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Tech N9ne 'Something Else' Album Review
Friday 2nd August 2013 | Matt
After years hustling in the underground Tech N9ne has been making some noise in the mainstream recently. His last studio Album ‘All 6’s and 7’s’ featured an impressive array of guest appearances from hip hop heavyweights including Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes and Lil’ Wayne and managed to debut at number 4 on the billboard chart. This time Tech receives a helping hand from contemporary stars; Cee-lo Green, Wiz Kalifa, Kendrick Lamar and T Pain, underground rappers; Krizz Kaliko, Wreckonize and Twisted Insane and some surprising guest appearances from heavy metal singer Serj Tankian of System of a Down fame and the surviving members of the 60s/70s iconic rock band ‘The Doors’. ‘Something Else’; Tech's 13th album was released earlier this week and early predictions are suggesting another top 5 entry for the independent rapper.
1. News with Mark Alford (skit) – The album starts off with a news report skit which is just put in to set the scene for the album. I am not a huge fan of skits so will not bother to comment any more on this track. (N/A)
2. Straight out the Gate (ft. Krizz Kaliko & Serj Tankian) – The first ‘real’ track on the album is a blistering rap rock banger featuring Serj Tankian of System of a Down providing a unique and melodic hook and Tech N9ne delivering his usual high speed, high octane raps in the verses. Krizz Kaliko doesn’t play a big part but instead provides some extra vocals in the hook just to give it that little extra ‘oomph’ overall this is a brilliant way to kick off the album and really pumps up the listeners and prepares them for what’s to come. (5 out of 5)
3.B.I.T.C.H (ft. T Pain) – B.I.T.C.H -In this case Bitch is used as an acronym for Breaking InTo Coloured Houses which is an analogy for Tech N9ne finally getting accepted by black fans in the hip hop world. I am not a fan of T Pain so was initially worried about the impact he would have on the song but he actually managed to fit in quite nicely. The song has a bit more of a radio friendly beat and comes across as a bit of an anti-climax after the pumping energy of the previous song. Thankfully Tech’s clever lyricism (‘Since 2001 my people dodged me like Durango, now at my shows I see more N words than Django’) and dope flow make this a pretty decent song. (3 out of 5)
4. With the BS (ft. Big Scoob, Red Café, Trae Tha Truth) –The smooth synth driven beat works nicely with the simple but catchy hook from Big Scoob. When doing a song like this it is often easy for Tech to overshadow the guests with his intrical rhyme structures and unique flow patterns. Unfortunately I feel that this was the case on this track. The guests were not bad but did not add anything either. (3.5 out 5)
5. Love 2 Dislike Me (ft. Liz Suwandi and Tyler Lyon) – I Can’t praise this song enough. Everything about it works brilliantly; the soft vocals of Liz Suwandi, the powerful chorus from Tyler Lyon, the ultra-aggressive rapping from Tech N9n, all blended perfectly over a heavy rock beat. This is what Linkin Park SHOULD be sounding like in 2013!
6. Fortune Force Field – Another great song. The verses are about Tech overcoming his inner demons and the things that have held him back in his career. His slightly more laid back delivery works nicely over the melodic soft rock inspired beat. The highlight of this song for me though is definitely the extremely powerful and emotional chorus that just captivates the listener and evokes a myriad of emotions. “It’s on for tonight, Hope this wall is ready for a fight, in this hole I’m reaching for the night, a lot of dreams are lost in the night” This song proves that Tech N9ne can carry off an entire song including a beautifully sang chorus without any guest appearances. (5 out of 5)
7.I’m not a Saint – This song is basically about tech confronting the wrongs he has done in the past and sees him making an apology for some of his previous behaviour when he was heavily involved in drugs and alcohol.The beats and raps are a lot slower than the rest of the album which makes for a welcomed change of pace. The eerie sample initially works well with this creepy sounding beat but it does get a bit overused and becomes a bit irritating by the end. (3 out of 5)
8.Fragile (ft. Kendrick Lamar, Kendall Morgan, Mayday!) – This is a lovely relaxing song which features a ¾ beat accompanied by some soft piano and guitars riffs. It’s another interesting change of pace and it’s great to hear the artists performing over a different time signature (something very rare in the hip hop world). The theme of the song is about how sensitive the artists are about their work, with Tech in particular having a pop at the critics who have slated him in the past. For once the featured artists are not over shadowed by Tech especially in Kendrick Lamar’s case who possibly outshines him. (4 out of 5)
9.Priorities (ft. Game, Angel Davenport) – A very basic and short song, almost an accapella with the majority of the song kept together by a metronomic click. The three MCs keep the song Interesting by trading a barrage of high calibre bars; each set as good as the last. (3.5 out of 5)
10. News with Mark Alford 2 (skit) – Another skit, again not much to report on.
11. Dwam – This song is a typical Tech N9ne party song. The hooks is pretty catchy and the verses are well delivered. The beat and the female vocals are a bit annoying and the overall theme (a description of what Dwam means “it like’s damn, like wow”) is a bit stupid. (3 out of 5)
12. So Dope (ft. Wreckonize, Snow Tha Product, Twisted Insane) – This song really ups the pace and is used to show off Tech and the guests’ rapid fire ‘chopper’ flows. Not as good as the brilliant ‘Worldwide Choppers’ on his last album but it’s still an enjoyable experience. Each rapper delivers an impressive and unique verse and the beat and chorus are way above average. (4 out of 5)
13. See Me (ft. Wiz Khalifa, B.O.B) – This was highly anticipated due to the high profile guest spots but was actually a huge disappointment to me. It is not really in the style of Tech but is more in the style of the guests. It would have been nice for him to take them out of their comfort zone and bring them into his ‘Strange’ land like he did with B.O.B on ‘Am I Psycho’. Instead what we get is a subpar clichéd rap song that would go unnoticed on any mainstream radio broadcast. (2 out of 5)
14.(My Haiku) Burn the World (ft. Krizz Kaliko) – This song with partner in crime Krizz Kaliko is another album highlight for me. The beat is a good head nod type beat laced with some nice guitar riffs. It a very positive song which is a nice touch from the pair and the verses are well delivered and flow nicely into the soulful chorus from Kaliko. I could definitely imagine this anthemic number going down very well in a live setting. (4.5 out of 5)
15. That’s my Kid (ft. Big K.R.I.T, Cee-lo Green, Kutt Calhoun) – I have mixed feelings on this song. I suppose it’s nice to hear rappers showing respect to their family (in this case their kids) and the hook from Cee-lo is pleasant on the ear and allows him to utilize his unique and soulful voice. The verses, however, really failed to grab my attention and the beat is a bit dull. Overall I don’t really like this song but it could be down to the fact I found it hard to relate to the subject matter as I have no kids of my own. (3 out of 5)
16. Meant to Happen (ft. Scoop Deville) – This is an interesting song. The verses are emotionally driven and explore some of the worst parts of Tech’s life from stories of drugs and crime to his abandonment from his father. Overall, though, the message is quite positive and really he claims that his life events have made him the man he is today. The beat is unique and very different to what we are used to in rap music. Despite these strong points, the song seems to be missing that ‘x factor’ to turn it from a good song to a brilliant song. (3.5 out of 5)
17.News with Alford 3 (skit) - Another skit setting the scene for the rest of the album – basically it’s explaining through a news report that we are moving away from the darkness found on the rest of the album to a more positive side of Tech (N/A)
18.Believe – Wow. The ‘King of Darkness’ really shines on this positive tip. Tech has always been known to be a rapper not afraid to explore the darkside of life and himself even delving numerous times into the ‘horrorcore’ subgenre. This song really shows us another side of Tech and I like it. It’s a nice uplifting song with a magnificent beat. The chorus, sang by an unnamed woman who sounds a bit like Beyoncé, fits well with the song but isn’t anything special. (4 out of 5)
19. R.I.P Ray (Skit) – A little spoken word track from Tech basically summarising his love for the Doors and how happy he was to have been able to collaborate them and gives a little shout out to a fallen homie of his. (N/A)
20.Strange (ft. The Doors) – When I heard that Tech had managed to persuade the surviving members of 70s iconic rock band ‘The Doors’ to reunite to do a re-working of ‘Strange Days’ with him I was extremely excited. The end result was an impressive example of how Tech is able to jump effortlessly through genres and styles. However I think this fell slightly short of my expectations. The vocal sample form the late great Jim Morrison seemed to go on a little too long and the beat was a little too heavy on the snare hits making it slightly jarring on the ear. The verses were good but we have all heard better from Tech. I understand how great it must have been for Tech N9ne to have been able to work with his musical idols. It just seems like it was thrown together a bit haphazardly. Don’t get me wrong though it’s still a decent tack and a nice ending to a brilliant album. (3.5 out of 5)
Overall: 8 out of 10
Writteny by
Matt Waktins
