Album Review: Tech N9ne's "5816 Forest"
Nina narrates with nostalgia on this autobiographical triumph
Editor’s note: Just like my last Tech N9ne review, this piece will feature several inside jokes in my 20+ year friendship with my homie Hockey Drew. It’s general enough that anyone can enjoy the review, but if you know, you know, and you’ll bust a gut. Except that, Drew and I are the only ones who know, you know?
Rap has been more than a young man’s game for years. In the past six summers, MCs like Nas, J. Cole, Killer Mike and Eminem have released music that’s not only elite but has also dominated the conversation.
While the 53-year-old Tech N9ne doesn’t quite move the needle like that, the biggest independent rapper of all time still matters to his widespread core fanbase and hip-hop heads.
For the past three summers, Tech has dropped albums worthy of repeat spins. His latest is the autobiographical 5816 Forest, so named for the house he lived in during his adolescence. The album is a versatile, heartfelt testament to the experiences that led to one of rap’s most fascinating success stories.
Right from the jump, we get the notion that this runs deeper than a rags-to-riches narrative. Papa Tech hops on the phone for storytime with his kids, fielding questions from them about his formative years. These well-placed interludes set and maintain a personal tone that exhibits the album’s strongest aspect: Relatability.
Who can’t relate to the lyrics on “This I Know” about being on pins and needles over a phone call home from a teacher?
“‘Cause was hovering as the teachers gonna make that follow up call,’ Tech recounts, “To the house and rat us out, why they gotta bust balls?”
Moments like this not only inspire empathy, but also cause listeners to step back in time to their own teen years. Especially if your grades slipped because you were busy being no-account fools in the eighth grade.
Tech connects not only with what he says, but how he says it. Lightspeed flows often don’t suit storytelling, but Tech is able to stay sharper than John the Barber’s clippers while setting a nostalgic scene on “Excited”:
“Glad, 58th and Tracy, that’s where the party’s at/Yates be hasty, go for the kiss, I’m thinkin’ it may be tasty/I froze up, she embraced me greatly.”
Though the song’s story has a downbeat ending, Tech’s rhymes are backed by jaunty strings and a buoyant vibe, the kind of joint that makes you want to say, “oh-oh, oh-oh oh-oh, oh.”
While Tech has here and there done “upbeat” music - the way a certain 14-year-old kid described every single song in Mr. Anderson’s general music class - it’s still a nice surprise, word to Chef’s chili.
Of course, Tech stays in the pocket with the dark, ominous beats on which he built his career, such as on the slow-rolling head-nodder, “Fridee Da Sundee (Triality).”
The way Nina packs so much information about his multifaceted come-up on the song’s drawn-out, catchy hook betrays both his masterful pen and melodic sense.
On the other hand, saying “b-i-r-t-h” repeatedly on “The Birth (Remix)” is uncool like Scott Tenorman. Two tracks later, a middling Lil Wayne hook on “Yoda” falls flat in between superior Tech verses.
Tech is out here like Yoda lifting X-Wings out of swamps with his mind, while Wayne is whining like Luke Skywalker about how it’s impossible.
The most cringe-worthy hook comes on “No Rub,” which, while admirable for its positive message about safe sex, is almost as uncomfortable as sitting next to Grima Wormtongue.
Moments like these are sparing and do little to detract from the album’s overall excellence. Tech is engaging throughout, whether he’s proving one can rap about literally anything when recalling his first job on “Fish Captain,” or humbly shouting out inspirations and supporters on “Lola” and “Black Walt Street (The New Breed).”
But the most emotionally resonant moments come on “Sacrifice” and “This I Know.” On the former, Tech paints a picture of a moment that evolved his artistry:
“At home in my room I’m distant/But my stepdaddy was persistent/Saying I should change my mission ‘cause, ‘Out of all these rappers what makes you different?’”
Poignant bars like these conjure visual images of Tech’s lyrics and give 5816 Forest a cinematic feel.
It all culminates on the album-closing “This I Know,” as soulful vocals and wistful horns back Tech’s daring choice to leave home to pursue his dreams:
“No more in chains trapped, I never came back/Love from my family, nothing will ever change that/Got to go ‘cause this I know I’m chasing money, fame, rap.”
It’s long been known that Tech’s risk led to a triumphant payoff. On 5816 Forest, Aaron Yates pulls back the curtain on his life for a well-earned moment of introspection that enriches his bond with his devoted fans.