The post Krizz Kaliko Grabs Tech N9ne For Sultry New Cut “Behave” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The post Rittz Feat. Yelawolf, Royce Da 5’9″, & Kxng Crooked – “LAF” (Remix) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Murs recently met up with us to talk about his Strange Music debut Have a Nice Life. The 14-track compilation serves as a collection of personal anecdotes, observations, and forward thinking that make for a great album. Check out our conversation about it below.

Anyone who follows MURS knows that is his family is important. So it’s no surprise that they are one of the first things mentioned on the title track “Have A Nice Life.” When asked what his Father’s Day plays were he had this to say:

“I just want to home that’s all, I’ve been away from my wife and child for about 2 months now, I don’t know how much my wife misses me but I miss being home with my family. I don’t know how much they miss me they seem to do ok without me, they have a lot of fun. But I definitely miss being home with them.”

“Have A Nice Life,” and all the tracks that follow it possess upbeat instrumentals. When asked about the production choices he had this to say:

“As someone who’s been performing live for 16 years its always good to have music that will make people move, whether they’re 60 or 6 months people love to move.” And when asked if the upbeat production had anything to with the album title Have A Nice Life, he claimed not to be that much of a mastermind.

His track “Mi Corazon” finds MURS rapping complete verses in Spanish, here’s how MURS says that came together:

“I’ve been love with Chicanas, Mexican girls, Cholas most of my growing up in LA cause my family owns a dry cleaners in South Central where I worked. And they would come in and drop of their clothes, and I was enamored with them. But during the time I grew up it wasn’t cool to have black and brown relationships like that, so I just admire them from afar.” Murs said.

“And also being from LA I feel it’s very necessary for us to respect Chicano culture… I try to put Spanish in all my songs but this time I wanted to go to full on. I was able to write it all by myself with my checking with friends for conjugations. It’s overdue I think there should way more Spanligsh in hip-hop because from Southside Chicago to the West Coast, in the Bronx where you have Puerto Rican influences is really heavy in the essence and the beginnings of hip-hop and I feel like it’s underrepresented.” he continued.

“Okey Dog” is a track that is inspired one of longtime friends, here’s a little bit of what he had to say about the visual that accompanied the track:

“I’d rather let another artist interpret my art, I’m not a visual artist, so I allow the visual artist to interpret my lyrics…I just tried to help his vision come to life…the only thing that I had to be careful about was how the character [Okey Dog] was portrayed because it’s a real person, and I had to call and get clearance to make the song, he’s not someone I want to piss off.”

His track “The Worst” tells the story of a man that falls into infidelity.

When describing how that came together he talks about constructing the hook, refers to the commitment that comes along with being married for 5 years, and mentions that “side chicks are usually glamorized and glorified.”

In this case “The Worst” serves as a cautionary tale of side chicks and MURS reminds us that, “A side chick is one of the most powerful people in your life once if you open that door.”

Other things that we’ve learned from MURS during this interview are:

• All of the tracks on Have a Nice Life have an underline message, even “Pussy and Pizza”
• Tracks like “Woke Up Dead,” “PTSD,” and “No More Control” all bring up issues that need to be heard
• He’s teaching his 2 and a half year old how to skate (doing so over FaceTime can be challenging)
• There will be “no more collaborative projects or festivals” he is just focused on being a better artist and making more music
• The Special Effects tour is a great opportunity to perform in front of a large group of dedicated and new fans alike, and learn from Tech N9Ne’s live performance every night.

Ultimately Have a Nice Life and Murs reminds us that it is possible to have a nice life, but it isn’t always going to be easy.

The post Interview: MURS Talks ‘Have a Nice Life’ with Us appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

RESPECT.: We have to start with the new project. Walk me through the inception of “Special Effects” and the main direction and focus of the album.

Tech: “When I first came up with the idea for “Special Effects” it meant it was time for us to play with the music, play with the lyrics, and just add effects, experimentation. We just wanted to play with music, because we already proved we can do it better than most. It took a serious personal turn for me, my mom passing from Lupus, (RIP) the Forbes’ list thing, and family turing on me for money and everything. I’m glad the album took that turn though because it just made it that much more personal. A lot more depth, you know what I mean? I’m totally satisfied with it, even though I didn’t get to experiment with it as much as I wanted to with the sound, but lyrically, songs came fourth like “On The Bible,” Aw Yeah?,” “Lacrimosa” about my mom, “A Certain Comfort,” “Burn It Down,” “Life Sentences,” it just keeps going and going.”

RESPECT.: In regards to your discography, with albums like “The Calm Before The Storm,” “Misery Loves Kompany,” “Welcome To Strangeland,” etc., where does “Special Effects” land for you both artistically and personally?

Tech: “It’s my best work to date. After the first week (sales) came out, it’s wonderful to know that everyone agrees. Some people might still say that “Anghellic” is best, but that’s a bullsh*t lie. I mean you can have your preference, but you can’t tell me I’m not more polished than I was back in 2001. I’m better, a lot more level headed, drug free, just everything you know?”

RESPECT.: You have a lot of big names on the album, B.o.B, 2 Chainz, T.I., Wayne, Gotti. and so on. What was the selection process like for you choosing who to have on the album? Is it true that Eminem wanted a feature for feature?

Tech: “The beats choose them. The beats tell me exactly what to do and the fact that my name has grown over the years, the recognition is coming from my peers. The only thing different about Tech N9ne now, is that the people who are calling are my peers from the mainstream. Everything else is exactly the same when it comes to the good and bad theme, it’s all there. I love that my peers are seeing that I’ve been raw ever since I started. As far as the Em situation, it floored me that it was a feature for feature thing. I mean, he could get a half a million for a feature or something, I don’t know. This is a guy who can charge whatever the fu*k he wants to. The fact that he had the respect for me to do something like that just flabbergasted me. It’s total validation that people believe you are elite as well. This whole album, from the metal and dark side, to the Hip-Hop and EDM side, and even to the gospel side on “Lacrimosa,” there’s almost every genre on this album and I’ve been doing that. Every time I look at the lineup I’m still trippin’.”

RESPECT.: You gave listeners some old Tech and new Tech on this album. Out of all 26 records, what’s your most personal/impactful record on the album?”

Tech: “Aw Yeah” is a perfect song. The style and the delivery is a Tech fan favorite, because Technicians like the technical style of rhyme. I mentioned it before, but “Lacrimosa” was a mixture of everything. An original Tech fan might say that “Psycho Bitch III” takes them back. Tech N9ne is always changing, so it will always be fresh.”

RESPECT.: Having been in the industry so long, how have you seen the culture shift and how have you been able to not only maintain relevance, but continue to pioneer new sound?

Tech: “Oh man, it boggles me everyday. All I do is write my life how it is at the moment. To be able to have the style that kids want to hear today is not something that I’ve actively tried to do. I used to be a dancer, so the beats tell me exactly what to do and I just thank God that it’s still relevant to kids today and that they still care. They care the same way they did back when I dropped my first album “The Calm Before The Storm.” It’s crazy to be able to rock the planet back then, and be able to rock even harder now, it’s just such an accomplishment to still be that guy that the people wanna’ hear. The fanbase is getting younger, it’s crazy because that’s not supposed to happen. I’m in my 44th year of life and I feel like I’m 22 man. It’s such a Nosferatu and Dracula type thing, an immortal type thing.”

RESPECT.: You’re basically a legend in the underground, do you feel “Special Effects” really made that mainstream jump for you?

Tech: “I think so. Because of the features, it woke the naysayers up. People are label whores and feed off of name recognition, so when someone outside of Strangeland hears that me and Krizz (Kaliko) have a song with Eminem they’re like “Whoa, I’ve got to listen to this, it’s got Eminem on it.” The trappers will be like “Yo, I gotta listen Tech N9ne, he got a song with T.I., I don’t even listen to Tech, but this album is killer.” Yeah man, I see it happening. If you listen to the way these songs chose these artists, “On The Bible” is perfect for T.I. and Zuse. “No K” is perfect for me and E-40. “Psycho Bitch III” is perfect for me and Hopsin. Me and Audio Push sampling Jimmy Hendrix on “Give It All” is beautiful to me. I love mash-ups man, to bring people into Stangeland to see how they’ll display. One thing I’ve noticed that makes me feel good is when artists come to Strangland, no matter who they are, they have to bring their A game when their on a song with me, or Krizz, or anyone on Strange.”

RESPECT.: Discuss the Strange Music brand’s longevity and direction moving forward through the next generation. Aside from music of course, will merchandise always be a driving force with the brand?

Tech: “Yeah man it’s a big thing for us to stay on the cutting edge as far as designs for men and women, just everything that we create. Whether is be a hoodie with the Strange logo on it or G-strings and boy shorts for ladies. Just like you said, it’s not only the music, because we know the music is elite, we try our absolute best to do the best quality clothing that will last and make the fans happy. We just like updating designs too. One design on the last tour, might not be a design on the next. I see shirts on fans from three years ago, it becomes something special to them. We’re always changing, just like with the music, changing for the better in terms of the quality. The quality of the music matches the quality of our product. We have a group of people other than me and Travis, coming up with new designs and everything man. I love that it’s still poppin’ like crazy. This game is a popularity contest and I’m just blessed to be able to be myself with the music and everything else I do. It makes the journey real for me and not something I have to do to get popular and be able to sell product.” It’s a blessing to be able to gain popularity just being you and not conforming or selling out.”

RESPECT.: Do you feel that you’ve somewhat laid the blueprint for individuality in today’s Hip-Hop culture?

Tech: “I think not conforming is way greater in the end. Of course we had some rocky times where we thought people weren’t getting me, they thought I was a devil worshipper because of my different imagery, or they thought I was a part of the Illuminati. (Laughs) Quincy Jones told me back in 97 just write what you know and people will forever feel you, so I just started writing my life. I started to connect with people because I tapped into their emotions. I didn’t wanna’ have to change my face paint, I didn’t wanna’ have to change my Strange Music scrubs, none of that, because that wouldn’t be me or my comfort zone. I love that we can inspire artists like Hopsin to do their own thing and be themselves creatively. We actually wanted to sign Hopsin before he and Dame (Damien Ritter) went full in with Funk Volume and they’re successful with it, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s wonderful that people are seeing that you can do it on you own and still be a contender with the majors. Going number 4 on the Top 200 your first week, number one in Rap/R&B independently, it’s a beautiful thing.”

RESPECT.: What’s the future hold for Tech and Strange Music?

Tech: “I’m really happy that we’re moving forward with my beverage, Caribou Lou. A script is being written for me right now for a movie Rob Prior is producing called “Whisperer.” Even though my love is for music I’m gonna give it a try man. I already did “The Devil’s Carnival 2” so I’m anxious to see how I did. It’s not my comfort zone, but people think I do it wonderfully so we’ll see. If I suck I’ll probably shy away from acting, but I’ve alway gotta try and keep going in whatever I do because I never say die. Me and Travis’ goal since we started Strange Music is to get bigger and bigger and have more and more people take notice over the whole planet. World domination is a tall order, but it’s happening.”

Download “Special Effects” On iTunes – HERE 

The post RESPECT. Interview: Tech N9ne on “Special Effects,” working with Eminem, and World Domination appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

For those who may not know, Kansas City emcee Tech N9ne, is gearing up to release his 15th studio album, Special Effects, this coming Tuesday, May 5th.

The format for Special Effects is a unique one, as the album is chopped up into sections, based on days of the week, starting with Sunday. Each section offers something different, for the listener and that only further demonstrates how dynamic of an artist Tech N9ne is.

This time around, it’s clear that fame has taken a toll on Tech N9ne as he touches on subjects like loss (his mother passed away last year), jealousy and some slips along the way, but through it all, Tech N9ne still manages to give his fans what they want and prove that they can still have a good time despite misfortune and pain.

Special Effects is one of the more complete albums you’ll hear, in terms of storytelling and is loaded with guest appearances like 2 Chainz, B.o.B. and Eminem, just to name a few. Stream it here, and if you mess with it, make that purchase on Tuesday.

The post Tech N9ne – “Special Effects” (Album Stream) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Pre-Order “Special Effects” (5.5.15) HERE

The post Tech N9ne feat. 2 Chainz & B.o.B – “Hood Go Crazy” (Prod. By N4) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Rittz is back at it with his newest visual for the track, “Turn Down.” The hit single is produced by G.O.O.D. Music’s very own, Lifted, and will be featured on Rittz’s sophomore LP, Next to Nothing. The track is definitely a club banger and it features Rittz’s fire lyrics, “Word on the street, you’ve been running your mouth. Turn up on me, Ima turn that bitch down.”

Next to Nothing is due out September 9th on Strange Music so make sure to check it out! Tell us what you think of the visual for “Turn Down.”

The post New Video: Rittz – “Turn Down” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.