest moments have nothing to do with Wayne at all. Over Willy Will’s ominous string loop, Tech N9ne and an uncredited Andre 3000 of OutKast run wild on ‘Interlude.’” – Chicago Tribune

“An ‘Interlude’, featuring Tech N9ne and Andre 3000, comes halfway through, and the unexpected Bun B, Nas, Shyne and Busta Rhymes–helmed ‘Outro’ eventually brings the curtains to a close. Weezy appears on neither of these, but, with the same beat as ‘Intro’, they’re like one set—when the three cuts are merged together, they form one of the strongest posse cuts in years; when taken separately, as they appear, the songs inventively stage the album.” – XXL

“The ‘Intro’ beat is also used for the two strongest tracks on the album: ‘Interlude’, featuring Tech N9ne, and ‘Outro’, featuring Bun B, Nas, Shyne and Busta Rhymes, all six talented rappers bringing their own unique styles.” – The Daily Orange

“But if one had to sum up how far Wayne has fallen as of late, the clearest evidence is the fact that he is nowhere to be found on two of the strongest tracks on Tha Carter IV: Interlude – which features stirring verses from indie-rap legend Tech N9ne and the always amazing Andre 3000 of Outkast – and Outro, on which Bun B, Nas, Shyne and a rejuvenated Busta Rhymes close the regular version of the disc in style. (The deluxe iTunes edition adds four songs to the regular’s 15.)

Did Wayne not include any verses on those songs because he didn’t want to be upstaged, or did he simply have nothing to add to the proceedings? Regardless, either scenario would have been simply unimaginable just a few short years ago.” – The Montreal Gazette

“8. ‘Interlude’ – Tech N9ne, Andre 3000, same beat as ‘Intro’… and no Weezy? This ‘Carter’ breather is unexpected but both veterans murder their verses. Come back to recording, Three-Stacks!” – Billboard

“He comes armed with a steady stream of punch lines (‘When it Waynes, it pours’) over banging beats. And though he shares the mike with a roster of guests that include Rick Ross, Cory Gunz, Jadakiss, T-Pain and Tech N9ne, they’re just icing on the cake.” = USA Today

“Meanwhile, on a song simply called ‘Interlude’. right after Tech N9ne tears through a verse at a machine-gun’s pace, Andre 3000 sneaks in and drops a carefree verse like a Christmas gift. The problem? Wayne isn’t there for the most interesting part of his own album.” – Boston Globe

“That recycling is somehow not the album’s biggest head-scratcher: that’s the inexplicably split up ‘Intro’/’Interlude’/’Outro’ trio. The instrumental is the album’s best beat, with fat horns and explosive bass and drums. Reconstituted as a lyrical showcase that brings ‘Interlude’ duo Tech N9ne and Andre 3000 together with ‘Outro’ trio Bun B, Nas, and Busta Rhymes and Wayne (‘Outro’ interloper Shyne, who does the world’s worst impression pre-prison Shyne doing his Biggie impression, gets cut), it’s one of the finest rap songs of 2011. Split, it’s a guarantee that the two best tracks on C4 are songs Lil Wayne does not appear on.

I can understand the decision. Though Wayne drops ‘Life’s a crazy bitch, Grace Jones,’ the best of both the too many hashtagged bars and the too-many Zen koans beginning with ‘Life is’ on C4, in his nearly three minutes on the track, he’s naught but an afterthought on the combined track, where even a detail as minute as the way 3000 rhymes ‘borrowed,’ ‘pharoah,’ and ‘Cairo’ blows Weezy away. When I listen to it, I rap along with Tech, nod to Bun, and can’t help but get excited that Nas and Andre might drop long-gestating solo albums in the future. That’s probably not quite the reaction Wayne wanted listeners to have to Tha Carter IV.” – The Village Voice

“On ‘Interlude’, Tech N9ne and an oddly uncredited André 3000 reel off two of the album’s best verses, perfectly setting up its star for a clean-up finale.” – Pitchfork

“8. ‘Interlude’ Feat. Tech N9ne and André 3000
Wow! This is a phenomenal track featuring Tech N9ne and OutKast’s André 3000. Both Tech and Three Sacks spit crazy bars over this joint. Our only gripe with this song is that it’s too short. What’s up with that, Weezy?” – Popcrush

“After the horrible T-Pain song, we are allowed to be in the wonderful presence of Tech 9 and Andre 3000 from Outkast, (a nice surprise, actually). Being just an Interlude, it took the Jay-Z route of making a hell of a statement in just 2 minutes or so.” – 411Mania

“You can trace the problems of ‘Tha Carter IV’ to its track-listing. See the ‘Interlude’ and ‘Outro’, two of its finest tracks, in which Lil Wayne is literally missing in action — an afterthought to a collection of decapitating raps from Tech N9ne, Bun B, Nas, Busta Rhymes and an unbilled Andre 3000.” – Los Angeles Times

Some publications that seemed to have missed the N9na in their reviews include: Rolling Stone, Slant, and Prefix. However for the most part, Tech N9ne’s scene-stealing appearance has garnered him a lot of positive attention from news publications and listeners the world over.