"The next album will be called The Storm," he says. "I just got the idea in my sleep like two weeks ago. I'm going to go for Gary Clark Jr., Lana Del Rey, Alanis Morissette, Jay Z, Collie Buddz. It might not have as many features as Special Effects, but I'll still be trying to elevate. The next thing you know, I'll be working with Rick Rubin, Trent Reznor, Madlib� I just want to do music with people that love music with no boundaries."

A Tech N9ne/Lana Del Rey collaboration? "I love her voice and her topics. Sometimes her voice can sound really dark," he raves about the "Summertime Sadness" singer. "I want to get her on something really dark and creepy, but nice at the same time. That duality of dark and light. I love what she does and I'm a fan. I got turned on to her by some Mormons in Salt Lake City, Utah, some years back, who gave me one of her CDs. Those Mormons really knew what they were talking about."

Breaking boundaries has been a priority over the course of Tech N9ne's storied career, which has found the Kansas City native building a fully independent empire with his Strange Music label, growing to the point that he was cited last year by Forbes as "Hip-Hop's Secret Mogul."