Something Else (2013)

Something Else is the thirteenth studio album by American rapper Tech N9ne. It was released on July 30, 2013, by Strange Music, RBC Records and INgrooves. The album has broken up into three portions – Earth, Water & Fire. Production on the album was handled during 2012 to 2013, primarily by frequent collaborator Seven, among others such as Young Fyre, Drumma Boy, and Fredwreck. The album features guest appearances from B.o.B, Big K.R.I.T., CeeLo Green, The Doors, The Game, Kendrick Lamar, Serj Tankian, T-Pain, Trae tha Truth, and Wiz Khalifa, among others including several artists from Tech N9ne's Strange Music imprint.

Something Else was supported by two singles, "So Dope (They Wanna)" and "Fragile". The album received widespread acclaim from critics. Also faring well commercially, the album sold 58,300 copies in its first week of sale, and debuting at number four on the US Billboard 200.

Background

On February 8, 2013, the album was first announced on the Strange Music blog. During the preview on the Strange Music blog, Tech N9ne spoke about what to expect from the album, saying: The beats sound nothing like anything you've ever heard me on. The features that I'm going for are something you would never imagine. All I can say about it now is that it's a very human album. What I mean by that is that it's contradictory. On one song I say, 'The saint is ours', like we're in the saint's corner and then I have another song called 'I'm Not A Saint'. It's so beautiful because the King, the Clown, and the G are still present on this album. There's [sic] no apologies in what I'm saying. I don't mind that it contradicts itself because that's what people do. The album is everywhere. It feels like it's Hell, Purgatory and Heaven all over again. I'm telling stories that I've never told – that I was afraid to tell on some songs. It's super personal and I've got a big chip on my shoulder again. It's always been there, but it's getting bigger having to prove to fans and critics that we ain't goin' nowhere. In March 2013, during an interview with The Arizona Daily Wildcat, Tech N9ne revealed the album has divided into three separate parts titled Fire, Water and Earth. The "Fire" section is a darker within the themes while the "Earth" section was shorter and has heavenly themes, similar to Tech's earlier album Anghellic. Tracks 2–10 are the Fire part, 11–13 the Water part and 14–24 the Earth section.

Recording and production

During the album's recording process, Tech N9ne worked with several of his Strange Music label mates including Big Scoob, Ces Cru, Krizz Kaliko, ¡Mayday!, Rittz and Stevie Stone. He also worked with various other collaborators, such as B.o.B, Big K.R.I.T., CeeLo Green, The Game, Info Gates, Red Café, Serj Tankian, T-Pain, The Doors and Trae tha Truth. While speaking with The Spokesman-Review about the album, when he has noted for the fact that he has been working with both Citizen Cope and Macklemore, but neither appeared on the album. Tech attempted to get Corey Taylor to record vocals for "Love 2 Dislike Me", however, Corey was unable to commit due to the timing because of personal reasons. Tech has given a consideration of trying to get James Hetfield to appear on the song.

In June 2013, the track listing revealed guest appearances on the album from Krizz Kaliko, Serj Tankian, T-Pain, Big Scoob, Red Café, Trae tha Truth, Liz Suwandi, Tyler Lyon, Kendall Morgan, Kendrick Lamar, ¡Mayday!, Angel Davenport, Game, Snow Tha Product, Twisted Insane, Wrekonize, B.o.B, Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T., CeeLo Green, Kutt Calhoun, Scoop DeVille, Rittz, Stevie Stone, Ces Cru, Danny Brown and The Doors. In April 2013, Tech N9ne spoke on why some artists and collaborations cannot make the cut, saying: "I write music on an impulse; I write it as I feel it. If I was just writing bullshit songs trying to make a hit, yeah, I could give you a song six months in advance. Nigga, I'm doing my album in a month's time. I'm writing it...recording it, going to write another one, really feeling the music for some months and then go in the studio for like a month and a half and do it. Everybody don't work like that."