rough drafts
Nick Augustine
August 22, 2012
English 2
Intro Letter
At birth I was given the named Nikolas Augustine and ever since I was young I realized that I had the potential to be an excellent lyricist. However, I greatly dislike writing anything that doesn’t fall under the lines of poetry song writing and find that a lot of my free time is spent writing amateur rap songs for my own amusement. I attempted to write a novel titled “Dark Rain” while I was still in the fourth grade but the project was put on halt after only the first chapter was written. I am told that whenever the occasion arises I can put together a very well interpreted research paper that is easy to read.
Most of my lyrical ability is utilized when my friends and I get together for drunken gatherings that usually always end in freestyle rap battles. I prefer not to write down my ideas down because they stay fresh in my head and I can properly deliver the rhymes accordingly. I do on occasion write full length songs but I find that this is usually whenever I decide to take my ADHD medicine but that doesn’t happen very often.
Nick Augustine
English 2
Blog 1
September 9, 2012
The album Anghellic by Tech N9ne paints an intricate story of living life through poverty and also a great amount of self depression. The cd was released as a joint venture between Strange Music and JCOR Entertainment. The record is very intricately put together and goes through different stages, which are symbolic for the salvation of mankind. The beginning of the cd has a very dark overtone and includes songs like “Tormented” and “Hell”. As the songs continue to progress the mood of the songs begins to lighten up more and more until you reach the middle of the album and get to a song called “Purgatory”. This is the turning point for the album and the ideas expressed become more hopeful and also optimistic. At the end of the cd Tech finally reaches heaven and the songs begin to sound much more uplifting, this symbolizes Tech finding his salvation through God which inevitably releases him from his torment.
The album has received a great amount of conspiracy especially from conservative religious people. At first glance the work appears to be very demonic and satanic. The cover shows the rapper Tech N9ne screaming into the air with his braids flailing wildly in the air. He also has some sort of symbol painted onto his forehead that appears to be an upside down cross, as he tends to often have even to this day. The rest of the album art is even more dark and demonic including a portrait of Tech dressed up as the Devil himself with horns and a pitch fork. On the opposite side of the cd however there is the opposing art which portrays the rapper dressed as an angel resembling Gabriel. It is not uncommon at all for Tech to claim multiple personalities some good and some evil. Even in his most recent EP which will soon be released is entitled E.B.A.H, which stands for evil brain angel heart. The evil side of himself he often refers to as the clown, this is because when he was a child he was very scared of clowns and for him to relate himself to one is symbolic to him embracing his fears and desires and making them a part of himself.
Even though the album has received its great deal of criticism and controversy is still remains today Tech N9ne’s greatest success selling over 200,000 copies as of date. The first week it grossed over 35,000 but the album sales tripled after a very smart marketing strategy was employed. There was a 30 second commercial put of networks which showed Tech standing in an all white room and offering to let people download the compact disk for free over the internet through his official website therealtechn9ne.com. He also had the letters F.T.I written on his forehead in paint which stands for fuck the industry. The success that came after airing this commercial came at a huge gamble but it became clear it was an ingenious move that was most likely so successful because it occurred around the same time that Madonna was campaigning to stop internet downloading of music.
My favorite song from the whole project is called “This Ring”. It basically paints the picture of how Tech gave up his wife in exchange for his life of super stardom and encounters with different women. He basically makes official his marriage to the music and promises to stay with it through sickness and health. The lyric of the song are strung together very quickly with excellent rhythm, and mostly deals with the temptation that he has faced trying to keep his family together while constantly having groupie bitches throwing them selves at him. The lyrics that stand out to me the most from the track is, “With all the fame and fortune shit ought to be fine but what happens when the divorce papers just gotta be signed? And you loose half and your children cause you gotta be N9ne.” To me Tech Stands out as such a great musician for his ability to so accurately portray his feelings and his emotions to his fans through his music. The hook for the same song goes like “ This ring brings demeaning demons in G-strings songs we sing make em fiend semen and green things. Clinging dreaming thinking of being Mrs. Thing with this ring, but if I wasn’t Tech N9ne bitches wouldn’t even want to be with Tech N9ne. If I did no music then would you respect mine? This wedding band and music draws the line between life and Tech N9ne.”
I regard Tech as one of the greatest rappers to ever step foot into the industry because of the fact that he did it all while remaining underground for the most part. While bringing Strange Music into the public eye, which is now a growing record label, makes him that much more interesting. Many people have failed at what Aaron Yates has excelled at but he is still in the incline doing so performing more shows in more places than ever before. Tech is an inspiration and a legend that can trace almost all of his success back to one outstanding album, Anghellic.
Baker, Soren. "Tech N9ne - T9X The Tech 9 Experience [Full Documentary]." YouTube. MSC Music and Entertainment, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExXaDF-xuQ8>.
"Tech N9ne - Anghellic CD Album." CD Universe - Your Online Music Store. Muze Inc, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=5530017>
"Tech N9ne Biography." Letssingit.com. Tone Media, 12 July 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://artists.letssingit.com/tech-n9ne-4cw92/biography>.
"Tech N9ne - Hip Hop Underground." Hip Hop Underground - Home. Hip Hop Underground, Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.hiphopug.com/tech-n9ne.html>.
Blog 2
The first image that I have included in this blog is the cover of the documentary T9X: The Tech N9ne Experience which was released in 2004. The picture shows tech leaning over a surface with a very stern look on his face and his hair spiked up and dyed orange. Due to Tech’s posture and appearance it is easy to assume that the photographer was going for an approach of using pathos by making the rapper look very scary and unusual. If saw someone dressed like that walking down the road you are very likely to stare at them while at the same time maintaining a safe distance away from him. You can also clearly see that Aaron is still wearing his gold wedding band at this time which gives the impression that even though he looks very crazy and unfamiliar he is still a family man with people that love him. Part of his face is in shadow and this means that they wanted to give the effect that he is facing a source of power that is currently bearing down upon him.
In the background of the portrait there is a red fire like texture that makes the subject of the photo appear like he is located in hell with the flames of the underworld circling around him. There is also writing located within the fire that reads “T9X” which not also is the name of the video that the cover was taken for but also a song that he recorded that dealt exclusively with the rappers drug abuse and his desire to achieve drug induced states. This abbreviation also is very provocative in the sense that there is a certain inclination that it is holding some unknown power behind it just based on the letters. It is started with a “T’ which is a strong consonant that is used to start many names of powerful predators such as the T-rex. The middle of it contains the number “9” which is the number of completion in the sense that is the last single number in the human language and all the other numbers are just a combination nine and the numbers before it. The letter “X” is the most provocative part of the names because of the previous uses of the letter such as pornographic films being labeled at triple x.
The second image that I have uploaded for this project is the cover of the album Anghellic. It shows the rapper flailing around his braided hair in a wild manner and also he appears to be shouting at the top of his lungs. On his forehead in black paint you can see the number nine has been inscribed on his head which as I discussed earlier is the number of completion and the last part of Tech’s name. If you look at N9ne’s eyes you can see very strong emotions which appear to be aggression, anger and hated. This was an appropriate tone for the ablums because it sustains the message from the cd that Tech is unhappy with the way things are going in his life and the whole purpose of this release was to help him escape from what he felt was like hell and relocate to another place where he is more happy and satisfied.
Most of the background of the cover image is blurred out to make only the torso of the jumping Teccan Nina the main subject of the shot and also the words located above his head. In bold gothic font the word Anghellic is the largest part of the image which is spelled differently from the actual word angelic, which by definition means to belong to angels or to be like or befitting of an angel especially through displaying virtue and beauty. By changing the spelling of the title it turned it into a paradox because how could there be hell in something that is as holy and divine as an angel? This further reinforces the concept of the work which by the track listing has the listener begin in a dark mood and tone and progress on to the more light hearted sounding songs. In the bottom of the left hand corner there is also a parental advisory sticker to warn the parents of younger kids that there is explicit content in all of the songs.
Going on to the third of my chosen photographs you can see a much more casual picture of two men known as Tech N9ne and Lil Wayne. Their demeanor appears to be very laid back and relaxed which I believe to be caused in part by the overly large sized cigar the Wayne has in his hands that very likely to be the cause of the bloodshot and slanted eyes. Wayne’s arm is around Tech’s shoulder giving the viewer the impression that the two of them have formed some kind of a brotherhood.
The hand signal that is being used by Mr. Tech is the one that is commonly seen in the rock scene where all of his fingers are down except for his index and pinky. In this picture to someone who did not know the identity of the two individual it appears that the King of Darkness is the more normal of the two rappers because he is dressed in a plain button up shirt and the counter part is wearing more extravagant attire and expensive jewelry. The scenery of the show can only be seen in the top left corner but there is a stack of speakers that can clearly be seen probably meaning that this picture was taken while the two men were working together in a recording studio.
Analyzing the forth still shot I have collected for the purpose of today’s assignment is much like when this was done to the first image of this paper. There is one man posed in the middle which we know the be Aaron Yates better known as the rapper Tech N9ne with both his hands placed on two parallel rent-a-trucks parked on each side of him. The expression on his face is very intimidating with the lines around his eyes clearly visible and his mouth wide in a way that makes one assume he is screaming very loudly. On his face there is white tribal paint which has been drawn around the border of his face giving him stripes on his cheeks and enclosing jagged cross going along the bridge of his nose with lines extending from it giving it the effect of a forward movement. A tattoo can be seen on his right arm but the text cannot be fully read or understood but because of my previous knowledge I know that is say “liberate” and corresponds with his other arm that says “me”. His attire is not like the other pictures included in this blog because this time a chain can be seen displayed over his white t shirt and a bracelet and watch are around both of his wrists.
The combination of the face paint and the unkempt beard on his chin gives his image a very unapproachable feel and if you happened to walk between town large vehicles and saw a random person looking like this way any one in their right mind would choose to walk around the other side. This picture is the most frightening and disturbing one that I have ever found of the artist.
The final picture included in this collection is one that is very likely to get criticism from Christian critics because it shows Tech N9ne as he appeared on the cover of his movie T9X with his spiked red hair looking like he belongs at a rock concert in the mosh pit, with the spiny cross painting in the middle of his face, “T” and “X” are located on each cheek, and he is dressed in robes like a Catholic preacher would be wearing that has crossed on the sash around his neck.
This photograph is the first I have seen in this exercise that has implemented the use of ethos in such a strong and outright manner because by dressing in this way he is implying that he possess a close relationship to God and knows the ways of the holy savior. His hands are out stretched in a welcoming motion that would be used to urge someone to come closer to receive a blessing of some kind. The expression on his face is not at particularly emotional one but in his eyes there is the intensity that can be seen when a person becomes concerned and willing to help some way if that is in anyway possible.
Blog 3
The public view of the rapper Tech N9ne has taken a turn for the better in the past year or so mainly due to the verse that he did for Lil Wayne’s most recent album Tha Carter 4, which sold 964,000 units in its first week alone. In the song which has two verses back to back and no chorus Tech starts up the pace with a high energy verse that maintains a fast pace and includes several words that rhyme in each line of his bars, like most of his songs his incredible rhythm and wordplay are very apparent. Before this feature he did on the interlude of the bestselling album with the Atlanta legend Andre 3000 his fan base was relatively concentrated and exclusive to certain people who enjoy the “horror core” genre of rap. Who usually also favor such groups as The Kotton Mouth Kings and the Insane Clown Posse along with other members of the “underground” hip hop scene. In the song at the end of his part he admits “I know a lot of you probably never knew who this is, your listening to Teccan Nina Su woo business”.
His appearance on such a renowned piece of music has definitely been a giant career booster and has recently seen great improvement in his success. Even before the collaboration with Lil Wayne took place he still was a well selling artist having sold over a million albums worldwide. Since then however he has released three new EPs other the past year, all of which were awarded the #1 spot for independent rap album their first week by the billboard hot 100. The least recent of these “Klusterfuk” sold 17,000 copies in its first week but was a huge success because of the fact that Strange Music spent $0 on marketing and promotion.
In the past Tech has not seen such wide spread mainstream success due to the fact that people believe that he was a devil worshiper. There are many legitimate reasons why someone would be inclined to believe this. The reoccurring dark overtone of many of the songs he has released along with his flow that seems to be invoke somewhat of a trance like state for listeners are both suspicious of some satanic ideology. These are not the only pieces of evidence that has been brought forward by people accusing Tech N9ne of being a cult leader.
During an interview with another recording artist from Strange Music Krizz Kaliko he was asked many questions pertaining to the accusations of this sort. The interviewer, Jason Whitlock, wasted no time saying he has heard from different sources that he was working alongside of a devil worshiper but Krizz denied this saying that he had asked him himself about some of his stranger behaviors but claimed that Tech is just crazy and he is using this as a tactic to arouse attention from the public. Jason brought up several examples of why he believed that there was indeed some satanic overtone present in Tech’s work. The symbol for Strange Music, Tech’s label that he co-founded, is a snake going through the body of a bat making the letters “S and M” and that some people have claimed that these letters stand for sadomasochism. He mentioned the use of a barcode cross which supposedly means that evil is God.
The final point that he used was the numbers that tech often refers to in some of his songs, six six triple eight forty-six nine nine five, and that when these numbers are added together they equal sixty-seven. Tech has stated on several occasions that he is all sixes and sevens, six being the number of the devil and seven being a holy number. Krizz responded to this saying that while it was indeed true the numbers were obtained after looking up the corresponding numbers on a phone pad for the word N-N-U-T-T-H-O-W-Z-E which was a group he was a part of and nothing more. After several more attempts to get a confession out of Krizz he responded by telling him that was too much and hanging up the phone.
In an interview with Tech himself he opened up about the way people had been responding to him and his reaction and feelings. The point was made that one of the reasons that people believed such whole heartedly that Tech N9ne had made himself a cult leader was the behavior of his die-hard fan base. Many of these people are not the typical fans of rap music, many of them being white people with a kind of emo gothic look. The worst part of this for Tech personally was that there were no black people attending his shows which made him feel like he wasn’t even supported by his own people. He understands that people have come to that conclusion due to his face paint, crazy lyrics and wild hair and was surprised when he was complemented by many mainstream rappers such as Nas and Busta Rhymes at the Rock the Bell concert because he was under the impression that everyone thought he was a weirdo.
While there are many references to Satan in the music that is produced by Tech N9ne there is also references to Jesus as well. Religion has always played a major role in his life even growing up because of the influence from his Christian mother and Muslim step-father. So while Tech does not worship Lucifer he acknowledges his existence and also the influences he has had on certain parts of his life. In the song “Show Me a God” he uses an aggressive tone addressing God demanding that he revealed himself in order to save the life of his deathly ill mother.
The point that I believe he is actually trying to get across is that he is a good person who is capable of doing bad things because that is the nature of all humans. The album cover from his E.B.A.H released in September was intended to put validate this theory. It displays a heart with angel wings with a crown of fire circling above it, the intended message of this image my not be clearly seen at first glance but after listening to the song entitled E.B.A.H it is made known that it is an acronym for evil brain angel heart.
Blog 4
The first resource that I used for my research was the official Yahoo page for the album Anghellic. It does not provide much information but it does allow you to preview and purchase the music from the cd. This was a useful page because I was able to obtain the album art from Anghellic and also look at the track list which provides a detailed look at the album concept.
I was able to locate the documentary T9X: The Tech N9ne Experience on YouTube and it was very interesting and useful. It gave a series of interviews with Tech N9ne and the people around him. It gave information on his early career and also his life before becoming a famous rapper. Interviews done by his friends and family gave a much clearer look at the person that is Aaron Yates. Much of the substantial facts that are included in my blogs were learned from this video and it was a major contribution to this project.
The next article gave great insight to Tech’s past and talked about his early relationship give God and how his family influenced him. It highlights the struggles of religion that he faced and also tells what happened to cause him to embrace a greater level of faith. It also provides a look at the darker side of Tech and how some of his life experiences have affected him. This was not one of the most helpful sources that I found but it did have some good information that I was able to implement in my work.
This post on MTV News tells more about the relationship between LiL Wayne and Tech N9ne and also explains how the two ended up working together. It is clear that they both have a great deal of mutual respect for each other and will probably collaborate together in the future. It tells how after Tech went to go visit Wayne while he was in prison on Riker’s Island the two of them developed a brotherhood and also describes some of the complements they have given each other. This was a good article because it gave information about how Tech was able to infiltrate mainstream music and the picture of them together in the studio is a good one.
I found a description of the video T9X that gave me some info that I could not find on the YouTube post. It tells how the movie gives insight to the life and mind of the artist and also has interviews with old acquaintances like Yukmouth and Black Walt. The link was not very educating because I had already watched the video online but it did always me to get ahold of the cover picture.
The website KJHJ.org had a very small article that contained an overview of one of Tech’s tours. It just told that if you attend the tour you can expect to see a high quality, energetic and exciting performance. The only reason I used this site was for the picture it had under the article with Tech standing in between two tractor trailers.
The article Rap Music’s Blatant Satanism is trying to make the point that Tech N9ne is indeed an artist who worships the devil. The author studies the lyrics of many of the songs he has written and writes a brief summary based on many of the reoccurring themes, kidnapping, robbing, sexual encounters and violence. The claim is made that there are hidden message that can be heard if certain songs are played backwards. While this is an unofficial source it allowed me to better understand some of the people who do not support his music and their rationality behind it.
Another interview that was mainly focused on Tech’s recent move into the mainstream scene and what his feelings and reactions major events where. There was much praise given to him for his most recent studio album All 6’s and 7’s which was a huge commercial success with many relevant features. This proved to be one of the best articles that I came across because it gave more detailed information on his relationship with Lil Wayne and also how he felt about people viewing him as someone who worships demonic entities.
I only used the next article for one fact in blog three because I had to find a reliable source that had the first week record sales for Tha Carter 4. There were no other points that I could find because the article wasn’t even about Tech at all.
I was able to see the EP cover photo for E.B.A.H on the Strange Music store site. It is a retail site that sells the official merchandise from the record label and gave a sort description of the products. This site let me refresh my memory of the image that I discussed in depth by letting me view it again and it also gave the release date of EP.
Cd Universe is a site that is trying to sell the album Anghellic and it also has a very convincing description of the record which gave it praise saying that Eminem would envy the clear- eyes sociological slant. It also broke down the concept of the beginning of the album starts in hell, moves on to purgatory and then finally ends up in heaven. It also tells that many of Tech’s subjects have to deal with crime deceit, abortion, suicide and more. I expected to use this site just for the art that it has on it but it actually was a good website with some good information on it.
A detailed biography of Tech relinquished data that could not be find from other sources that I was able to locate. It told about the groups that N9ne was previously a member of such as Nnutthowze and the 57th Street Rogue Dog Villains. He was also one of the founding members of the group The Regime in 1997. A huge milestone was reached in 2008 after the release of the double album “Killer”, while it was not one the greatest productions he has put together it allowed him to exceed over a million sales worldwide. There were so much good facts that were stuffed into this article that it was a great asset for me giving more details on several different things some of the other articles didn’t elaborate on as much.
The next biography that I used was not a helpful as the one before but it still told of a couple of the life time accomplishments Tech has achieved. Also it revealed the origin of his stage name diverging from the semi- automatic handgun Tec-9. I really didn’t use this article much at all because there was really nothing that I thought was worth mentioning that wasn’t touch on in T9X.
An interviewer asked him how he felt about people claiming that he was a devil worshiper and he stated that he understood how his image could lead them to believe that even though it is false. The Rock the Bell concert was also discussed and how it was a special event for Tech because he received unexpected praise from superstars such as Nas and Damian Marley. This was really what drove home the point that one of the reasons of the suspicions that there is a cult of Technicians because so many of the people who support the music that is created by Teccan Nina are hard core diehard fans who love him and his music. There people are so loyal to the movement that has been set in motion that it is understandable that an outside source might be misunderstood to think that they have been possessed.
The last article from Hip Hop DX was asking about the release of the two projects the LP All 6’s and 7’s and the EP Klusterfuk and discussing how their success was achieved at the levels that it was. Klusterfuk was the number one independent rap album its first week after release but the amazing things about it are that not a single dollar was spent on its production. All 6’s and 7’s was so profitable because the studio equipment was already purchase and Tech’s status allowed him to get high profile artist such as Lil Wayne and T- Pain to do work for the album without any compensation. When it was ready to be sent to the production company they even accepted it without talking the $50,000 down payment. There were many substantial facts that were written in this section that I found very interesting and was eager to implement in my blogs including accurate numbers of the record sales and the required expenses that are come across when producing a hit original album.
August 22, 2012
English 2
Intro Letter
At birth I was given the named Nikolas Augustine and ever since I was young I realized that I had the potential to be an excellent lyricist. However, I greatly dislike writing anything that doesn’t fall under the lines of poetry song writing and find that a lot of my free time is spent writing amateur rap songs for my own amusement. I attempted to write a novel titled “Dark Rain” while I was still in the fourth grade but the project was put on halt after only the first chapter was written. I am told that whenever the occasion arises I can put together a very well interpreted research paper that is easy to read.
Most of my lyrical ability is utilized when my friends and I get together for drunken gatherings that usually always end in freestyle rap battles. I prefer not to write down my ideas down because they stay fresh in my head and I can properly deliver the rhymes accordingly. I do on occasion write full length songs but I find that this is usually whenever I decide to take my ADHD medicine but that doesn’t happen very often.
Nick Augustine
English 2
Blog 1
September 9, 2012
The album Anghellic by Tech N9ne paints an intricate story of living life through poverty and also a great amount of self depression. The cd was released as a joint venture between Strange Music and JCOR Entertainment. The record is very intricately put together and goes through different stages, which are symbolic for the salvation of mankind. The beginning of the cd has a very dark overtone and includes songs like “Tormented” and “Hell”. As the songs continue to progress the mood of the songs begins to lighten up more and more until you reach the middle of the album and get to a song called “Purgatory”. This is the turning point for the album and the ideas expressed become more hopeful and also optimistic. At the end of the cd Tech finally reaches heaven and the songs begin to sound much more uplifting, this symbolizes Tech finding his salvation through God which inevitably releases him from his torment.
The album has received a great amount of conspiracy especially from conservative religious people. At first glance the work appears to be very demonic and satanic. The cover shows the rapper Tech N9ne screaming into the air with his braids flailing wildly in the air. He also has some sort of symbol painted onto his forehead that appears to be an upside down cross, as he tends to often have even to this day. The rest of the album art is even more dark and demonic including a portrait of Tech dressed up as the Devil himself with horns and a pitch fork. On the opposite side of the cd however there is the opposing art which portrays the rapper dressed as an angel resembling Gabriel. It is not uncommon at all for Tech to claim multiple personalities some good and some evil. Even in his most recent EP which will soon be released is entitled E.B.A.H, which stands for evil brain angel heart. The evil side of himself he often refers to as the clown, this is because when he was a child he was very scared of clowns and for him to relate himself to one is symbolic to him embracing his fears and desires and making them a part of himself.
Even though the album has received its great deal of criticism and controversy is still remains today Tech N9ne’s greatest success selling over 200,000 copies as of date. The first week it grossed over 35,000 but the album sales tripled after a very smart marketing strategy was employed. There was a 30 second commercial put of networks which showed Tech standing in an all white room and offering to let people download the compact disk for free over the internet through his official website therealtechn9ne.com. He also had the letters F.T.I written on his forehead in paint which stands for fuck the industry. The success that came after airing this commercial came at a huge gamble but it became clear it was an ingenious move that was most likely so successful because it occurred around the same time that Madonna was campaigning to stop internet downloading of music.
My favorite song from the whole project is called “This Ring”. It basically paints the picture of how Tech gave up his wife in exchange for his life of super stardom and encounters with different women. He basically makes official his marriage to the music and promises to stay with it through sickness and health. The lyric of the song are strung together very quickly with excellent rhythm, and mostly deals with the temptation that he has faced trying to keep his family together while constantly having groupie bitches throwing them selves at him. The lyrics that stand out to me the most from the track is, “With all the fame and fortune shit ought to be fine but what happens when the divorce papers just gotta be signed? And you loose half and your children cause you gotta be N9ne.” To me Tech Stands out as such a great musician for his ability to so accurately portray his feelings and his emotions to his fans through his music. The hook for the same song goes like “ This ring brings demeaning demons in G-strings songs we sing make em fiend semen and green things. Clinging dreaming thinking of being Mrs. Thing with this ring, but if I wasn’t Tech N9ne bitches wouldn’t even want to be with Tech N9ne. If I did no music then would you respect mine? This wedding band and music draws the line between life and Tech N9ne.”
I regard Tech as one of the greatest rappers to ever step foot into the industry because of the fact that he did it all while remaining underground for the most part. While bringing Strange Music into the public eye, which is now a growing record label, makes him that much more interesting. Many people have failed at what Aaron Yates has excelled at but he is still in the incline doing so performing more shows in more places than ever before. Tech is an inspiration and a legend that can trace almost all of his success back to one outstanding album, Anghellic.
Baker, Soren. "Tech N9ne - T9X The Tech 9 Experience [Full Documentary]." YouTube. MSC Music and Entertainment, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExXaDF-xuQ8>.
"Tech N9ne - Anghellic CD Album." CD Universe - Your Online Music Store. Muze Inc, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=5530017>
"Tech N9ne Biography." Letssingit.com. Tone Media, 12 July 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://artists.letssingit.com/tech-n9ne-4cw92/biography>.
"Tech N9ne - Hip Hop Underground." Hip Hop Underground - Home. Hip Hop Underground, Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.hiphopug.com/tech-n9ne.html>.
Blog 2
The first image that I have included in this blog is the cover of the documentary T9X: The Tech N9ne Experience which was released in 2004. The picture shows tech leaning over a surface with a very stern look on his face and his hair spiked up and dyed orange. Due to Tech’s posture and appearance it is easy to assume that the photographer was going for an approach of using pathos by making the rapper look very scary and unusual. If saw someone dressed like that walking down the road you are very likely to stare at them while at the same time maintaining a safe distance away from him. You can also clearly see that Aaron is still wearing his gold wedding band at this time which gives the impression that even though he looks very crazy and unfamiliar he is still a family man with people that love him. Part of his face is in shadow and this means that they wanted to give the effect that he is facing a source of power that is currently bearing down upon him.
In the background of the portrait there is a red fire like texture that makes the subject of the photo appear like he is located in hell with the flames of the underworld circling around him. There is also writing located within the fire that reads “T9X” which not also is the name of the video that the cover was taken for but also a song that he recorded that dealt exclusively with the rappers drug abuse and his desire to achieve drug induced states. This abbreviation also is very provocative in the sense that there is a certain inclination that it is holding some unknown power behind it just based on the letters. It is started with a “T’ which is a strong consonant that is used to start many names of powerful predators such as the T-rex. The middle of it contains the number “9” which is the number of completion in the sense that is the last single number in the human language and all the other numbers are just a combination nine and the numbers before it. The letter “X” is the most provocative part of the names because of the previous uses of the letter such as pornographic films being labeled at triple x.
The second image that I have uploaded for this project is the cover of the album Anghellic. It shows the rapper flailing around his braided hair in a wild manner and also he appears to be shouting at the top of his lungs. On his forehead in black paint you can see the number nine has been inscribed on his head which as I discussed earlier is the number of completion and the last part of Tech’s name. If you look at N9ne’s eyes you can see very strong emotions which appear to be aggression, anger and hated. This was an appropriate tone for the ablums because it sustains the message from the cd that Tech is unhappy with the way things are going in his life and the whole purpose of this release was to help him escape from what he felt was like hell and relocate to another place where he is more happy and satisfied.
Most of the background of the cover image is blurred out to make only the torso of the jumping Teccan Nina the main subject of the shot and also the words located above his head. In bold gothic font the word Anghellic is the largest part of the image which is spelled differently from the actual word angelic, which by definition means to belong to angels or to be like or befitting of an angel especially through displaying virtue and beauty. By changing the spelling of the title it turned it into a paradox because how could there be hell in something that is as holy and divine as an angel? This further reinforces the concept of the work which by the track listing has the listener begin in a dark mood and tone and progress on to the more light hearted sounding songs. In the bottom of the left hand corner there is also a parental advisory sticker to warn the parents of younger kids that there is explicit content in all of the songs.
Going on to the third of my chosen photographs you can see a much more casual picture of two men known as Tech N9ne and Lil Wayne. Their demeanor appears to be very laid back and relaxed which I believe to be caused in part by the overly large sized cigar the Wayne has in his hands that very likely to be the cause of the bloodshot and slanted eyes. Wayne’s arm is around Tech’s shoulder giving the viewer the impression that the two of them have formed some kind of a brotherhood.
The hand signal that is being used by Mr. Tech is the one that is commonly seen in the rock scene where all of his fingers are down except for his index and pinky. In this picture to someone who did not know the identity of the two individual it appears that the King of Darkness is the more normal of the two rappers because he is dressed in a plain button up shirt and the counter part is wearing more extravagant attire and expensive jewelry. The scenery of the show can only be seen in the top left corner but there is a stack of speakers that can clearly be seen probably meaning that this picture was taken while the two men were working together in a recording studio.
Analyzing the forth still shot I have collected for the purpose of today’s assignment is much like when this was done to the first image of this paper. There is one man posed in the middle which we know the be Aaron Yates better known as the rapper Tech N9ne with both his hands placed on two parallel rent-a-trucks parked on each side of him. The expression on his face is very intimidating with the lines around his eyes clearly visible and his mouth wide in a way that makes one assume he is screaming very loudly. On his face there is white tribal paint which has been drawn around the border of his face giving him stripes on his cheeks and enclosing jagged cross going along the bridge of his nose with lines extending from it giving it the effect of a forward movement. A tattoo can be seen on his right arm but the text cannot be fully read or understood but because of my previous knowledge I know that is say “liberate” and corresponds with his other arm that says “me”. His attire is not like the other pictures included in this blog because this time a chain can be seen displayed over his white t shirt and a bracelet and watch are around both of his wrists.
The combination of the face paint and the unkempt beard on his chin gives his image a very unapproachable feel and if you happened to walk between town large vehicles and saw a random person looking like this way any one in their right mind would choose to walk around the other side. This picture is the most frightening and disturbing one that I have ever found of the artist.
The final picture included in this collection is one that is very likely to get criticism from Christian critics because it shows Tech N9ne as he appeared on the cover of his movie T9X with his spiked red hair looking like he belongs at a rock concert in the mosh pit, with the spiny cross painting in the middle of his face, “T” and “X” are located on each cheek, and he is dressed in robes like a Catholic preacher would be wearing that has crossed on the sash around his neck.
This photograph is the first I have seen in this exercise that has implemented the use of ethos in such a strong and outright manner because by dressing in this way he is implying that he possess a close relationship to God and knows the ways of the holy savior. His hands are out stretched in a welcoming motion that would be used to urge someone to come closer to receive a blessing of some kind. The expression on his face is not at particularly emotional one but in his eyes there is the intensity that can be seen when a person becomes concerned and willing to help some way if that is in anyway possible.
Blog 3
The public view of the rapper Tech N9ne has taken a turn for the better in the past year or so mainly due to the verse that he did for Lil Wayne’s most recent album Tha Carter 4, which sold 964,000 units in its first week alone. In the song which has two verses back to back and no chorus Tech starts up the pace with a high energy verse that maintains a fast pace and includes several words that rhyme in each line of his bars, like most of his songs his incredible rhythm and wordplay are very apparent. Before this feature he did on the interlude of the bestselling album with the Atlanta legend Andre 3000 his fan base was relatively concentrated and exclusive to certain people who enjoy the “horror core” genre of rap. Who usually also favor such groups as The Kotton Mouth Kings and the Insane Clown Posse along with other members of the “underground” hip hop scene. In the song at the end of his part he admits “I know a lot of you probably never knew who this is, your listening to Teccan Nina Su woo business”.
His appearance on such a renowned piece of music has definitely been a giant career booster and has recently seen great improvement in his success. Even before the collaboration with Lil Wayne took place he still was a well selling artist having sold over a million albums worldwide. Since then however he has released three new EPs other the past year, all of which were awarded the #1 spot for independent rap album their first week by the billboard hot 100. The least recent of these “Klusterfuk” sold 17,000 copies in its first week but was a huge success because of the fact that Strange Music spent $0 on marketing and promotion.
In the past Tech has not seen such wide spread mainstream success due to the fact that people believe that he was a devil worshiper. There are many legitimate reasons why someone would be inclined to believe this. The reoccurring dark overtone of many of the songs he has released along with his flow that seems to be invoke somewhat of a trance like state for listeners are both suspicious of some satanic ideology. These are not the only pieces of evidence that has been brought forward by people accusing Tech N9ne of being a cult leader.
During an interview with another recording artist from Strange Music Krizz Kaliko he was asked many questions pertaining to the accusations of this sort. The interviewer, Jason Whitlock, wasted no time saying he has heard from different sources that he was working alongside of a devil worshiper but Krizz denied this saying that he had asked him himself about some of his stranger behaviors but claimed that Tech is just crazy and he is using this as a tactic to arouse attention from the public. Jason brought up several examples of why he believed that there was indeed some satanic overtone present in Tech’s work. The symbol for Strange Music, Tech’s label that he co-founded, is a snake going through the body of a bat making the letters “S and M” and that some people have claimed that these letters stand for sadomasochism. He mentioned the use of a barcode cross which supposedly means that evil is God.
The final point that he used was the numbers that tech often refers to in some of his songs, six six triple eight forty-six nine nine five, and that when these numbers are added together they equal sixty-seven. Tech has stated on several occasions that he is all sixes and sevens, six being the number of the devil and seven being a holy number. Krizz responded to this saying that while it was indeed true the numbers were obtained after looking up the corresponding numbers on a phone pad for the word N-N-U-T-T-H-O-W-Z-E which was a group he was a part of and nothing more. After several more attempts to get a confession out of Krizz he responded by telling him that was too much and hanging up the phone.
In an interview with Tech himself he opened up about the way people had been responding to him and his reaction and feelings. The point was made that one of the reasons that people believed such whole heartedly that Tech N9ne had made himself a cult leader was the behavior of his die-hard fan base. Many of these people are not the typical fans of rap music, many of them being white people with a kind of emo gothic look. The worst part of this for Tech personally was that there were no black people attending his shows which made him feel like he wasn’t even supported by his own people. He understands that people have come to that conclusion due to his face paint, crazy lyrics and wild hair and was surprised when he was complemented by many mainstream rappers such as Nas and Busta Rhymes at the Rock the Bell concert because he was under the impression that everyone thought he was a weirdo.
While there are many references to Satan in the music that is produced by Tech N9ne there is also references to Jesus as well. Religion has always played a major role in his life even growing up because of the influence from his Christian mother and Muslim step-father. So while Tech does not worship Lucifer he acknowledges his existence and also the influences he has had on certain parts of his life. In the song “Show Me a God” he uses an aggressive tone addressing God demanding that he revealed himself in order to save the life of his deathly ill mother.
The point that I believe he is actually trying to get across is that he is a good person who is capable of doing bad things because that is the nature of all humans. The album cover from his E.B.A.H released in September was intended to put validate this theory. It displays a heart with angel wings with a crown of fire circling above it, the intended message of this image my not be clearly seen at first glance but after listening to the song entitled E.B.A.H it is made known that it is an acronym for evil brain angel heart.
Blog 4
The first resource that I used for my research was the official Yahoo page for the album Anghellic. It does not provide much information but it does allow you to preview and purchase the music from the cd. This was a useful page because I was able to obtain the album art from Anghellic and also look at the track list which provides a detailed look at the album concept.
I was able to locate the documentary T9X: The Tech N9ne Experience on YouTube and it was very interesting and useful. It gave a series of interviews with Tech N9ne and the people around him. It gave information on his early career and also his life before becoming a famous rapper. Interviews done by his friends and family gave a much clearer look at the person that is Aaron Yates. Much of the substantial facts that are included in my blogs were learned from this video and it was a major contribution to this project.
The next article gave great insight to Tech’s past and talked about his early relationship give God and how his family influenced him. It highlights the struggles of religion that he faced and also tells what happened to cause him to embrace a greater level of faith. It also provides a look at the darker side of Tech and how some of his life experiences have affected him. This was not one of the most helpful sources that I found but it did have some good information that I was able to implement in my work.
This post on MTV News tells more about the relationship between LiL Wayne and Tech N9ne and also explains how the two ended up working together. It is clear that they both have a great deal of mutual respect for each other and will probably collaborate together in the future. It tells how after Tech went to go visit Wayne while he was in prison on Riker’s Island the two of them developed a brotherhood and also describes some of the complements they have given each other. This was a good article because it gave information about how Tech was able to infiltrate mainstream music and the picture of them together in the studio is a good one.
I found a description of the video T9X that gave me some info that I could not find on the YouTube post. It tells how the movie gives insight to the life and mind of the artist and also has interviews with old acquaintances like Yukmouth and Black Walt. The link was not very educating because I had already watched the video online but it did always me to get ahold of the cover picture.
The website KJHJ.org had a very small article that contained an overview of one of Tech’s tours. It just told that if you attend the tour you can expect to see a high quality, energetic and exciting performance. The only reason I used this site was for the picture it had under the article with Tech standing in between two tractor trailers.
The article Rap Music’s Blatant Satanism is trying to make the point that Tech N9ne is indeed an artist who worships the devil. The author studies the lyrics of many of the songs he has written and writes a brief summary based on many of the reoccurring themes, kidnapping, robbing, sexual encounters and violence. The claim is made that there are hidden message that can be heard if certain songs are played backwards. While this is an unofficial source it allowed me to better understand some of the people who do not support his music and their rationality behind it.
Another interview that was mainly focused on Tech’s recent move into the mainstream scene and what his feelings and reactions major events where. There was much praise given to him for his most recent studio album All 6’s and 7’s which was a huge commercial success with many relevant features. This proved to be one of the best articles that I came across because it gave more detailed information on his relationship with Lil Wayne and also how he felt about people viewing him as someone who worships demonic entities.
I only used the next article for one fact in blog three because I had to find a reliable source that had the first week record sales for Tha Carter 4. There were no other points that I could find because the article wasn’t even about Tech at all.
I was able to see the EP cover photo for E.B.A.H on the Strange Music store site. It is a retail site that sells the official merchandise from the record label and gave a sort description of the products. This site let me refresh my memory of the image that I discussed in depth by letting me view it again and it also gave the release date of EP.
Cd Universe is a site that is trying to sell the album Anghellic and it also has a very convincing description of the record which gave it praise saying that Eminem would envy the clear- eyes sociological slant. It also broke down the concept of the beginning of the album starts in hell, moves on to purgatory and then finally ends up in heaven. It also tells that many of Tech’s subjects have to deal with crime deceit, abortion, suicide and more. I expected to use this site just for the art that it has on it but it actually was a good website with some good information on it.
A detailed biography of Tech relinquished data that could not be find from other sources that I was able to locate. It told about the groups that N9ne was previously a member of such as Nnutthowze and the 57th Street Rogue Dog Villains. He was also one of the founding members of the group The Regime in 1997. A huge milestone was reached in 2008 after the release of the double album “Killer”, while it was not one the greatest productions he has put together it allowed him to exceed over a million sales worldwide. There were so much good facts that were stuffed into this article that it was a great asset for me giving more details on several different things some of the other articles didn’t elaborate on as much.
The next biography that I used was not a helpful as the one before but it still told of a couple of the life time accomplishments Tech has achieved. Also it revealed the origin of his stage name diverging from the semi- automatic handgun Tec-9. I really didn’t use this article much at all because there was really nothing that I thought was worth mentioning that wasn’t touch on in T9X.
An interviewer asked him how he felt about people claiming that he was a devil worshiper and he stated that he understood how his image could lead them to believe that even though it is false. The Rock the Bell concert was also discussed and how it was a special event for Tech because he received unexpected praise from superstars such as Nas and Damian Marley. This was really what drove home the point that one of the reasons of the suspicions that there is a cult of Technicians because so many of the people who support the music that is created by Teccan Nina are hard core diehard fans who love him and his music. There people are so loyal to the movement that has been set in motion that it is understandable that an outside source might be misunderstood to think that they have been possessed.
The last article from Hip Hop DX was asking about the release of the two projects the LP All 6’s and 7’s and the EP Klusterfuk and discussing how their success was achieved at the levels that it was. Klusterfuk was the number one independent rap album its first week after release but the amazing things about it are that not a single dollar was spent on its production. All 6’s and 7’s was so profitable because the studio equipment was already purchase and Tech’s status allowed him to get high profile artist such as Lil Wayne and T- Pain to do work for the album without any compensation. When it was ready to be sent to the production company they even accepted it without talking the $50,000 down payment. There were many substantial facts that were written in this section that I found very interesting and was eager to implement in my blogs including accurate numbers of the record sales and the required expenses that are come across when producing a hit original album.