Moving on to some analysis of The 3rd World, he addresses what some may mean when they say his sound has matured. “I’m not 21 years old anymore. I’m a grown man. I wrote The 3rd World when I was 28, and when I turned 29 we were moving into release. When those stages of development began, I learned that artists in general, whether they like to admit it or not, are sensitive people. They must be inspired and sensitive to the world in order to create. A lot of rappers have difficulty taking criticism. Me? I used to get pissed back in the day. I felt bad once because somebody was reviewing something for me and really thought I was a joke or something. They were like, ‘He’s smart - he must be one of these backpack niggas’. I found this muthafucka, and was like ‘What the fuck did you say about me? I’ll fuck you up right now!’ This nigga was so taken aback, and was all ‘I don’t want trouble’…straight bitched up. Then I realized later how ridiculous that was. And how even the people reading this that will post, ‘I woulda stepped to you Technique’… [shakes his head] You missed the point. And you would’ve got fucked up. These days? I’d probably just laugh you off. I have too much stuff to do. Some people will always have criticisms. And I’ll be honest - the majority of my critics were never my fans in the first place. But in other terms of maturing? My voice got deeper. I do 150 shows a year, so I have some rasp to my voice.” To help this, Tech just started going to a vocal coach in order to perfect his flow and repair the damage and raspy tone that the touring has caused.

Regardless, when it comes to Technique, it’s not necessarily the scratchiness of his voice but often what he’s actually saying that may end up touching a listener’s nerve. For instance, the line from “Lick Shots” that goes, “marry a Muslim girl and fuck her five times a day, every time right before we shower and pray.” “I’m respectful of people’s religions and cultures. Especially of Islam since it has a major role in Hip Hop’s foundation. I believe it’s something the roots of hip hop are based in. I checked with a lot of my Muslim brothers before I ever put that out. What I got back was that it might lift some eyebrows, but any true Muslim or anybody that understands the culture of Hip Hop, will look at it and say, ‘He said he’ll marry her.' That already negates anything you could say about that. That doesn’t mean I’m going to be at the club the next day drinking and smoking, making excuses about it, like a lot of y’all Muslim niggas do. I’m not going to go to prostitutes like a lot of y’all brothers…I’m not going to blow y’all up, but some of y’all that frequent whore houses on the low and then talk about righteousness? Don’t fuck with me, homie. I’m the KGB of Hip Hop. I know what you niggas do. It’s safe to say that nobody will be able to marginalize me off of one line. If anything, all they’re doing is marginalizing themselves. That particular track is loved in the hood. What’s funny is that for the first time, the fan base I had in schools and stuff almost seems threatened that people in the hood like me. I’m sorry, yo. People from the hood bought Vol. 1 before anybody else did.”

And a lot of people, whether from the hood or suburbia, recognize Tech for “Dance with the Devil” [click to read] and possibly not much else. “A lot of people definitely know me for that and say, ‘Are you that guy that made that fucked up song?’ But 10 years from now while someone is coming up to me saying that, someone will go up to another rapper and say, ‘Are you that guy that made the song about niggas and lollipops and shit?’ No disrespect, but I’d rather be known for making a song about something I can defend ideologically.”

“Sometimes genuine critics of mine want to prove their own revolutionary worth by proving they’re 'a better revolutionary than Immortal Technique,' and if that’s what your goal is? I hope you achieve it. I really do. Because if there’s a rapper or activist that does more than I do? Wow. We need more people like that in Hip Hop and the world in general. People that will dedicate their lives to this. Because I’ll live and die doing it.” And to think, this is coming from the same man who said, “If someone told me in school when I was runnin’ around robbing, stealing, and acting crazy, ‘Hey, one of these days you’ll end up being a rapper, then President of your label, an orphanage fundraiser, and then a farmer’? I’d have thought they were fuckin’ crazy.”