When Tech N9ne, the top independent rapper of all time, brings his live show to San Diego you make sure and check that s*** out!  Tech N9ne (Aaron Dontez Yates) co-founded the independent hip hop record label Strange Music with Travis O’Guin in 2000 and has been unstoppable ever since.  The rapper from Kansas City has sold over 2 million albums and is also known to frequently collaborate with A-list artists of various genres: Lil Wayne, Eminem, Gary Clark, Jr., Kendrick Lamar, Machine Gun Kelly, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, and Slipknot’s Cory Taylor.  Tech N9ne has been on an incredible run of creative output, releasing full length albums almost every year like a machine; his 20th album Planet was released March 2018, followed by N9na in 2019, Enterfear in 2020, and last October Asin9ne marked Tech N9ne’s twenty-third studio album.  Impressively, Tech N9ne was also listed 10th on the list of hip hop’s highest paid acts of 2021.  

A talented four act hip hop bill awaited me at SOMA, the best all ages live music venue in San Diego.  Strange Music artist Joey Cool got the night started as hip hops fans ages 8 to 58 arrived at the venue surprisingly early to check him out.  Joey exuded confidence and swagger hitting the crowd with amazing rap technique over some truly mesmerizing and catchy tracks.  Joey paced back and forth on the stage creating a genuine connection with the crowd.  If you need an introductory tune for Joey Cool, check out “Man on Fire” (feat. Tech N9ne and Y2) – especially the recently released video which is pure fire. 

Next up was another Strange Music signee, the energetic ¡Mayday! out of the Miami, Florida hip hop scene.  The group includes rappers Bernardo Garcia (Bernz) and Ben Miller (a.k.a. Wrekonize) along with producer, and percussionist Andrews Mujica (a.k.a. NonMS).  Bernz and Wrekonize were jumping and rapping all over the place!  Great energy!  Live percussion performed by NonMS offered a fresh Latin flavor to their music – the sonic accents of live snare and congas cut through the recorded musical playback adding an extra rhythmic energy I truly enjoyed.  Check out ¡Mayday!’s impressive new album, Minute to Midnight, just released in March.  It’s a polished collection of tracks featuring a wide variety of musical moods and styles to keep your attention. 

For the third act, fans were greeted to a lone cross on a dark stage.  Donning prisoner threads, X-Raided (Anerae Brown) is escorted on stage and strapped onto the cross.  Unable to move with hands outstretched and strapped down, X-Raided delivers an impassioned performance of “F.Y.E. (For Your Entertainment)”. There’s a damn good reason X-Raided’s lyrics about prison life and street violence are genuine, full of expletives and intense – it’s autobiographical.  He served 26 years in prison for murder and was paroled in 2018.  It was inspiring to hear X-Raided proclaim positive messages about being a positive influence on your community and encouraging people to make positive changes in their life.   

Now it was for the main attraction.  When Tech N9ne hit the stage, the crowd went wild and immediately started shouting out the lyrics and callbacks in line with their rap hero. I was simply blown away at Tech N9ne’s vocal abilities.  What came to mind was how rap is very similar to percussion – rap just uses vocals instead of drum strikes over a beat.  My favorite part of Tech N9ne’s performance were the crazy speed raps – not that different from a mind-blowing Neil Peart drum solo – just that the rhythm is a tornado of words not a blur of fills across a drum kit.   Tech N9ne’s pronunciation technique was faster than my brain could even comprehend.  This fast-paced rapping style originated in the Midwest and is commonly called “Chopper” – and Tech N9ne is one of the most successful hip hop artists using this style.   Check out the tune “Face Off”, from Asin9ne, it also features Joey Cool, King Iso, and Dwayne Johnson.  The track already has almost 105 million streams on Spotify. 

San Diego was the 8th stop on Tech N9ne’s ambitious 57-date run of performances that end with a triumphant hometown show in Kansas City, MO on June 11th.  With three outstanding supporting acts and Tech N9ne in prime form, hip hop fans should be circling their calendars to check out this show when it comes to town.

Be well and keep rockin’!