Tech N9ne

Tech N9ne
Pearl Room, Mokena
Saturday, November 8, 2008

Skits, guest appearances, and bloated songs counts are as common to hip-hop as blast beats are to black metal, but Tech N9ne takes things to a whole new level on Killer.

First, kudos for the Thriller album cover parody, where the rapper leans on his elbow gazing at the camera like Jacko circa 1982 but wrapped in a straight jacket instead of draped in a dapper white suit. Also, nice job digging up Scarface, who we haven’t heard since 1994. Lastly, persuading Ice Cube to do an actual verse on “Blackboy” — he only did a chorus on the new Game album — is pretty impressive for a indie rapper from Kansas City.

Two discs and 32 songs, though? Wowzee. Ambitious – we’ll give Tech and his roster of producers (13!) that, but someone at sometime in this recording session should have suggested “edit,” because a lot of this stuff didn’t deserve to make the pressing plant. Specifically the “Sextion” portion of Disc Two, featuring such gems as “Seven Words” (“love it when you suck my dick”) and “The Sexorcist” (“go down on you/now I think it’s time you owe me one”). Listening to this in the Illinois Entertainer office was more uncomfortable than watching Lord Of The G-Strings with our grandparents.

Krizzy Kaliko, Prozak, Skatterman & Snug Brim, and Grave Plott open.

–Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly