By young h  |  Send to Friend

Amongst the legions who claim to “do it for the love” are a chosen few who place a higher premium on artistic authenticity than monetary gains and subsequently produce quality output deserving of major spotlight. Tanya Morgan’s story is one of hard work, dedication and unorthodox approaches towards reaching people who fell in love with Hip-Hop in its most captivating days of yore. The three man rap group has an undying penchant for creativity, having derived its moniker from the idealistic depiction of the woman Common painted on “I Used To Love H.E.R.” and cleverly putting their debut Moonlighting on promotional cassette tapes to coincide with the album’s plot of a tape being passed around and dismissed for not fitting within the closed minded parameters of consumer interests.
 
Cincinnati originators Donwill and Ilyas [who make up the group Ilwil on their own] along with Brooklyn born and bred Von Pea [doubling as MC and Tanya Morgan’s primary producer aside from Brickbeats] have joined forces to bring the world to their personalized metropolis known as Brooklynati. Much like The Foreign Exchange’s folklore, Ilwil [college adversaries turned brothers] and Von Pea discovered each other’s music online and formed a unified vision through recording in their separate home studios. With a well thought out plan for market saturation, the EPs Sunlighting and Sunset precluded 2006’s critically acclaimedMoonlighting, a project that can debatably have been considered mishandled by way of [lacking] distribution from ABB Records. Minimal store presence aside, the group’s resurgence of soul, fun and personality rendered them an internet sensation and garnered the respect of Hip-Hop elite such as Bobbito Garcia, ?uestlove, Black Thought, J-Live, Posdnuos, Large Professor, Talib Kweli and the Heiroglyphics crew amongst others in a game where props are hard earned.
 
Though the old adage says a sum is greater than its parts, each piece of the Tanya Morgan triumvirate represents a most crucial part to this well oiled machine. When Von Pea isn’t holding down duties with the group he keeps busy producing for fellow comrades and associates, not to mention his own solo career and unofficial free remix projects for the likes of Kanye West and Jay-Z. Donwill can be considered the group’s personality of sorts as he welcomes friends, fans and followers into the blossoming life of his career and that of TM on the frequently updated mcdayjob.com. His rapping aesthetic takes a page from the Lil’ Wayne handbook on a smaller scale, as he represents the group while frequently collaborating with those on his musical wavelength, making sure to never sacrifice artistic credibility for the sake of keeping his name alive. Don says “At this stage in my career I’m at the point where I understand the balance of art and commerce, as artists we have to make a decision to walk one of those paths. I chose art and I’m learning more about team building and trust when it comes to the commerce side.” Ilyas is perhaps Tanya Morgan’s most commanding voice playing the role of the unexpected seismic shifter. Though his physical presence tends to be comparably scant from Ohio, Il’s monstrous energy on recordings renders his contributions unforgettable and just as important as Von & Don who can be found performing live in New York any given time that their schedule allows for it.
 
Tanya Morgan is set to follow last summer’s EP The Bridge with their sophomore LP Brooklynati due May 12th on Interdependent Media, an indie label run by west coast industry veterans Dominic Del Bene and Ian Davis. With influences such as legends like A Tribe Called Quest and The Geto Boys, and familial ties to west coast upstarts J Davey and Trackademiks, the trio’s range of appeal is far reaching. They are former students of the game, yet still growing into teachers having mastered the art of making substantive Hip-Hop entertaining due to razor sharp lyrics, humor, messages that resonate with the everyday listener and accessible beats that captivate the spirit of Hip-Hop’s most devout followers, not to mention their reputation for dominating live stage shows. Brooklynati is proving to be more than just an album demonstrating Tanya Morgan’s growth, it’s their experience that we’re welcome to partake in.  Ilyas says “My vision for this album is for listeners to observe what happens when you fuse together two different regions and three unique cats to come up with something truly beautiful.  Brooklynati is our expression of what our perfect world/home would be if we could create it ourselves. I want people to see this world because this place exists within us. As opposed to perpetuating the trends that our forefathers started I feel as an artist it is my responsibility to create something new and unique.” Much like their career’s trajectory to date, the album’s promotional campaign takes an out of the box approach, including an interactive website Brooklynati.com, library cards for the fictional city and business partnerships with actual clothing and toy companies designing products centered around the project.
 
 What the future holds for Tanya Morgan is uncertain as the album’s lead single “So Damn Down” details their struggles of trying to excel in a business that often passes over progressive music in favor of less inspiring redundancy. Though supreme levels of talent and determination are no certain guarantee of success, Von Pea hopes for the best, saying “I feel like right now is a turning point for us. [We are] not that new group anymore, but not that tried and trusted group yet. If we are still that "Oh I heard of them...I think" group after this album then I’ll feel like we failed.”