As Tech’s career continues to unfold, we’re seeing that he’s influencing the game with much more than just his music.

If you ask Special Effects Tour opening act Lyrikal, Tech’s business savvy is just as inspirational as any of his albums, as he’s laid down an independent blueprint that can be followed by up-and-coming artists looking to expand their talents.

With Tech N9ne’s Special Effects Tour heading to Des Moines soon, we caught up with Waterloo-based emcee Lyrikal about what he’s learned from watching Tech, what fans can expect from his live show, and more!

Check the full interview below.

We first found out about you here at Strange from your “Cups (Remix)” track. What can you tell us about what you’re currently up to musically? 

“Cups” is definitely a hot record, we put a lot of time and thought into it and felt that this is that song. We also just put out a new song called “#FWDLM” which stands for “Fuck Whoever Don’t Like Me.” It’s almost like an anthem in that…who doesn’t feel like that? So that’s definitely a hot single that we are pushing off The Noizemakerz project as well. These are definitely the two songs we’re pushing hard, based off the feedback we’ve received from our fan base.

I’ve seen you say that you respect Tech’s business savvy just as much as his music. What was the biggest surprise to you coming into the music industry? 

The most shocking aspect of it to me is just how tangible it is. I’ve studied Tech and his grind and I love it. It’s showing everyone what to do and he’s been doing it for years, so for someone like me who always wants to learn more, he put that out there, so we just took those same steps and applied it.

I mean, we’re in Iowa. We’re not New York or Atlanta, but we have our own market and we have a lot of talent here. Applying the steps he put forth, as far as merchandise, marketing, branding, everything that he does…it’s exciting to know how tangible things can be, and how necessary that is for this industry, and for this business. I’m very excited that he displays that. I love and appreciate that. Salute.

Speaking of which…aside from the musical aspect, you actually do a lot of the back end work as well, correct?

Oh absolutely. As you pointed out I do have a production company called The Teknitionz, which is me and my partner Tragik, who’s currently out on the east coast. So, that works out as far as spreading our brand and what not.

Graphic design, I do that in-house. We do our own merch in-house. We do everything that we can do in-house to get it done. We’re always looking at the details and making sure everything is very precise, and we continue to strive for the best, and we’re going to keep escalating to do that.

That’s dope. Now what can you tell us about the hip hop scene in Waterloo and in Iowa in general? 

Well, I  run a studio here, so I engineer and produce for like 95% of the people that do music in my city, just Waterloo alone. I also have a lot of clients throughout Iowa and throughout the country, but just Iowa in general. There is so much talent here.

It’s crazy how much talent is here, and you want to see everyone succeed and excel and be exposed to the industry – but like I said because of our market and where we’re at, an artist will usually record a mixtape or something and push it for maybe two or three weeks, then come back to the studio and record again.

Originally I wanted to be a producer. That’s my thing. I love making beats, I’ve done it for years, but with this project I wanted to take an artist route and package and do everything the way an artist should do it. I wanted to show artists here how to move this shit, because it is a lot of talent here that needs to be seen. Once we break down this certain door in front of us, the waters from Waterloo are going to flood out.

But yeah, the talent level here is ridiculous, not just musically but stage performances, everything in general.  I hope we can help expose that to the world and make noise the way we need to. I’m definitely about uniting as many people as I can.

What would you say is your favorite aspect of performing live? 

Putting on the show. We’ve all done it before as far as getting on stage and performing and pumping up the crowd, but just coming up with a whole show and how to organize it.

I’ve done enough gigs with people to know what a show looks like now, and my wife does stage construction, so she’s been a big support system throughout my whole career. The best thing about performing is just giving the people what they want and having them enjoy it and have fun.

These shows are a place where you can come through and watch a performance, have fun, and not worry about what you did at work that day. It’s a whole other world of music and fun, and we’re all just kickin’ it with each other. The energy is great, it’s what we live for with this music.

Have you seen Tech live before? What do you think of his performances?

I haven’t seen Tech live, but I’ve watched a lot of his YouTube videos of performances and he’s definitely beyond dope. I’ve studied his live stage show and it’s ridiculous – everything about it. The small choreography in between certain bars, everything. Tech has the absolute.

How would you describe your show to someone that’s never seen it? 

Energetic, live, loud. Noisemakerz. You have to see it to understand it, and just enjoy it.

Anything else you want to say to our readers out there? Where can people check you out? 

You can go to Noisemakerz.com, all my social media network information is on the website, all my merch, music videos, up and coming projects, pictures, everything.

Definitely shout out my city, my state, and everybody that’s trying to do something with their lives. Anybody that’s chasing their dreams, continue to do it because anything is possible as long as you do it. You just have to do it. Stay loud, make noise.

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TECH N9NE’S SPECIAL EFFECTS TOUR