“Liberated rather than limited by tradition, Brooklynati breathes new life into sturdy hip-hop tropes with lived-in chemistry, disarming sweetness, and impossibly lush, hyper-soulful, 9th Wonderful production. If Tanya Morgan isn’t the nicest, most likeable crew in hip-hop, it’s right up there…With Brooklynati, Tanya Morgan comes of age. It’s gone from paying homage to the albums and groups that inspired it to putting out a classic of its own.”
— The Onion
Tanya Morgan is a rap group. More than that, they’re a great rap group as evidenced by the acclaim they’ve received from the likes of Billboard, Vibe, SPIN, XXL Magazine, XLR8R, Los Angeles Times, The Onion, NY Magazine and a bevy of other press outlets who have praised the group throughout the duration of their career. “Tanya Morgan are like the sons of De La Soul — soulful, stressed, effortlessly smart flows, intricate production, the whole package,” says SPIN Music Editor Charles Aaron.
Hailing from both Brooklyn and Cincinnati, Tanya Morgan formed on the message boards of Hailing from both Brooklyn and Cincinnati, Okayplayer.com in 2003 when Donwill, Ilyas and Von Pea were all solo artists trading demos and beat tapes. The three MCs decided to collaborate for a one-off project and settled on the name Tanya Morgan – an inside joke to trick hip-hop crate-diggers and sample-searchers into thinking the record was an old-school soul singer. After their debut album,Moonlighting, was endorsed by the likes of ?uestlove in 2006 and was received enthusiastically by fans, Tanya Morgan decided to keep working together and keep the name. In the wake of Moonlighting’s critical success, the group released its follow-up, 2009’s Brooklynati which saw the group reach more fans and beguile more journalists as it was widely regarded as one of the year’s best hip hop releases.
Since Brooklynati, the group has reformed with Ilyas moving on to focus on his solo material and video production while Von Pea and Donwill continue to tour as Tanya Morgan, supporting the group’s classic material, solo releases (Donwill’s Don Cusack In High Fidelity, Von Pea’s Pea’s Gotta Have It) and 2011’s You & What Army. The future holds more solo releases such as Von Pea’s Duly Noted as well as a collaborative album with producer 6th Sense entitled Rubber Souls.
Website