The Catalyst

By Matt Scofield, Sports Editor

Aaron Dontez Yates was born on November 8th, 1971 in Kansas City Missouri. His legendary career has spanned over twenty years with sell-out performances from L.A. to New York. Yates’ infamous stage name comes from the word technique and the number 9, 9 being the number of completion; meaning he is a complete rapper. Taking on the stage name Tech N9ne propelled Yates into a career which would revolutionize the rap underworld of the Midwest and beyond.

Tech N9ne is one of the most famous rappers ever to come out of the Midwest. He has called Kansas City his home for most of his career. Originally, Tech N9ne belonged to a rap group called “NNUTT HOWZE.” As his career steadily advanced, NNUTT HOWZE disbanded. But Tech N9ne didn’t give up there, not even close.

“It was hard at first, ‘cause it’s a money game. It’s a popularity contest. If you’re not the most popular, if you don’t have the most money, you’re not gonna get it. If you’re not throwin’ around 500,000 here, 500,000 there, you’re not gonna have radio play like that,” said Tech N9ne. However, Tech N9ne continues to pay tribute to his early beginnings with NNUTT HOWZE in songs like “Riot Maker” where he says the letters of the band translated to the numbered phone digits on a keypad which is 6688846993.

Tech N9ne has spread his fame not by media coverage and publicity, but by the sharing of online music. Fans are drawn to his hardcore sound in songs like “Caribou Lou”, and “Midwest Choppers.” Tech has also put out a few collaboration albums, most notably and most recently, the album “Sickology 101.”

When it came time for Sickology 101, I knew I wanted to do a collabo album on the study of being sick. It’s a beginner’s course for people who don’t know how to be sick lyrically or how to choose sick beats. It all starts with beats because they tell me exactly what to do.”

However, after completing Sickology 101, Tech has begun a tour which features his new album coming out October 27th, 2009 called “K.O.D.” Some believe K.O.D. stands for “King of Darkness”, or “Kiss of Death”, but Tech has left it up to speculation. He is touring with Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Calhoun, Big Scoob, Slaughterhouse, Stevie Stone, and Glasses Malone. Tech has been to Grand Junction, Colorado twice in the last two years, this year previewing K.O.D.

“My wife loves but she don’t like me. I’m still in the trenches every day. I’m still buildin’ my name, and it’s growin’ rapidly, but not fast enough to where I can relax at home with my wife and kids. I’m always on the road, 3 months at a time, 6 months at a time,” stated Tech N9ne.

Unlike many rappers such as Eminem and Jay-Z, Tech N9ne has never been interested in media or publicity; his legend has spread throughout the rap-listening world by itself. Because of this fact, fans consider his rap to be a somewhat higher form of rap. Whatever the case, there is no doubt about Tech N9ne’s skills as an emcee, and the arrival of his new K.O.D. album is eagerly awaited.