Album Review: "K.O.D." by Tech N9ne

2009 was a rough year for Tech N9ne. Following the release of his second Collabos album, Sickology 101, in February, Tech experienced a number of hardships that included the death of a nephew, his good friend and bodyguard having a heart attack, and especially the prolonged sickness of his mother. The emotional rollercoaster that Tech experienced informed the material of this album, which stands as Tech's darkest and most personal work, and also as somewhat of a slap in the face of the image Tech had spent several years building. Amid continued accusations of devil worshiping, Tech N9ne had gone out of his way to record with mainstream hip-hop artists and try to eliminate these notions, and this album was a deliberate middle finger to the haters that continued to doubt him, as well as an outlet to these building frustrations. An acronym for "King of Darkness," K.O.D. is the artist's magnum opus, and a must-listen for any fan of hip-hop. Divided into three sections, "Anger," "Madness," and "The Hole," Tech takes listeners on a wild ride through his twisted mind.

1. Show Me a God

Eschewing the usual trend of beginning with an introductory skit, Tech launches straight into "Anger" with "Show Me a God." The song was so powerful, Tech would later explain, that it needed to be the beginning of the album. It sets up the mood of the album well, as Tech begs for proof that "someone is listening when I'm down on my knees" and doubts that a loving god would allow the suffering he's witnessed in his mother.
Instrumental quality: 4.5/5.0 The energetic instrumental, punctuated with horns and driving percussion, is an aggressive track with just a hint of paranoia. Produced by Matic Lee.
Lyrical quality: 5.0/5.0 Tech comes out of the gate with lyrics of fury as he questions all that he's grown up being told. Anyone who's battled real depression or hardship has probably been there, and the album couldn't have gotten off to a better start.

2. The Warning (Skit)
The intro takes a back seat to "Show Me a God," as a bizarre, distorted voice delivers "the warning of the one who's coming" with an ominous message that the King of Darkness is on his way to take power and destroy everything. Get used to this instrumental, and remember it...you'll hear it again.
Skit rating: 3.5/5.0

3. Demons (feat. Three 6 Mafia)
The music picks up again as Tech teams with Three 6 Mafia, a group that's had their share of devil worshiping accusations themselves. This is a fairly strong track that brings up a theme we've heard from Tech before, his personal demon of lust. DJ Paul and Juicy J deliver typical Three 6 verses, and it's a fairly strong track.
Instrumental rating: 4.0/5.0 This is a good, dark instrumental punctuated with slow, high octave keys. It's somewhat reminiscent of a Three 6 Mafia beat, in fact, and suits the track well. Produced by Matic Lee, co-produced by Seven.
Lyrical rating: 3.5/5.0 DJ Paul and Juicy J are not, and will never be, lyricists. As long as you're comfortable with this, Tech delivers a strong verse to kick the track off, and Three 6 do their thing.

4. Blackened the Sun (feat. Krizz Kaliko)
Possibly the album's angriest track, Tech begins with a shouted intro at the doubters who he worked hard to impress and apparently failed. The song is Tech's way of firing back at the haters and letting them know that it no longer matters what they think, because he's going to do him from now on, even if that means being the darkest, most twisted, scariest rapper they've heard. Krizz Kaliko delivers an angsty, aggressive hook. This track includes the intro to "Strange Music Box" tacked onto the end.
Instrumental rating: 5.0/5.0 Tech reunites with Rubonyx, from whom we haven't heard on a Tech album since Absolute Power, for this dark beat laced with his signature low brass hits and paranoid strings. Produced by Rubonyx.
Lyrical rating: 4.0/5.0 Tech attacks this track with an atypical flow, choosing a tense, low, half-sung flow that sounds like a man on the verge of snapping for the first few bars of the verses, before launching into a half-shouted, half-growled flow for the next few bars.

5. Strange Music Box (feat. Brotha Lynch Hung and Krizz Kaliko)
The "Anger" section of the album also means home for the few upbeat party tracks Tech manages to squeeze in, although even these seem a little aggressive. This particular track is one of the less interesting upbeat tracks despite its powerhouse lineup of Tech, Krizz, and Lynch. All of them deliver good verses and the beat is a great club track, it's just not terribly compelling.
Instrumental rating: 4.5/5.0 Another brassy, loud track for the MCs to ride. Produced by Youngfyre, co-produced by Karbon.
Lyrical rating: 3.5/5.0 The verses are all nice although it tends toward typical hip-hop braggadocio, but it deserves props for getting Brotha Lynch Hung onto a club track in 2009.

6. Sundae [Skit] (feat. Sundae)
This is another one of the many useless skits Tech N9ne has throughout his discography. It serves as an intro to "Check Yo Temperature" as the femmcee who guests on that track, Sundae, leaves Tech a voicemail explaining how excited she is to jump on that track.
Skit rating: 1.0/5.0 It's just unnecessary. Sorry, I don't care what Sundae has to say unless she's spitting.

7. Check Yo Temperature (feat. Sundae and T-Nutty)
This is a much better club track for my money than "Strange Music Box." Over another rambunctious Youngfyre beat, Tech, Sundae, and T-Nutty rap threatening verses about how haters need to walk away when they see them unless they want their temperature checked.
Instrumental rating: 4.5/5.0 Once again Youngfyre's instrumental hits hard with its heavy bass and tinkling keys. Produced by Youngfyre, co-produced by Demolish Beatz.
Lyrical rating: 4.0/5.0 All three MCs deliver tight verses that might just inspire you to throw a few 'bows next time someone checks your temperature.

8. B. Boy (feat. Big Scoob, Bumpy Knuckles, Kutt Calhoun, and Skatterman)
An ode to the Blood gang, all 5 MCs deliver nice verses, although I found myself wishing for Bumpy Knuckles to wild out a little harder, but they are all shown up by Tech, whose alliterative verse uses nearly every B-word known to man.
Instrumental rating: 4.0/5.0 Another riot-inspiring instrumental from the talented Youngfyre. Produced by Youngfyre, co-produced by Karbon.
Lyrical rating: 3.5/5.0 Posse cuts tend to suffer a bit from not all the MCs being quite on the same skill level, and although none of the verses are wack, Scoob and Skatterman struggle to keep up just a bit. Not a bad verse here, just not quite an evenly matched track.

9. Hunterish (feat. Irv da Phenom and Krizz Kaliko)
The "Madness" section begins here, with the last proper club track of the album and the best party cut here. Tech and Kansas City, Kansas newcomer Irv da Phenom deliver high intensity verses, but it's Krizz Kaliko who steals the show with his bizarre hook and punchline-packed verse at the end ("I'm a sexual predator, better alert the neighbors/'cause they desperate housewife is just my flavor/Darth Vader, pulling out my lightsaber/and they like my hard candy, call it Now & Later..."). Kaliko also makes a comical reference to Digital Underground's "Humpty Dance," perfectly emulating Shock G's voice in his Humpty Hump persona.
Instrumental rating: 4.0/5.0 Heavy percussion dominates this track and while it's unspectacular from a musical standpoint, the beat hits hard and serves its purpose well. Produced by Youngfyre.
Lyrical rating: 4.5/5.0 All three MCs deliver hard verses, as if they were each out to one-up the other, but in the end it was Kaliko who would come out on top.

10. The Pick Up (Skit)
This skit is a bit of a spoof of the infamous "Diamond Joe's" interlude from Absolute Power (Tech frequently references that interlude) and sets up "In the Trunk." Tech attempts to hit on a girl by using his rapper status, but she upsets him greatly when she turns him down on the grounds that he's a devil worshiper...
Skit rating: 3.0/5.0

11. In the Trunk
Tech lets his imagination soar in the "Madness" section, as in this track he tells a sinister story of being dissed by a chick, who he then proceeds to kidnap and hold hostage in his trunk as he drives her all over Kansas and Missouri. "Fed her my catalog like Adderall," Tech raps, before finally abandoning the vehicle, girl and all. At the end she's discovered by the cops, delirious and chanting his name.
Instrumental rating: 3.5/5.0 A whimsical clarinet melody fills in behind the verses, while a violin whines on the hook. Produced by Rubonyx.
Lyrical rating: 4.0/5.0 A darkly comical story rap that fits nicely as Tech descends further into madness.

12. Pinocchiho
One of the more odd tracks Tech N9ne has ever done, Tech affects a strange accent as he raps from the point of view of Pinocchiho, a horny but apparently cannibalistic man who desires to fall in love with a woman and take her as his wife but can't stop himself from killing and eating every woman he brings into the bedroom. The opening lyrics in the first full verse are a sly reference to Public Enemy's "Megablast."
Instrumental rating: 3.0/5.0 Another strange instrumental with a heavy beat and synthesized harpsichord stabs throughout. Produced by Matic Lee.
Lyrical rating: 3.5/5.0 An odd but entertaining track. This would be done better as a more sinister, serious song called "Bite Me" on the Seepage EP Tech would release later.

13. Horns (feat. King Gordy and Prozak)
The best collaboration on the album, Tech unites with fellow Midwestern masters of the macabre, Prozak and King Gordy, for a dark track that actually served as the catalyst in several publications' refusal to review the album due to Gordy's inflammatory verse. Tech again revisits his lust-demon in the opening verse, while Prozak spits arguably the best guest verse of the album on the second. It's nice to hear from Prozak as he's been relatively quiet since releasing his debut album, Tales From the Sick, on Strange in 2008. Finally, the infamous verse from self-proclaimed King of Horrorcore King Gordy comes on at the end, as Gordy spins a tale of himself as the ultimate evil, capable of even making Jesus reject the Kingdom of Heaven ("He don't want the light, now I got Christ wearing black/see, I'm that devil on his shoulder/yeah I'm that scary fat demon that'll turn all you heathens into scaredy-cats/King Gordy the Antichrist, God-killer/I am before and after Christ, I'm called a sinner, motherfucker!")
Instrumental rating: 4.5/5.0 One of the more dramatic beats on the album, horn stabs combine with choir vocals and violins to create an excellent backdrop for the dark, insane rhymes the three MCs spit. Produced by Robert Rebeck.
Lyrical rating: 5.0/5.0 All three MCs are in top form on this track, and Gordy and Prozak offer Tech legitimate competition for the title of King of Darkness.

14. Interview With Jason Whitlock [Skit] (feat. Jason Whitlock and Krizz Kaliko)
Kansas City journalist Jason Whitlock calls to interview Krizz Kaliko, and the conversation goes south when Whitlock begins to ask Krizz prying questions about the possibility of Tech as a devil worshiper, as that eerie piano music from "The Warning" plays again...Kaliko tries in vain to defend his friend before finally hanging up in disgust.
Skit rating: 3.0/5.0 Tech uses phone conversations and voicemail messages a lot on his albums and they mostly fail to be interesting. This is somewhat of an exception, as any Tech listener will know that Whitlock's accusations are more than a little ridiculous.

15. It Was an Accident (feat. Alan Wayne)
Local rapper Alan Wayne stops by to drop the last guest verse on the album, as he and Tech tell rather morbid tales of accidental deaths over the eerie violins of the instrumental. Tech's verse tells a story of a girl he nearly killed in a bout of rough sex that got out of control, while Wayne tells of trying to impress his thuggish friends by packing heat, but accidentally shooting one of them. I don't know if either story is true but the song is a little unsettling either way. After the song itself ends, the track continues into an intro to "Shadows On the Road," and this intro officially begins "The Hole" section.
Instrumental rating: 3.5/5.0 This beat had to grow on me, but the sinister strings and mournful piano mix with the weird groaning vocals on the hook for a truly eerie soundtrack to Tech and Alan's rhymes. Produced by Seven.
Lyrical rating: 4.0/5.0 Both verses tell compelling stories, although I wish the song was just a little longer.

16. Shadows On the Road (feat. Krizz Kaliko)
The descent continues, as we enter "The Hole." The eerie, foreboding instrumental that began in the intro (at the end of "It Was an Accident") plays on while Krizz Kaliko sings a haunting chorus: "I see shadows on the road again, wonder if they're coming for my soul..." Tech describes his experiences of driving late at night and witnessing shadows crossing the road, as he searches for a reason for these unsettling visions.
Instrumental rating: 4.5/5.0 The instrumentals in this section of the album are among my favorites, as they manage to be dark, sinister, mournful, tense, and sad all at once. This song perfectly mirrors the ghost story in the lyrics with its foreboding strings. Produced by Seven.
Lyrical rating: 4.5/5.0 Another song I simply wish was a bit longer. Tech only spits two brief verses about the spirits that haunt him, but it's a chilling two verses.

17. Low (feat. Krizz Kaliko)

Another relatively short song, but it suits this one perfectly as Tech rhymes of being trapped in a deep depression, despite the fact that "I should be hype 'cause my life is so rock n' roll..." Beginning with a shouted intro from Tech's hypeman Scenario, Tech proceeds to rhyme in a low monotone even as he spits his quick flow, and the lyrics are of pain and isolation. Tech truly sounds "lower than low." Kaliko provides the haunting chorus: "I'm sinking again, I'm drinking again/drowning in water and breathing it in/it's easy to sin when you're bleeding within/needing to grin, cheesing, proceeding to spin/lower than low..."
Instrumental rating: 4.5/5.0 The fat brass punctuating the track adds a heavy, foreboding feel to the darkness provided in the slashing violins that cut through the verses, only to turn mournful and pained on the chorus. One of the moodiest beats on this album. Produced by Rubonyx.
Lyrical rating: 5.0/5.0 Tech's pain is evident in the lyrics, and Krizz's hook is excellent. The song is perfect lyrically for its purpose.

18. Messages (Skit)
This stupid skit serves as an intro to "Killing You;" consisting of two messages from random, drunk and horny chicks and then one from Tech's crying wife, and her message carries over into "Killing You," so I don't see any reason for this skit.
Skit rating: 0.5/5.0

19. Killing You
This track is much, much better than the skit that proceeds it, as Tech paints himself as a heartless adulterer that no one should love. "Why can't you wake up and see that I am killing you?" he asks on the chorus. The track's dark brutal honesty is a stark contrast to the self-pity on several other tracks, and stands out as "The Hole" section's most aggressive song. Interesting side note, the hook of this song was originally to feature Corey Taylor from Slipknot, but his vocals weren't sent back in time and Tech performs it himself instead.
Instrumental rating: 4.0/5.0 The violins and guitars on this track give it a feel of tension, anger, and frustration, perfectly mimicking the lyrics. Produced by Matic Lee, co-produced by Seven.
Lyrical rating: 4.5/5.0 The honesty in the lyrics of this section is refreshing but disturbing at times, and this is one of those times. Tech often speaks of his lust as a personal demon, but in this case he seems to be going out of his way to tell the one that loves him most that it's a demon he will never beat and to quit on him.

20. Leave Me Alone (feat. Krizz Kaliko)

The biggest single to be released from the album, this track sounds a lot more upbeat than the rest of "The Hole" section, but the lyrics are still introspective, as Tech explains that after all the hate and negativity he's received, at this point he just wants to be left alone. Krizz Kaliko delivers yet another excellent hook, and this guy can sound like a completely different person on every track.
Instrumental rating: 3.0/5.0 This was a track that really had to grow on me, as it contains saw synth arpeggios making up its melody. It can be a little abrasive. Produced by Youngfyre, co-produced by Karbon.
Lyrical rating: 4.5/5.0 I don't know anyone that can't relate to that desire to just be left alone now and then, and of course Tech's lyrics are always poignant and on-point. Kaliko's hook is the icing on the cake.

21. Prayer By Brother K.T. (feat. Brother K.T.)
Brother K.T. drops by to say a quick prayer for Tech. The positioning in the album is a little strange, since the track it introduces is the darkest, most sinister on the album.
Skit rating: 2.0/5.0

22. K.O.D. (feat. Mackenzie O'Guin)
And there's that eerie instrumental from the early skits again. The haunting keys that sound like music in a funeral parlor stand out even before the lyrics, and the beat builds as it progresses towards the song's epic hook. Tech spins rhymes as the King of Darkness mentioned in the intro, who has arrived at last to rule the Earth. Adding to the unease and creepiness of the track is Tech's second verse, which opens with his slightly unsettling backward rapping (don't freak out too much, what he actually says is "sex will be mandatory daily and nightly"). Side note: Mackenzie O'Guin is the then-seven-year-old daughter of Strange Music CEO Travis O'Guin.
Instrumental rating: 5.0/5.0 I don't think this instrumental could have been done any better. From the spare sounds of the piano and drums, building as the verse goes on to add synths and lower piano chords and subtle violin stabs, into the chorus, which adds alternating mechanical vocals with a chant spelling out "K.O.D."...it doesn't get much better. Produced by Seven.
Lyrical rating: 5.0/5.0 Tech's creepy lyrics and the somewhat frightening vocals provided by Mackenzie O'Guin complete the evil feel the track has. It's unsettling, uncomfortable, creepy...but it's also brilliant.

23. The Martini (feat. Krizz Kaliko)
Krizz Kaliko speaks the intro in a deep, husky, almost movie announcer voice, describing that "The Martini" describes the last shot of the day while on the set of a film. He explains that the stories Tech is about to tell are true before Tech launches into a sad story about a man named Sam, who was betrayed by the woman he loved when she decided she needed to see other people. Sam sneaks up to her house late one night to kill her and himself, and the verse ends, leaving you wondering if it happened. (For what it's worth, Sam is actually Krizz himself, and this true story ends happily; he realizes what he's about to do and backs out; he is also later reunited with and wed to the girl in the story). The second verse is a similar story of a player named Isaiah who falls in love only to experience almost the same situation. Finally, Tech tells the story of Brian, who avid Tech listeners will recognize as Tech's oft-mentioned best friend, Brian "B'zle" Dennis, who was murdered along with his wife by her psychotic ex. Krizz wraps the track up by singing the credits of the album.
Instrumental rating: 4.0/5.0 A fairly basic piano-driven track that allows the stories to take center stage. Produced by Youngfyre.
Lyrical rating: 5.0/5.0 Tech has dabbled in story-telling before, but this is one of his best.

24. F.U.N. (Fuck U Niggas) [Strange Music pre-order bonus track]
This is a pretty decent track; another directed at the haters, but it's easy to see why it was left off the album, as it wouldn't have a clear place among the other tracks. The title is pretty self explanatory of the track's content.
Instrumental rating: 3.5/5.0 The dark and sinister violins pulsate through the beat. Produced by Youngfyre, co-produced by Karbon.
Lyrical rating: 3.5/5.0 Nothing really special lyrically, but not awful either. The Strange bonus tracks tend to be throwaway tracks from the album, but even Tech's throwaways are solid.

25. Like I Died [iTunes pre-order bonus track]
Tech's demand to the DJs out there to "play my music like I died." The verses are essentially different scenarios where Tech might die. It's kind of a boring track.
Instrumental rating: 3.0/5.0 The violins and brass are not terribly interesting here. Produced by Rubonyx.
Lyrical rating: 3.0/5.0 The lyrics aren't bad and the song structure is somewhat creative but it's just not terribly interesting.

Composite ratings
Instrumental rating: 4.0/5.0
Lyrical rating: 4.2/5.0
Composite rating: 4.1/5.0
This would be almost a perfect album if it was trimmed of some fat, but as it is it's excellent and contains several classic tracks. It's definitely among Tech's best work, and although I don't wish the pain he's suffering on him, it produced some excellent music.