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Tech N9ne can't lay claim to being the biggest name in rap, but he just might be the most hard-working and ambitious.

He's hardly unique in the hip-hop world in professing "world domination" as his ultimate goal, but he is inarguably putting in the effort trying to get there. Meanwhile, Tech N9ne (yes, it's pronounced "Nine") actually is unique for the sheer audacity of his prolific and breakneck touring schedule (68 shows in 74 days right now; averaging 200 shows a year for five years), for his all-time favorite musical act (The Doors), his wide-ranging bucket list of future collaborations (Jay-Z and Nas, of course, but also Metallica, Elton John and Billy Joel), and even for going so far as to ban his tour- and label-mates from bringing or smoking weed on the buses or in their hotel rooms for fear of arrests jeopardizing shows.

Nothing stops the machine from rolling on, and so nothing will stand in the way of his coming to Utah on April 6 to entertain us, he assured in a phone call from a tour stop in South Dakota.

"It's really humongous when it comes to hip-hop in Salt Lake City. You think Comic-Con is big there, when Tech N9ne comes there — I've sold out Saltair so many times! But this time, I think we're at The Complex, if I'm not mistaken, and we pack it all the time," he bragged with equal parts enthusiasm and appreciation. "Salt Lake has so much love for me, for so many years — over a decade now. I'm always looking forward to coming there so we can enjoy all the fans we have there, all the Technicians, and enjoy some Rodizio Grill Brazilian food."

He's also enjoying the fruits of his many, many labors.

After failing to gain much traction with established labels early in his career, Tech N9ne (aka Aaron Yates) formed a business partnership with furniture and streetwear impresario Travis O'Guin and in 1999 co-founded their own label, Strange Music, named in honor of Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek & Co.

He also got to work honing his style, eventually establishing a sound that was unique and hard-hitting, one born from "my family being so eccentric and eclectic when it comes to music" and also from his hometown of Kansas City, Mo., being "right dab in the middle of the heartland" and thus being exposed to hip-hop originating "from every direction."

"All that equals musical overload," he said, "and musical overload, to me, sounds like, 'Followmeallaroundtheplanetillrunthegamutonpsychologytheycouldnevermanagemedodamagewithnoapology.'

"You know what I'm saying? It's just so many words in one sentence. Musical overload, man."

Actually, being totally honest — no idea what you just said there.

"It's just simple," he said, repeating and painstakingly enunciating what turn out to be lines from his 2012 track "Worldwide Choppers."

"It's, 'Follow me all around the planet/I'll run the gamut on psychology/They could never manage me/Do damage with no apology.' That's what I said."

Ohhhhhhhhh … got it now.

Apparently enough paying customers got it too that Strange Music has begun to flourish, with Tech N9ne, donning his A&R hat, signing a roster full of artists, issuing a "Collabos" album series featuring them performing alongside him (next up: "Dominion," due April 7), and then bringing them out on the road with him. This Strictly Strange Tour features Strange Music's Brotha Lynch Hung, Krizz Kaliko, Stevie Stone and Ces Cru.

Their western swing alone features such apparent hip-hop hotbeds as Davenport, Iowa, Sioux Falls, S.D., and Billings, Mont.

But it's all very necessary, Tech N9ne explained, in this era of diminishing album sales and given that he's not (yet) a household name to all.

"Because it's not on the radio every second or on television ever, we have to stay in the limelight, we have to stay relevant. Like OutKast said, you're only as funky as your last cut," he said. "We can't, we can't, we can't let anybody rest, because there are new musicians coming out every day, and people's attention spans are short. So we try to stay in their minds and their hearts and their lives through music … and touring … and merchandise."

And, of course, by being "top quality" in all facets along the way.

"Everything we do is done to the best of our ability. That's the first thing you have to have — the best product that you can have. Top-quality music, top-quality merchandise, top-quality performance, top-quality business dealings. Everything is top quality, man. And people wanna be involved with those that do business directly, that does music wonderfully," he said. "Over the years, all these people know that we have quality everything. It starts with quality, and that's why we're still on the incline and gaining more fans. We're not complacent, we still feel that we have the rest of the world to infect with this beautiful music and this whole Strange Music thing."

Now 45 years old, Tech N9ne could be content to not tour so relentlessly himself, to sit back and watch from afar as his burgeoning business interests continue to grow.

But, like rapping slowly, that's not his style.

"I'm not done yet, man! I haven't even given a thought to quitting," he said. "I'm staying touring. I still have a lot of places I haven't tread on this Earth. I haven't been to Japan yet, I haven't been to Brazil, I haven't been to China, I haven't been to Africa — I haven't been a lot of places, man. We have to go, man, we gotta go! I'm just getting younger by the day. I plan on going as long as I can until we reach world domination."

If you doubt he can do it, just go and see him. Chances are, he's planning to be wherever you are anyway.

ewalden@sltrib.com

Twitter: @esotericwalden —

Strictly Strange Tour featuring Brotha Lynch Hung, Krizz Kaliko, Stevie Stone, Ces Cru and local support Andrew Boss

When • Thursday night, April 6, doors at 7

Where • The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $34 advance, $39 day of; Smith's Tix