ECHO*: Teyana Taylor From Obscurity To R&B Revelation
Album Review | K.T.S.E.
With what should future generations rank the musical stars of this era? Album sales? Worldwide notoriety? Or talent?
I found myself asking this question after listening to Teyana Taylor’s latest release, K.T.S.E. It’s a solid album, and perhaps the revelation of the year in terms of a good R&B album. It possesses all the ingredients of a classic: novelty and familiarity, grit and vulnerability, plus a more than competent voice in the form of Taylor.
It also makes shrewd use of some forgotten classics. But I fear in the glut of all this other stuff - Kanyé, bigger A&R budgets, short attention spans and no visuals (plus her supposed displeasure with the released project) the album may not get the support - or the longevity - it deserves.
Initially, I criticized the album's paucity, its lack of 'completeness' and that all-important crossover or mainstream song. But it’s been three days now of me listening to the album, non-stop; each time discovering a new melody, or being enraptured anew by Taylor’s husky, velvety tone.
With acts like Sza, Ella Mai and H.E.R already sitting pretty atop the charts, it’s safe to say that female-driven R&B is in safe hands. So why should we care about K.T.S.E. or Taylor? Because of the slick-talking, risk-taking, polymath that she is. And the fact that she - unlike the others - is the superior vocal talent.
No Manners (Track 1)
The truncated No Manners, is perhaps the best example of what many people decry about K.T.S.E. Yet it’s also what’s genius about it! At only ninety-nine seconds long, it’s more like an interlude - an overture in this case. Nevertheless, the production and Taylor’s vocal performance are so sterling that you forgive its lack of a verse, or fade-out.
A mounting, hip-rock opera, it is brash and unapologetic - with a message somewhat reminiscent of Taylor’s first hit, Google Me. Except that here, Taylor isn’t a mollycoddled 16-year-old, rapping over bland, vain lyrics. She’s (now) 27, grown, married and a mother; singing about more mature themes, like being unbothered by her haters, independent willfulness, and loving up on her man, husband Iman Shumpert, who she’s quick to extol in the Petunia-like lyrics, “My hubby, my hubby so handsome!”
Gonna Love Me (Track 2)
Gonna Love Me, is my personal favourite. A classic, soul record, Taylor and team took inspiration from a 1970 Delfonics song, The Love I Gave To You.
Like Usher before her on Throwback (a Dionne Warwick sample), or Moby’s One Of These Mornings, Taylor and Co. magnificently revive a dusty, obscure track for a whole new generation. Taking cues from the heartfelt original, her feathery vocals reveal a sense and sensibility older than her natural 27 years. Redefining the R&B torch song, she quavers about acknowledgement and penitence, and about being utterly in love despite the struggles of maintaining a relationship.
Issues/Hold On (Track 3)
Arguably the second best track from the album, Issues/Hold On is a soul-wop record over faint reggae bursts. Here, Taylor’s smoky timbre recalls the raw ingenue of Jazmine Sullivan and the fervent faithfulness of Lauryn Hill. In fact, Issues/Hold On could’ve been a hit collab by these two contemporaries. But what makes this song entirely Teyana is her rapid talking swagger, as well as some seemingly real-life references to ‘daddy issues’ and past failed relationships.
“And the fact that she - unlike the others - is the superior vocal talent.”
3Way (Track 5)
3Way isn’t a song for the priggish, or the sexually unadventurous. On the risqué track, Taylor details about participating in - and maybe even initiating - a threesome with her husband and another woman because she knows it’s something he wants to do. Personal biases aside, the song is sexy AF. And if you thought this was a Brandy Norwood track, Taylor soon removes all doubt by proffering a few libertine lyrics like, ‘Time to get up in them ribs tonight,’ or ‘Two heads are better than one’, which seems to be innuendo for oral sex.
Never Would Have Made It (Track 7)
Perhaps the most complete (production-wise) of the eight, Never Would Have Made It reinterprets the Marvin Sapp gospel hit of the same name. Hit records are routinely ballads for a reason. They are soaring, honest - but most important, cathartic. In adding an 80’s dance beat to the sombre original, Taylor’s takes the listener on a journey from earnest gratitude to superabundant joy.
Keep That Same Energy - Final Thoughts
Love, maturity, willfulness and reflectiveness are the central themes on K.T.S.E. Sure, a few of Taylor’s contemporaries like Brandy, Alicia Keys, Jazmine Sullivan and Lauryn Hill make spectral appearances on the 8-track oeuvre by way of their comparable tones, riffs and runs, yet this doesn’t make the album any less special - or less Teyana’s. If anything, it shows her as a woman of her era - influenced no doubt by those before her but whose ears are attuned to the streets (Rose in Harlem, Track 6). Plus she has the temerity and raw grit to go where her predecessors refused sonically (Hurry, Track 4) or lyrically (WTP, Track 8).
Taylor is a cool girl (from her voice to her tomboy swag), she knows her lane and she’s faithful to it. And while I do believe that some songs (like Gonna Love Me) could have profitted from her being more unhinged, her glorious runs and honeyed texture make up for any want for effusiveness. In fact, much of what is dismissed as faults on K.T.S.E., is essentially what makes it unique - like the lack of fade-outs, which melts the tracks into each other like scenes in a film or the days in our lives.
The album winds up after just 22 minutes. And that's fine. For in all honesty, who has the attention span for 4-minute songs on 15-track albums anymore?
13/07/2018
ECHO* is an irregularly occurring series offering commentary and insight on noteworthy, sometimes obscure, music.
