F(T)I-ght the Power

If I can’t change the people around me, Chuck D once rapped, I change the people around me. In a large-scale twist on the Public Enemy leader’s line, Tech N9ne decided that if he couldn’t draw a big-enough audience to revolutionize the rap game, he needed to overhaul the system. So he launched the Fuck the Industry (or, as it appears in The Kansas City Star, Free the Industry) campaign, which attacks the major-label structure. It’s a miraculously straightforward process — one obviously anathema to city leaders, who either ignore pressing problems or delay action with surveys — that involves setting a goal, identifying obstacles and eliminating them. If Tech’s team could take charge of downtown redevelopment, he’d probably perform in a tony arena and throw out the first pitch at a Royals game down the street before the end of 2004.

First, though, Tech has a corrupt industry to upend. In a series of stark, effective commercials on MTV, Comedy Central and Fox Sports, Tech delivers the opening bars to “Industry Is Punks,” his salvo against radio and his former labels. As phrases such as “The music industry is not your friend” flash across the screen, Tech, FTI scrawled across his forehead in white face paint, urges viewers to visit his Web site (therealtechn9ne.com) and download his entire record for free. “That’s power — absolute power,” he says before slamming down the mic and storms off the set.

Tech tried to play nice. After being burned by three major-affiliated labels in the past, he created his own imprint, Strange/MSC, with manager Travis O’Guin and former Priority Records heads Mark Cerami and Dave Weiner. He kept pursuing regular routes as well, using independent promoters to secure spins for “Slacker,” his poppiest tune yet. But even though the track was radio-friendly, the airwaves didn’t return the affection. Tech became increasingly frustrated watching majors monopolize the payola-driven system. In an October conference call, the Strange/MSC partners discussed radical action.

“I said, why don’t we make a statement about the industry? Go to New York, and in the middle of a live-taping of TRL, we could have a few hundred kids jump out of the back of box trucks with ‘Fuck the Industry’ on their T-shirts,” O’Guin recalls. Cerami, no stranger to controversial “Fuck the … ” outbursts (he green-lit N.W.A.‘s “Fuck the Police”), agreed with the sentiments, but the group eventually decided to protest using MTV as a forum rather than a target.

Still in its early stages, FTI has kicked up plenty of dust. On December 10, MTV News picked up the story during six of its hourly updates, airing the entire commercial each time and thus providing Tech with more than $100,000 in free advertising. Entertainment publications and Web pages (seizing on Tech’s pro-download stance) have applauded his actions. A number of other artists known for raging against the machine have contacted FTI headquarters volunteering their own time and voices, and eventually they’ll get their shots. For now, though, Strange/MSC wants only Tech’s name and face associated with the movement.

“We want to make sure the spotlight is placed right,” O’Guin says. “If some of these big-name people jump on board at this point, Tech might get lost in the shuffle.”

Capitalizing on a fan-minded platform, Tech takes off on an FTI tour in February. Even if record-industry talking heads were right about file sharing — that free downloads kill an album’s retail potential — Tech’s gesture should ensure large, grateful crowds. In addition to showcasing his superhuman flow, they connect him ideologically with indie rockers and punks who subscribe to his anti-authority views. People — and there are a lot of them — who feel they’re finally hearing someone publicly express what they’ve been thinking for years are likely to show up at the concerts and turn them into rallies.

Besides, the label execs are wrong as usual. “The first week, there were 50,000 downloads,” O’Guin says. “Record sales also went up, and they’ve continued to climb.”

As the album’s sales become more impressive and Tech’s views generate more publicity, “Slacker” and other Absolute Power cuts might earn additional radio consideration. It’s possible these tunes might work their way into the exclusive heavy-rotation club, a token merit selection rubbing elbows with the unworthies that bought their way through the door.

“If they play us and we didn’t pay, we’ve won,” he explains. And if Tech emerges victorious from this epic battle, independent musicians everywhere will share the spoils.