Tech N9ne is one of the unique voices in hip hop. He would never go mainstream, but many industry top figures pay him respect and seek collaboration.
On the Holdin Court podcast, he talked about the bizarre feeling of being appreciated for his work by superstars without even expecting their recognition:
I’m just a small town country boy straight from Kansas. Keep in mind, I was always a weirdo to everybody with red hair and a painted face. I could not believe when I started doing shit like Paid Dues and Rock The Bells that Raekwon would come up to me like, “I love your shit”. And KRS-1… When Sway and King Tech first put me on “The Anthem”, and I ran into Eminem, and he knew me, and all these motherfuckers knew me! I felt like I was just an odd man out. I didn’t know they were paying attention all these years. I didn’t know T.I. was in jail, and the white boys were playing my shit. I didn’t know fucking Wayne was listening to “Questions” on the “Gang Related” soundtrack. They tell me all this shit how they found out.
I had no idea that KRS-One knew who I was, and Raekwon was coming up to me like, “Hey, man, we gotta get together and do something. I love what you do!” Even Russel Simmons [gave me thumbs up]. I was in another world, I didn’t know. It felt wonderful that I found out that Wayne told Grandmaster Flex or somebody that he wanted to talk with me. And he put me on the Carter IV, and I went on there and shredded.
Tech N9ne also mentioned how baffled he is when put in the same range as Eminem. The main thing he is going after is authenticity and to focus only on technical similarities means to miss the main point:
It’s also a weird thing, when people mention Eminem, they mention my name with it when it comes to lyrics. It’s a weird thing because I’ve just been doing me. I ain’t trying to sound like nobody, I ain’t trying to act like nobody. Everybody get it twisted. We rap fast, but we don’t sound anything like Bones, Twista or Eminem. We sound like ourselves.
Do you think it’s time for Tech 9ine and Eminem to drop another joint?
