Tech N9ne

"We'll make you bounce without permission," promises Tech N9neon a track from the new Everready (The Religion). While we typically require a public hearing (or at least a contract) before granting people the right to make us bounce, we'll make an exception for Tech. He's Kansas City's most talented rapper, and this new album sees him balancing his signature gangsta flow with party-starting rhymes that would make Digital Underground jealous (seriously). Tech N9ne holds it down for KC, of course, but he also incorporates Dirty South crunk beats, the fierce intellectualism of NYC underground rap, the hyphy sound — even the near-uncategorizable whimsy of auteur MCs like MF Doom. There's no reason why he shouldn't be just as famous as, say, fellow Missourian Nelly, but Tech doesn't seem bitter in the least. (And with sweet deals — like providing much of the soundtrack for the recent feature film Alpha Dog —there's no reason why he should be.) Bring your smarts, your sense of humor and your booty to Pop's. Tech N9ne requires and rewards all three.