Making his own flow

AARON YATES is obsessed with the number nine. Not only does the Kansas City, Mo. native rap under the name Tech Nine (spelled Tech N9ne), but Yates has had nearly that many record deals since the early 1990s, when he signed his first failed contract with Perspective/A&M; Records. Now the 35-year-old is having his revenge: regularly selling more than 100,000 copies every time he drops a new CD via the independent label he co-owns, Strange Music.

“I’ve been through so many dark alleys with the majors I can’t even tell you,” Yates says with a sigh at Canter’s Deli on Fairfax Avenue between bites of a patty melt. “Every time, they’d try to hook me up with producers who didn’t know what they were doing.”

Yates would rather talk about the present. “I’m a road dog, man,” he says. At the beginning of a 44-city tour (his show tonight at the Henry Fonda is sold out), the rapper is most comfortable in a bus between cities. “Touring is my habitat -- it’s what I do.” No kidding. Tech N9ne played just under 200 shows last year in support of his 2006 release, “Everready,” and has played from Casper, Wyo., to Denmark -- with virtually no help from outlets like BET or urban radio.

And although the self-proclaimed “Kansas City King” may never get respect from the New York hip-hop intelligentsia (he has been accused of lazy rhyming and cartoonish raps), he couldn’t care less.

“People can say whatever they want, man,” he says. “But they cannot deny the flow. I dare anyone to challenge me. I’m not a battle rapper or anything, but I can hang, baby.”

Like fellow Midwestern rapper Twista, Yates’ fans love him for his rapid-fire delivery. Songs like “Midwest Choppers,” from his forthcoming full-length “Misery Loves Company” (due Tuesday), showcase Yates’ formidable delivery. The track is relentlessly fast -- featuring Yates’ crisp, staccato style and a hypnotic, hymn-like chorus that Bone Thugs-N-Harmony would kill for.

“Midwest Choppers,” unfortunately, is also an anomaly on Yates’ new disc. The rest of the set, filled with collaborations between Yates and other up-and-coming Kansas City rappers, is largely a hit-and-miss affair, with pulsing, gritty Memphis-style beats straight out of “Hustle & Flow.”

Last year’s aggressive “Everready” is a more interesting collection. Songs like the drinking anthem “Caribou Lou” and the Rick Rock-produced “Jellysickle” (featuring E-40) bubble with intensity. The album’s opener, a guitar-centric track called “Riotmaker,” could almost be a 311 song. “Everready” is the soundtrack to countless high school parties in the suburbs of cities like Seattle, Denver and Salt Lake City.

Yates, a former Blood (whose father has been with the Los Angeles Police Department since 1989 and is a sergeant), seems conflicted about his success in the largely white suburban Midwest and West. “My music is for everybody,” he says. Still, Yates clearly wishes he had more support at urban radio and a few more African American fans at shows. He even addresses the topic on a cut from “Misery Loves Company” titled “Message to the Black Man.” On the earnest track, Yates laments that “you’re supposed to be my people / but my people ain’t something that I see / cuz ain’t enough of you at my shows.”

Yates attributes his lack of fans in the black community to his style of dress (Yates used to dye his hair red). “Whenever something’s different, you’re always going to have someone hating. The imagery scares my folks -- black folks. But I’m just expressing my spirituality, you know what I’m sizzlin’?”

Yates has since ditched the killer clown get-up, but he seems to be courting even more white fans via his current tour with Orange County’s weed-worshiping Kottonmouth Kings. Dubbed the “Strange Noize” tour, the co-headlining jaunt is not going to win him many fans at urban radio. But that could change fast: Platinum-selling Bay Area rapper E-40 has reached out to Yates to ask if Tech N9ne can guest on his forthcoming disc -- exposing Yates to a young urban audience.

Salt Lake City hip-hop station KUUU’s urban music director, Kevin Cruise, says Yates is on the verge of breaking nationwide, noting that requests for the rapper have been near constant since they added his music. “Once artists get to a certain stature, they have nothing to talk about,” he says. “Tech always has something to talk about. He has a real appeal with our younger audience.”

Although KUUU is a far cry from influential urban stations like L.A.’s Power 106, Yates seems happy with his slow ascension via the indie route. “I’m married to my fans,” he says. And if that means another show in Bend, Ore., Yates is all in.

charlie.amter@latimes.com

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Tech N9ne

What: “Strange Noize” tour, featuring Kottonmouth Kings, Tech N9ne and others

Where: Henry Fonda Theater, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

When: 8 tonight

Price: $24 (sold out)

Info: (323) 464-0808; henryfondatheater.com

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Also

Where: Grove of Anaheim, 2200 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Price: $25

Info: (714) 712-2700