Hey Everyone!
Today’s post is going to Teyana Taylor’s most recent release, ‘The Album’. I will admit I rarely listen to Teyana’s music with the exception of a few songs here and there. A couple songs off of her 2018 album ‘K.T.S.E’ stuck out to me such as ‘Rose in Harlem’ and ‘WTP’ but I feel like it would’ve been better received if G.O.O.D Music promoted the album more. I was a bit skeptical of her newest album, mainly due to the length of it (twenty three songs). I lose interest in albums that are longer than eighteen songs; mainly due to that fact that you may lose your audience after a while. It was a large jump from eight songs to twenty-three out of nowhere but anyways, let’s get into why you’re really here.
So let me first start off by saying wow, this album was both a hit and a miss at the same time! You’re first greeted in the intro by a voice recording between Iman Shupert, an EMT dispatcher, and Taylor herself in the background who had just given birth. This was a pleasant surprise; giving us a more personal intro into her album. This personal approach and her sharing her growth through personal triumph, marriage, womanhood, and subtle intimacy honestly made the album worthwhile. This album was hers to fully express herself and take whatever ideas she had and run with them.
I feel like this album allowed her to explore and experiment with different genres and sounds which shows throughout each listen. There is a vast amount of superstar features such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Kehlani, Rick Ross, Future, and Missy Elliot. One of my fears was that Teyana was going to be overshadowed by this great list of features but I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a great balance amongst each artist. There were a few songs that stuck out to me, such as: Lowkey, Boomin’, and We Got Love. Although she’s had some good previous albums, I think this one may top the list. It incorporated a lot of homage to a mix of 90’s R&B with a hint of pop music which made for a great listen. I was genuinely surprised to see how different her sound is compared to previous projects and how much she was able to grow over years. All in all, I do think this was a great breakthrough album for her. Possibly getting her out of the shadows of her GOOD Music companions but for some reason there are a few bad things about this one.
As stated earlier, I do have an issue with albums that are entirely way too long and that was my main issue with this one. I do agree that twenty three songs allows an artist to talk about any and everything that would like to but as a listener you get exhausted. This was a very long winded album that, yes, was easy to listen to but asked myself around track seventeen “there’s more??”. With a play time of seventy seven minutes I felt like I was sitting through a short film or something along those lines. Yes, Teyana did the damn thing on the album but I can definitely see a few songs that could’ve been cut. The only other issue I have with ‘The Album’ is the lack of promotion from her label. I expected Kanye to be more supportive of his artists no matter the circumstance. I feel like we never hear enough from Teyana even though she has the range to top the charts if she had the right push from her label.
To conclude, I’d give ‘The Album’ four out of five stars. It was an album that welcomed us to Teyana’s world and her path in the music industry. Straying from her choreography/dance expertise, I can truly say that she would be a great force in the music world if she just had the right support system. Could she possibly do better signing to a better label? I do know that she has the talent to make it big but just needs a push. As stated earlier, this album could manage to lose a few songs but that’s okay. It probably won’t make my top albums of 2020, but I do see myself going back and listening to songs on occasion. If I wasn’t a fan prior to this project then I definitely am now! I would encourage you guys to check it out if you have the chance!!
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