Teyana Taylor - The Album [Review]
On Juneteenth, the US holiday celebrating the emancipation of slaves in 1865, R&B star and all-round creative polymath Teyana Taylor unleashed ‘The Album’, an expansive, expressive work that unapologetically explores the full range of Taylor’s experience and creativity.
Teyana Taylor has never underestimated herself. From a young age, Taylor’s self-belief, determination and raw talent gave her the drive to charge, full speed, at anything and everything that she wanted.
Her list of work experience puts anyone else’s CV to shame. At 29-years-old, Taylor has mastered just about every pursuit imaginable in the realm of audio-visual performance, forging a successful career as a (deep breath) model, choreographer, dancer, singer, songwriter, director, producer, actor, reality star and following her electrifying performance for Kanye West’s ‘Fade’, a fitness guru. She is also a wife to NBA player Iman Shumpert and a mother to their 4-year-old daughter, Junie. The couple also recently announced that their second baby girl is on the way.
While Taylor has never doubted her own world-conquering potential, it seems as though, at times, the world has conspired to slow down her progress. One standout example is the mishandling of her 2018 album, ‘K.T.S.E’ (Keep That Same Energy) under Kanye’s ‘GOOD Music’ label. The sophomore album’s arrival was supposed to be Taylor’s big breakout moment into the musical mainstream, but a chaotic release meant that though well-received, it failed to earn Taylor the widespread acclaim she knew she deserved.
Fortunately, the hype surrounding the release of ‘The Album’ has not wavered since it was first announced in May. The excitement was undoubtedly boosted by the release of the album’s striking Grace Jones-inspired cover, which features a topless Taylor standing tall, powerful and unashamedly sexy.
‘The Album’ cover artwork
At 23 songs (reaching well over an hour in length), the hotly anticipated release is an unapologetically ambitious tribute to Taylor’s own multi-faceted identity as a Black woman, a mother, a lover and a versatile artist. As well as proudly championing Taylor’s vulnerabilities and strengths, ‘The Album’ is also a celebration of the artist’s Afro-caribbean roots, with sounds spanning from the percussive afro-beats of ‘Killa’ and the reggae vibes of ‘Bad’ to the ‘90s throwback R&B of songs like ‘Wake Up Love’, ‘Try Again’ and ‘How You Want It?’ There’s also an abundance of music royalty guest appearances, including Missy Elliott, Erykah Badu, Kehlani, Lauryn Hill, Big Sean, Rick Ross and King Combs to name just a few.
The length of the album - well, it’s gutsy. Listening to it all in one go might seem like a big task, but the record wasn’t necessarily intended to be enjoyed in one sitting. ‘The Album’ is split into 5 distinct studios: Studio A for ‘Assembling the pieces of love’, Studio L for ‘Lust’, Studio B for ‘Beautifully belligerent behaviour of a bad bitch’, Studio U for ‘Unconditionally fighting for love’ and Studio M in Taylor’s words is for, ‘Moods for unconditionally fighting for love in a world where a bad bitch lives & lusts for a required assembly. Batteries not included.’ The final one is where I’ll be. Basically, whatever particular mood or shape you’re in, there’s a specially built studio for you to get exactly what you’re looking for. As usual, Taylor’s got it all covered.
As mentioned, it’s a big album, so here are my top tracks: ‘Come Back to Me’ (feat. Junie & Rick Ross), ‘1800-One-Night’, ‘Morning’ (with Kehlani), ‘Boomin’ (feat. Missy Elliot & Future), ‘Killa’ (feat. DaVido) and ‘We Got Love’ (feat. Ms. Lauryn Hill).