[7] His father Carlton Cook was estranged from the family and his mother suffered from epilepsy and lupus when he was a child, which emotionally affected him and inspired him to "search for God".

[11] Yates appeared on the song "The Anthem" by Sway & King Tech in 1999, which also featured artists RZA, Eminem, Xzibit, Pharoahe Monch, Jayo Felony, Chino XL, KRS-One, and Kool G. Rap.

Later that year, he and business partner Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music.

In 2011, Yates told 411mania.com that after All 6's And 7's he planned on releasing his fourth album in the Collabos series titled Welcome to Strangeland, featuring guest appearances from everyone on Strange Music, followed by the long-awaited K.A.B.O.S.H.

[24] Tech N9ne is featured on Lil Wayne's ninth studio album Tha Carter IV on the song "Interlude".

During a radio interview with Funkmaster Flex in August 2010, Wayne stated that he and Tech N9ne formed a "brotherhood" when Yates visited him in jail.

[25] In a later interview, Tech N9ne claimed that he thinks the song will "awaken a lot of other people that wouldn't usually look [his] way" and "teach all the new fans how to become technicians".

The album, which is broken up into three portions — Earth, Water & Fire, features guest appearances from B.o.B, Big K.R.I.T., Cee Lo Green, the Doors, Game, Kendrick Lamar, Serj Tankian, T-Pain, Trae tha Truth, Snow Tha Product, and Wiz Khalifa, among others including several artists from Tech N9ne's Strange Music imprint.

Tech N9ne announced a new "Independent Grind" tour in January 2014, which included Freddie Gibbs, Krizz Kaliko, and Jarren Benton.

The album features guest appearances from Corey Taylor, B.o.B, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, T.I., Kottonmouth Kings, Hopsin, Captain Chronic, E-40, Yo Gotti, Audio Push and Eminem along with fellow Strange Music artists Krizz Kaliko, Big Scoob and Ces Cru.

The album features the entire roster of Strange Music at the time along with JL, Ryan Bradley, and Tyler Lyon.

On January 11, 2016, Tech released a remix of Marilyn Manson's song "The Beautiful People" for Dr. Dre's The Pharmacy on Beats 1 radio.

[37] The same month, Tech announced on radio station GoMN plans to release his next solo album, Planet, in 2018.

The album features guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Mumu Fresh, Snow Tha Product, Russ, E-40, X-Raided, as well as wrestler turned actor Dwayne Johnson.

[43] Tech N9ne features on fellow Kansas City area musician Samantha Fish's 2021 album Faster, rapping on the song "Loud".

[46] The album contains guest appearances from Conway the Machine, Joyner Lucas, X-Raided, Kim Dracula, RMR, Qveen Herby and Durand Bernarr.

On May 7, 2024, Yates was unveiled as featured artist on the Falling in Reverse track “Ronald” from their 2024 album Popular Monster.

[47] Yates will also be supporting the group on their Popular MonsTOUR II: World Domination tour, in Europe and North America.

Yates is known for his dynamic rhyme schemes[citation needed] and speed rap abilities known as the Chopper style.

[9] Baker characterizes Yates' earlier work as "apocalyptic music, which discussed abortion and infidelity as much as his rapping prowess".

Yates says that he is influenced by old school hip hop, and specifically cites N.W.A, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B.

[19] He is also interested in other genres of music, and lists The Doors, Jim Morrison, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, AC/DC, Metallica, Floetry, Outkast, CeeLo Green, and Gnarls Barkley as influences.

[19] Although Tech N9ne mostly collaborates with rappers from his record label Strange Music such as Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Calhoun, Big Scoob, Brotha Lynch Hung, and Stevie Stone as well as underground rappers from his hometown Kansas City, he has also worked with known rappers such as E-40, Ice Cube, Three 6 Mafia, Lil Wayne, Twista, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Machine Gun Kelly, Yelawolf, Scarface, Yo Gotti, T-Pain, Wiz Khalifa, Paul Wall, B.o.B, André 3000, T.I., and 2 Chainz.

Tech N9ne has also worked with rock and metal musicians such as Serj Tankian of System of a Down, Corey Taylor of Slipknot, Chino Moreno and Stephen Carpenter of Deftones, Jonathan Davis of Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, and Falling in Reverse.

Yates' songs have appeared in the films Born 2 Race, Gang Related, Alpha Dog, Our Heroes: The 25 Best Black Sports Movies (Ever), and The Life of Lucky Cucumber.

[50][51][52] Yates was originally set to score the entire film Alpha Dog, but the studio decided to replace some of his music with more commercially known songs.

[60] Several of Yates' songs are featured in the video games Madden NFL 2006, The Crew, EA Sports MMA, 25 To Life, WWE 2K18, EA Sports UFC 3, and Midnight Club: Los Angeles, in the latter of which Yates is an unlockable character.

[62] Yates' music has appeared on the television shows Dark Angel, I'm From Rolling Stone, My Super Sweet 16, The Hills, Spike Guys' Choice Awards, and Warren The Ape.

In May 2015, "Give It All" from the album Special Effects was used during Inside the NBA's "Tip-Off" for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

[68] In May 2018, it was announced that Yates had teamed with Boulevard Brewing Company, a brewery based in his hometown of Kansas City, to create a new beer.