Tek-9 - Wake Up Dead Nigga - 1992

There are plenty of mysteries in the 90s hip-hop world...a lot of unreleased material, unknown groups, unreleased demos or unknown MCs... TEK-9 from Queens, NY is one of them. All I know about this artist is that he was a member of the group 4 Deep, who released an excellent EP in 1992 on the Goldfinger Records label, and he also released a six-track tape titled "Wake Up Dead Nigga" in 1992 on that same label.

This is the one we're going to talk about now. The tracks included on this cassette are "Difficult Dialect", "Murder-ah", "Blunt Music" featuring 2 other rappers called Buddah Bless and D. Grimm, "Wake Up Dead Nigga"(Original & Alternative version) featuring Onyx. All productions were handled by Chylow Parker a.k.a Chyskillz (RIP), who was also a member of 4 Deep, before becoming affiliated with Onyx. 

Fredro Starr - Chyskillz (RIP) - Suave - Big DS (RIP) & Sticky Fingaz

I don't know if we can consider Tek-9 as being affiliated with the South Ozone Park-based group but it certainly looks that way. We can consider the track "Wake Up Dead Nigga" as, in a way, the original version of "Throw Ya Gunz" released by Onyx the same year, which is the first single from their debut album "Bacdafucup" entirely produced by Chyskillz. 

Another question came up when my man Tim Burton sent me this Rap Sheet magazine review from December 1993, which mentioned that the single "Murder Ah" was released on the Phat Wax Records label. The track "Blunt Music" and an unknown track titled "Kill The Master" also appear on this release.

By looking a bit further, we found a magazine ad about this single on that label, including another unknown track titled "Niggaz Can't F*#% With This".

No doubt that it was planned, but we don't know if it ever really came out... As for me, I've never seen it with my own eyes. Maybe someone out there has ? 

After that, Tek-9 released "The Beyond" in 1994 with D. Grimm & Buddah Bless on Goldfinger Records, and then vanished from the NYC hip-hop scene, with no further releases or guest appearances. As for the "Wake Up Dead Nigga" cassette, I believe very few copies were ever made, so if you ever come across one, don't hesitate for a second. 

Mad Props to Hakan Dougpark for the tape rip & Tim Burton for the magazine review. Peace