Tech N9ne

About

Aaron Dontez Yates (born November 8, 1971), better known by his stage name Tech N9ne (pronounced “tech nine”), is an American rapper, songwriter, and singer. In 1999, he and business partner Travis O’Guin founded the record label Strange Music. He has sold over two million albums and his music has been featured in film, television, and interactive media. In 2009, he won the Left Field Woodie Award broadcast on mtvU.
His stage name originated from the TEC-9 semi-automatic handgun, a name given to him by rapper Black Walt due to his fast-rhyming chopper style. Yates later applied a deeper meaning to the name, stating that it stands for the complete technique of rhyme, with “tech” meaning technique and “nine” representing the number of completion.

Yates was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He began rapping at a very early age, and would rap the letters of his name in order to remember how to spell it. His father Carlton Cook was estranged from the family and his mother suffered from epilepsy and lupus when he was a child, which emotionally affected him and inspired him to “search for God”. He would explore abandoned buildings with his best friend, hoping to catch…