Tanya morgan - Brooklynati Album Review

As 2008 came to a close, influential & legendary emcee Q-Tip called for a Renaissance. A renaissance is a cultural event; a revival in the world of art. Hip Hop culture and more specifically the art form of rap has been deemed to be in a hopeless state of decline. Amidst all of the new fad/trends/styles/sounds that have emerged recently, there are times when I wish for the Golden Era of Hip Hop to return. The days of Brand Nubian, Digable Planets, and Camp Lo are far behind, but there are times when I hear music from artists that rekindle the feelings I got when I first heard AZ’s Sugar Hill or Black Moon’s I Gotcha Opin Remix. Little Brother’s The Listening album was one, Lupe Fiasco’s Kick Push is another and the most recent album to conjure feelings of the Golden Age is Tanya Morgan’s Brooklynati. You should take a visit!

Great writers have been whisking us away to far away, fictional, semi-Utopian lands (cities) for decades: Never Never Land, Oz, Narnia and now Brooklynati. Not only does Tanya Morgan take you to a city with sucka radio jocks and parks named after great producers, they successfully transport you to an Age of thoughtful and witty, sometimes even playful lyrics, macho posturing, soul samples, meaningful/funny skits and relevant guest appearances that actually augment tracks. Remember these things? They also channel some of your favorite 90s groups throughout the album, reciting and reinterpreting lyrics and even developing clever caricatures (Hardcore Gentleman). The production will also have you reminiscing of a time almost a decade and a half ago; On Don’t U Holla and Just Not True I can hear ‘93 til Infinity-era Souls of Mischief rocking over these joints.

Visiting Broolynati transported me to the time of my early hip hop purchases that I had to hide in my closet so my parents wouldn’t see that I had a cassette that contained explicit lyrics and incited memories of writing down lyrics to be able to spit them in a cipher of peers. I know that I’ve made mention of their ability to evoke memories of early hip hop but Tanya Morgan more than holds it down for the present and beyond (Morgan Blu, So Damn Down, She’s Gone). TM consists of gifted and creative emcees and a list of talented producers who astonishingly have prevented me from looking for or pressing the fast forward button! In addition, Brooklynati has a veritable who’s who of underground VIPs assisting the crew of emcees in keeping your head nodding, feet tapping and fingers snapping. Tanya Morgan are so considerate that they won’t ask you to click your heels to get to Brooklynati, they just ask you to pop in the cassette, er press play.

DJ Rahdu gives Brooklynati 6 out of 7 head nods.
Head Nod Scale
1=Don't waste your time like I did mine.
2=Waste your time like I did mine but I dare you to disagree.
3=Well, there was the single.
4=If it were a hand in spades there's "two and a possible".
5=It's a "good" album. Meaning at least 3 or 4 solid songs.
6=Really Good Project. Has the "Rewind Factor" more than once.
7=The number of completion. Great Album. Instant Classic.