While Tech N9ne’s Strange Music imprint tends to cast its marketing net far beyond hip hop circles, it's long been admirable how the company uses that foundation to to launch second acts in the careers of the genre's under-appreciated niche legends. They did it last year with Sacramento horrorcore godfather Brotha Lynch Hung and now the second greatest rapper that Baton Rouge has ever produced, Young Bleed, is the first signee to their recently announced Strange Lane subsidiary. Ideologically he falls a little to the left of the Strange standard—his Mafioso approach to fictionalized violence has always seemed more restrained than Strange's unhinged vibe—but his slithered flow and attraction to macabre production make him a good fit sonically. Most importantly the deal brings a built in audience to a huge talent who has been categorically overlooked ever since his debut went Gold on the heels of a No Limit tie-in some 13 years ago.
In addition to the lead single "Holla At Uh Dog," Bleed recently revisited his breakout hit "How Ya Do Dat" with "How Ya Do Dat Again," replacing C-Loc and Master P (or Monstahh, rather) with with Strange World inhabitants Tech and Brotha Lynch Hung. Bleed's sixth LP Preserved drops October 11th.