Monday, November 28, 2011

The Almighty Tanya Morgan: You & What Army

Tanya Morgan hold a special place in my heart as the group that reignited my love of hip-hop music after years of apathy.

I think it was 2006 when their album Moonlighting was heralded by that evil Bachmann basher, Questlove, as one of his year-end favorites. That co-sign was enough for me to take a listen and what I heard instantly connected with me. Von Pea, Donwill and Ilyas were smart, funny and funky... just like me. What!

Five years, a slew of Tanya Morgan and solo albums and EPs later, they're still trying to carve out a spot for themselves in the music industry, but their art hasn't suffered in the struggle. They continue to grow artistically, even if they're shrinking in number. Ilyas has left group -- a fact that is played out in a really clever (and pretty damn heatbreaking) skit in the intro to "You & What Army?"

It won't be the same without him, but it doesn't have to be. Von Pea and Donwill are two creative cats and they're moving forward with more high quality hip-hop. No, no. Don't believe me. Listen to it yourself. It's free, Emmer Effer:


Like it? Go to their bandcamp page and buy a T-shirt. I'm putting one on my Christmas list.

"That's a bunch of bull, like Jordan in a steakhouse."
-- Donwill

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