Album Review: Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati (2009)
Posted on May 13th, 2009 by seandammit in Album Reviews, tags: brooklynati, tanya morgan
Album Review: Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati (2009)
Rating: 4 out of 5 Potholes
It’s possible you may have missed the city of Brooklynati the last time you glanced at Googlemaps, but those who have been paying attention to the music of hip hop trio Tanya Morgan since their inception in 2003 probably have a good grasp on what the score is. Their third official release, Brooklynati represents a step forward for group members Von Pea, Donwill, and Illyas; it’s their most endearing and focused effort yet, weaving together a creative collection of breezy songs into a concept album that’s as much about a fictional city as it is their collective state-of-mind.
Part of the group’s appeal has always been the loose approach that they bring to their music. Those looking for a pristine mix and club-ready soundscapes need not pass through Brooklynati. Similarly, the members’ mic skills are devoid of the typical accoutrements of 2009 like ‘swag’ and the adoption of some crazy exaggerated cartoon personality type. What we’ve got here is regular dude rap – not that there’s anything wrong with that.
With that lack of overblown pizzazz comes the true appeal of Tanya Morgan – genuine personality. It turns out there can be a happy medium somewhere between overblown caricature and snooze-inducing emcee, and these guys know that’s their ace in the hole. Whether it’s tales of humility amidst the absurdity of the rap game (“So Damn Down,” “Don’t U Holla”) to reflections on what this hip hop thing is all about (“Plan B” and the Phonte-assisted “Without U”), all three emcees possess a fun chemistry that keeps the entire album interesting.
In an age when ‘keeping it real’ has become a punchline to a played-out joke, Tanya Morgan wins by effortlessly injecting authenticity into their music – and that’s real.
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Why is the font different? Good review. This album could easily be expounded upon much much much more though. Good production, lyrics, and I was hoping for a drop about “Hardcore Gentlemen” which is probably the funniest tribute to 90s hip hop ever.
Constantly bumping “Bang & Boogie” on this one.
@ Objectiv One –> Agreed, sir. “Dope beats, dope rhymes, what more do y’all want?” (c) Phonte
Nice review, sean!
Should also be known that Blu is, as always, the man.
My favourite hip-hop album for 2009, good review. The Blu track is a but underwhelming, but the rest of the LP bangs!
[...] one of the best releases this year in Brooklynati, Tanya Morgan comes strong with their video for the hit single, “So Damn Down”. [...]
[...] not on the original bill, but they came out for about seven minutes to perform some dope cuts from Brooklynati like “So Damn Down” and “Bang N Boogie”. It actually wasn’t even the [...]
[...] on my list is the recently released Brooklynati by Tanya Morgan. Before this album, I never really jumped on the Tanya Morgan bandwagon. Sure, [...]
[...] I feel like they have finally made the breakthrough they deserved with their most recent effort, Brooklynati. And not only was it a fantastic LP, but the marketing scheme behind the album was flawless. If you [...]
I went to a live Tonya Morgan show last night and there were around only 45 people there but Von, Don, & Illyas preformed like they were in front of 5,000 people. They are my new favorite trio. I copped an album on the spot after the show and I even got to shake hands with all three. Real emcees for sure
[...] off our 12 Days of Hip-Hop Giveaway, we have a signed copy of Tanya Morgan’s Brooklynati up for grabs. If you have been under a rock for the past year, you would have still heard about [...]
[...] “[Brooklynati] is their most endearing and focused effort yet, weaving together a creative collection of breezy songs into a concept album that’s as much about a fictional city as it is their collective state-of-mind.” - seandammit [...]