In 1996 he signed with Quincy Jones' label Qwest before moving to the indie Midwestside Records, where he released his debut, The Calm Before the Storm, in 1999. He brought these qualities to his own work as he joined groups like Black Mafia, 57th Street Rogue Dog Villians, Nnutthowze, and the Yukmouth project the Regime. Later, music helped him deal with his mother's ongoing struggle with lupus, while an interest in horror and ghosts would offer an attractively dark form of escapism. In the process, he built his Strange Music label into a Psychopathic Records-styled empire with an accompanying loyal fan base, but when it comes to influence, Tech arguably topped underground trailblazers Insane Clown Posse thanks to collaborations with mainstream artists and a style that evolved from horrorcore to hardcore and confessional.īorn Aaron Dontez Yates in Kansas City, Missouri, Tech learned to read and do math through educational raps. While he debuted in the underground realm of horrorcore and seemed destined to be a future footnote, rapper Tech N9ne grew to be an indie rap superstar. In the process, he built his Strange Music label into a Psychopathic

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