Hollywood Undead at the Rust Belt -- October 19.
Thursday, October 19, 7 p.m.
The Rust Belt, 533 12th Avenue, East Moline IL
A night of electrifying hip-hop, rap, and rock is assured at The Rust Belt on October 19 when the East Moline venue hosts the national thrill of the “Hollywood & N9ne Tour,” a co-headlining showcase for the chart-topping ensemble Hollywood Undead and acclaimed Billboard sensation (and previous Rust Belt headliner) Tech N9ne.
Owing much of their popularity and exposure to MySpace, Hollywood Undead started as the musical project of J-Dog and Tha Producer in June of 2005. They uploaded new music to their profile and very quickly started amassing song plays and online friends with tracks about drinking, sex, and emo kids. The outfit grew to include six members: J-Dog and Tha Producer alongside Charlie Scene, Johnny 3 Tears (formerly called the Server), Funny Man, and Da Kurlzz. As the band’s online profile steadily increased, MySpace's Tom Anderson featured Hollywood Undead’s song “No. 5” on the site's first compilation album, and made the group the first act signed to MySpace's new record label. Hollywood Undead's Swan Songs appeared in 2008, and a year later, an album of B-sides, live tracks, and covers titled Desperate Measures debuted. The rockers and hip-hop artists followed those released with the sophomore album American Tragedy in 2011, and the album debuted in the top five of the Billboard 200.
In 2013, Hollywood Undead released their third studio album Notes from the Underground, which proved to be their highest-charting outing to date, landing at the number-two spot on the Billboard 200 and soaring to number one on the Canadian albums chart. Hollywood Undead's hotly anticipated fourth studio album, Day of the Dead, arrived in 2015, while the band returned to the studio in late 2016 to record fifth studio album Five. Two years later, the band's sixth album New Empire, Vol. 1 was a deliberate attempt to change their sound, delivering a heavier sound than before, and one with more electronic elements. Its like-minded sequel, New Empire, Vol. 2., arrived in 2020, and last year, Hollywood Undead issued their eighth full-length effort, the earworm-friendly Hotel Kalifornia.
Born Aaron Dontez Yates, Tech N9ne and his business partner Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music in 1999, and to date, he has sold more than two million albums and has had his music featured in film, television, and video games. Following his 1999 debut The Calm Before the Storm and 2000's The Worst, Tech N9ne released the studio album Anghellic on JCOR Records in 2001, and after disputes arose about the promotion of the album, he and his label severed ties with the JCOR with a deal that allowed them to retain the rights to the album. The next year, he released Absolute Power under a 50–50 joint venture between Strange Music and M.S.C. Music & Entertainment, and after debuting at number 79 on the Billboard 200, the album's sales are said to have tripled following a campaign that went by the name of "F.T.I." In it, music listeners were asked to legally download the album free through the artist's own Web site in response to the anti-downloading campaign by the RIAA.
Since then, Tech N9ne has released nearly 20 additional albums, four of which (2011's All 6's & 7's, 2013's Something Else, 2014's Strangeulation, and 2015's Special Effects) made the top five on the Billboard 200. Several other albums landed on the Billboard Top 20, among them 2009's K.O.D., 2010's The Gates Mixed Plate, 2016's The Storm, and 2018's Planet, and numerous mainstream artists have appeared on his albums, including Ice Cube, Three 6 Mafia, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne, CeeLo Green, T.I., and Corey Taylor of Slipknot. Tech N9ne's performance style, meanwhile, is revered for his dynamic rhyme schemes and speed-rap abilities, with Soren Baker of VH1 stating that the artist's techniques "showcase his wide-ranging, mind-blowing flows.”
Hollywood Undead and Tech N9ne bring their “Hollywood & N9ne Tour” to East Moline on October 19, admission to the 7 p.m. concert event is $59.99-233.99, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRustBeltQC.com.
