 Following an incredible year in the king of independent hip-hop's 20-year long career and a show-stopping performance on Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV, Strange Music announced this week, the next Tech N9ne "Collabos" record, entitled Welcome To Strangeland.
The record's release will coincide with the enigmatic rapper's 40th birthday on November 8th.
In this installment of the series, Tech N9ne travels through his own "Strangeland," meeting up exclusively with a host of artists signed to, or affiliated with, his Strange Music label -- including Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Calhoun, Jay Rock, Brotha Lynch Hung, Prozak, Stevie Stone, Irv Da Phenom, Ces Cru, Liz Suwandi, and Bernz and Wrekonize of ¡MAYDAY!, among others.
"Anyone I'm collaborating with understands where I'm coming from and the level of quality I represent," explains the rapper. "That's why I'm always completely behind these 'Collabos' releases. Seeing how the artists on Welcome To Strangeland are all artists fit to be members of the Strange Music roster, this is the strongest, Strangest Collabo release yet."
The album is led by the Plex Luthor-produced "The Noose", featuring former MTV battle-rap champ Wrekonize and Bernz of the Miami-based hip-hop sextet ¡Mayday!. The label calls it one of Tech N9ne's most daring and morbid songs of his career. Inspired by a recent visit to Camp Pendleton with U.S. troops injured in combat, he reflects on the ever-increasing woes of this world and a growing sense of communal apathy while wrestling with the idea of suicide.
"To me ['The Noose'] is just saying I don't wanna be taken by another man," Tech explains. "I don't want my fate to be in another man's hands. So 'I'm hanging up the noose now, waiting for the end.' That's how I looked at it. I don't condone suicide at all, but I understand ... Let me be the reason why I die. Not saying that I'm condoning suicide, but damn, some of these people think like that."
On whether or not the song promotes self-destruction, Wrekonize chimes in, "Initially, it was more about just that feeling you get when you're so fed up that you don't really know what to do, and feeling like, 'Damn' ... When the negativity in the world gets the better of you and you're overwhelmed with it. Even though ['The Noose'] does touch upon a negative outlook on it, and it has a very morbid outlook, it's something that sympathizes with the way that they might feel, which I feel like turns into a positive thing in the end. "
Tech N9ne is currently on one of the 42-dates of his "Lost Cities" tour that runs through November 19th.
The final tracklisting for Welcome To Strangeland is as follows:
1. "Stars"
2. "Welcome to Strangeland" (ft. Krizz Kaliko)
3. "Unfair" (v Krizz Kaliko, Ubiquitous of Ces Cru & Godemis of Ces Cru)
4. "Kocky" (ft. Kutt Calhoun & Jay Rock)
5. "Who Do I Catch"
6. "My Favorite" (ft. Prozak & Brotha Lynch Hung)
7. "Retrogression" (ft. ¡MAYDAY!)
8. "Bang Out" (ft. 816 Boys)
9. "Beautiful Music"
10. "Won't You Come Dirty" (ft. Young Bleed & Stevie Stone)
11. "Sad Circus" (ft. Brotha Lynch Hung & Courtney Kuhnz)
12. "The Noose" (ft. ¡MAYDAY!)
13. "Slave" (ft. Krizz Kaliko & Kutt Calhoun)
14. "Overwhelming" (ft. Jay Da 3rd)
15. "Gods" (ft. Krizz Kaliko & Kutt Calhoun)
16. "I Need A Drink"
17. "The Real Thing" (ft. Liz Suwandi)
18. EMJ
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