Tanya Morgan

There’s a line in Tanya Morgan’s “Drop” freestyle in which Von Pea spits, “they say we’re golden era, cool, I ain’t into bronze.”  The line works because it’s clever, and it’s also true.  Tanya Morgan’s been pegged as a golden-era Hip Hop trio with more in common with “conscious artists” from the past than many of their current day counterparts.  And when it comes to promotion of their latest album, Brooklynati, Tanya Morgan has few counterparts, if any.  The trio put their story in the full frame, titling the album after a fictional place that only they inhabit.  It comes from their cross-country formation, in which the trio exchanged music online with two members living in Cincy, and one in BK.  They launched a full viral campaign that included maps, IDs, tours, and a keynote address from ?uestlove.  After the release of the album, and before their headlining gig this week at Sub-T, our own Kevin Fairbanks caught up with Tanya Morgan to discuss the album, the marketing, and more.  Check out the full interview below.

RubyHornet:  You guys released Brooklynati just before summer got underway, and now the season is coming to an end. How has the summer been since releasing the highly acclaimed LP?

Ilyas: I’ve been having a ball.  The response has been great to the project.  The vid is in rotation.  Good times!

Donwill:   We’ve been on the road a bit in support of the project, we joined Wale for a few dates, and have been touring on our own quite a bit too. But the response has been overwhelming in general and for that I’m more than grateful.

RubyHornet:  Has the album effected who you work with now? Have a lot more artists reached out to you who weren’t up on you guys back when you made you initial splash in ’06?

Ilyas:  Yeah..and that’s all I’ll say on that (laughs)…

Donwill:  In all honesty, I can’t tell but probably so. I tend to work in a vacuum and not really pay attention to what’s going on so much as what I’m doing. I do know I’ve been recording ALOT lately so I guess that’s a yes, lol.

RubyHornet:  How realistic is a new album release before ’09 comes to a close?

Ilyas:  For us?  Not happening (laughs)…

Donwill:  There will be group related projects that drop. I have just been recording in preparation of my upcoming album, and we have been doing songs with the third album in mind. Aside from a few remixes or loose songs here and there Tanya Morgan won’t be dropping an album before ’09 ends.

RubyHornet:  What is your relationship with Brickbeats being that he produced a little under half of the album?

Ilyas:  Brick is the dude.  I just hopped off the phone with him.  He is my lightweight mechanic and computer technician as well.  Brick is a man of all trades and a family man as well.  He’s definitely family.

Donwill:  Brick is the Chad Hugo to our Neptunes. He may not ever talk, but is very much an integral part of the Tanya Morgan machine. He is more into his family than anything else and it’s never been a conflict on that front. He has a few other projects in the works and is also interested in working with other emcees.

RubyHornet:  The multimedia promotion of the album was extremely successful, why do you think this hasn’t caught on to other artists?

Ilyas:  Because we don’t want them to (laughs).  I guess people are still stuck on the old way of thinking when it comes to marketing your music.  It’s hard for people to let go of the old industry model, but people are starting to figure it out.  That’s how Obama won the election.

Donwill: Dropping an album is a very involved process and when you are an indie artist, while you DO have a machine behind you, it’s not always as well oiled or big as a major. So we are very hands on with everything they put our name on. Hell, even if we were on a major I’d still want to double check and work closely with them on everything.  I think that maybe other artists don’t realize the importance of presentation, or maybe they don’t think that they can do something interesting and cost effective.

Tanya Morgan

RubyHornet:  Will you be putting as much multimedia promotion into the next release as you did with Brooklynati?

Ilyas:  Probably more to be honest, but we are focusing now on building more of a fanbase beyond the web crowd.

Donwill:  Whatever the concept/theme of the next album is we will definitely play it up. Presentation is everything and we don’t want to misrepresent our sound ever.

RubyHornet:  What are you guys currently working on?

Ilyas:  I’m working on a project with a cat named Juice Lee called Double Dragon for video game lovers out there.  The others I”ll keep under wraps for now, but trust me you’ll never see this coming.  

Donwill:  I’m working on a solo album named Don Cusack in High Fidelity based on the film “High Fidelity” and it’s done for the most part. I’m trying to set it for a February release date, around Valentine’s. It’s probably the biggest collaborative effort I’ve ever undertaken. And I’m also just recording for the group and on a few other side projects.

RubyHornet:  Donwill and Ilyas, are you guys staying out in Ohio still? I know a lot of promotion was done in NYC.

Ilyas:  I am still in the Nati.  I love it here but my eyes are set on Philly right now.

Donwill:  I relocated to Brooklyln about 3 years ago, so I’m always around in the promo piece and just on the scene in general.

RubyHornet:  What will you most likely change in your music for the next release?

Ilyas: Nothing(laughs)..

Donwill: We are in the initial phase of conceptualizing the next LP, talking about what this process will be like and what will set it apart from our overall body of work, and the main thing I can say that will be different as of right now is how we go about recording this one. Maybe take on an executive producer this time or go work on the LP away from home. Just tossing ideas around. We just want the sound to reflect our growth.

RubyHornet:  You guys have come a long way since the okayplayer forums. Do you like to reminisce on the come up?

Ilyas:  Not really to be honest.  I’m so focused on the next step day to day it’s hard to have time to enjoy the moment, let alone reflect on the past.  I appreciate those days but I can’t say I miss them.  Those maiden voyage tours are no joke.

Donwill: I won’t lie, from time to time I do but it’s not a long reflection process, just a few moments here and there to remind myself of how blessed I am or how different things could be.  But at the end of the day, we are still on the come up so how far we have come is nothing compared to how far we have to go.

 Tanya Morgan