Album Review: Voice of Reason - @_tnah_ (words by @RamseySaidWHAT)

July 27th 2019 11:57 AM

I'm sitting in the ridiculous line that was Curlfest 2019. My girlfriend was already inside with her homegirl Katelynne who shares a 3C hairtype. Between getting off the free shuttle to Randall's Island (with this hilarious bus driver shooting his shot with the natural shorties) and dodging this rabid raccoon in line; I was trying to save my phone battery until it rang. I was expecting a "Where are you?" from my lady, but I was pleasantly surprised with what became the inspiration behind this here article.

Yeah, T'NAH's back! Formerly the first lady of Pro Era is back and making music again with her brand new project, Voice of Reason. This is actually her debut project as a solo artist. She's done countless features on projects from Joey Bada$$, CJ Fly, Kirk Knight, Chelsea Reject and of course the Pro Era posse cuts, cyphers, and tapes. Aside from her own singles and loosies this is her first full album. She's been through a lot of changes in her time away from the spotlight. She's even done two name changes running with Kris and now dropping the Apex. One of our writers broke this down a few years back. My hope is this review is the beginning of the answer to the question people have been asking for nearly a half a decade: WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO T'NAH APEX?  After a few conversations with the Brooklyn spitter and songstress, we'll get the story from her mouth in an exclusive A-Side B-Side Podcast Interview coming soon. In the meantime let's get to the music.

I promise I won't make anymore Lauryn Hill comparisons because that would be too easy. Besides, I hear way more jazz influence when T'NAH sings. Track one, Tension, proves just that. She almost scats her cadence of singing, but they are written lyrics. I'm always amazed how she goes back and forth from singing to spitting back to singing so flawlessly in the same 16. If you don't really pay attention it almost sounds like she abandons prose and is just speaking into the mic; however even that's on beat even if it's nonchalant. We've seen that since first hearing her on her classic hook from Snakes and verse on Suspect on Bada$$'s unofficial debut 1999.

Just Like That serves as a interlude as it's less than a minute. I can see this song on a Pink Panther episode. She reaches deep into her tenor range and it's fluid, almost effortless for her. Act Rite is the first nitty-gritty Brooklyn bar spitting that we'd expect from T'NAH. She still flips bars and riffs on cue, "floating like a butterfly."

"Without growth what a waste,

You just a sack of trillions of sales

Won't be havin' my soul extracted for sale

You can stay in hell or you can lift the veil"

I think the words are self explanatory and speak for themselves. This seems to be a theme throughout. Let's move forward to track five. Man Dun featuring Kumbaya and Zamy Maa is the magnum opus of this here listen. This is the only song that has a feature and no one that we've heard from before. Kumbaya and Zamy Maa adopt a singing-rapping jive style that complements T'NAH very well. The things I like about this trio is how the mix the end of each bar where they all sing three part harmony individually over a particular scat holding the last note to the end of the measure.

Love Myself is interesting. I kind of have a lyric video in my head to the song as it is. I can see a young lady sitting on her couch reading a book sipping on coffee or red wine (nothing else just those two beverages) with a cat walking around brushing it's tail on her for attention. Then suddenly it takes on a beat change featuring a tribal flute and percussion accompaniment. I'd love to hear T'NAH drop a couple bars over it. Before I could finish the though Lyft You Up plays and tells another tale of affection. Only this time to a lover, then fade out.

What I enjoy about this tape is you can just let it run without looking at whatever device you're listening on. The feel is almost one very long song. I don't know if it's because of how well it's mixed, track sequencing, or both. It's like running a vinyl on Side-B. It's smooth like that. I've always thought T'NAH had the most upside from her peers. She's super talented and can find a lane or pocket that may be unorthodox to the ordinary spitter. I feel like if Jill Scott and Stevie Wonder were rappers they'd try to sound like T'NAH. Eight tracks and less than a half hour of your time suffices well for a debut. It's enough to keep your attention and a little to make you want more. If you're as impatient as me for the interview you can catch her September 7th at the first stop of the Fruits Of The Gods Tour at Remy Rouge Culture Center in Brooklyn. The tour also features Kumbaya and Zamy Maa respectively. Grab your ticket by clicking here. Check out Voice of Reason on your favorite streaming platform and look out for our interview coming soon. I need you to feel this.

Listen: Nothin' - Kris (@MahnameChrist); A Niles P. Joint

     Earlier this year, T’Nah Apex of Brooklyn was set to release her first EP Mint and throw the obligatory release party.  She had some strong buzz based off of numerous collaborations with the likes of Buckshot and Chelsea Reject.  She was always a staff favorite at WTM and me and my editor Ramsey were always floored by her boundless potential, drawing tentative Lauryn Hill comparisons.  Then for reasons that are still unknown the project and party were cancelled at the last minute.  Compounding the confusion was the fact that she changed her stage name from T’Nah Apex to Kris and denounced some of her former content (particular the 47 symbol used by her former crew Pro Era.)  It was unclear where she was headed musically.

Fortunately for all of her fans and the game in general, Kris has returned and blessed us with new music.  Nothin’ is heavily inspired by the classic track Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’ New by The Roots.  Kris earns her stripes as a triple threat as she’s the producer in addition to her usual credits as emcee and singer.  She hasn’t lost a step at all after her sabbatical, using a flow that breezes between rapping and singing.  The song is though-provoking and simultaneously easy to groove to.  It’s a great song and will both announce her return and introduce her incredible musical skill set to a new audience.  I hope she builds off this and continues her musical journey.  WTM will be watching her career with great interest.  Check it out after the break.

Editorial: #InCaseYouMissedItMonday - #CMPLX by @ChelseaReject

Niles implemented a great new segment for the site, In Case You Missed It Monday. With a year like the one we've had it's been tough to keep up with the music and quality like Chelsea Reject's CMPLX could fall through the cracks. That's where we pick up the slack. Without any further adieu let's get to it.

Chelsea Reject at Black Bear Bar BK

CMPLX is a lot different that her previous project Radi-8. Different in a good way. When the WTM crew went to see her in Williamsburg a few months back we got to hear a few of the tracks before they released. I'm a firm believer in the saying "Timing is key." Chelsea Reject has the keyring. In a first project you want to show off your own skills as an emcee. In the second, you have more leeway as far as creative freedom and features. CMPLX sees appearances from Pro Era affiliates like Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, Dyemond Lewis, and CJ Fly. Atownomas and the artist formerly known as T'Nah Apex (now Kris) are frequent collaborators and the trend continues for this project.

The project starts with Bam Bam. Although it's a minute long its a short but sweet goodie that samples the old Sister Nancy track of the same name. Need This was a track she performed at her show. It's nice to see this one made the final cut. 47 features Kirk Knight and Kris. The overall theme refers back to the forth and seventh chakras (the heart and mind for those of you who haven't read into it). 47 is the alignment of the heart and mind and their struggle to do different things. Chelsea and Kirk both spit about their own struggle to rise above it all. Kris lays the word on the hook as well. She keeps the mood kinda dark with the next track Closer. I briefly broke it down when the video released here. Everything's Change is another single we heard before the project dropped. Life as an emcee in the limelight changes you or the people around you. Either way, the Brooklynite spelled it out for us. I recently found out there was a video for that song.

Chelsea Reject (center), Kris (Left), & CJ Fly (right) performing Go

 The next track, Go is the oldest and probably the best track on the album. Go sees assists from Kris and one of the forefathers of the Era in CJ Fly. Opinionated but Fly's verse is arguably the best on the entire project. A few months back Niles covered the video here (random sidebar: trumpet man in the video, I swear I see him at every show I go to in the city). Hipster Wine is next up. This might be the only miss on the album. The production was decent, but together with lyrics it seemed all over the place and rushed. I do like that Chelsea does have a underrated singing voice and does well singing her own hooks. I'm not saying the song is a skip but if it were not on the project I'd have the same feeling towards it. Simple is a nice change of pace. It kind of serves like a interlude because of it's length. I really like the sample in this Kxngs production. Chelsea shows some heart and telling her significant that she doesn't need a lot, just simplicity. Make You A Fan shows a more confident side. Nyck Caution joins Chelsea with one objective: "Make you dance to the music." Planet Namek features Kris again. I don't know why I enjoy this song so much but it's just my favorite. Although she kept it a buck on this, I enjoyed the trip back to my childhood thinking about Dragonball Z and more specifically the Frieza Saga references. Speaking of trips that's the theme of the track. Reject is trying to go somewhere far away from her parental issues among other topics Kris does a great job on the hook as the songs momentum increases.

The mood changes again with So High. Atownomas features on this pregame jam. I swear this track sounds so good through car speakers. With that being said I expect the radio station DJs to take advantage of this for the summer. Viiibes features Dyemond Lewis. This is a perfect follow up for So High as the topic of discussion is the same. We can expect the same vibe for Spacey (see what I did there). Spacey features Jean Deaux singing the hook. The production sounds almost futuristic but smooth. Tree follows up with a Reject sermon on hypocrites who continue to throw rocks at glass houses. Far Away is the next song. Once again Chelsea does a great job vocally singing as well as her flow rapping. She closes out the project with Burning Bridges.

All in all CMPLX was dope. We see a deeper side of Chelsea that we didn't get in her first compilation. Although it started slow it definitely finished strong. I have a love hate with the features. They were great for her and they also didn't completely upstage her. At the same time it sounds like it's Chelsea Reject and Kris (formerly T'Nah) project like they are a duo. That's not entirely a bad thing. They compliment each other so well in studio and live that they'd be foolish not to work together. The tape is as the title states, complex. Chelsea Reject shows examples of a lot of self evaluation as a person on the tape, a lesson I think we all could learn from. CMPLX recieves 4.2 of 5 stars on the Ramsey Rating Scale. You can stream it, in its entirety below via soundcloud or Spotify.

Chelsea Reject with Editor Jonathan Ramsey

 

**All photos taken by Jonathan Ramsey

Watch: @ChelseaReject - Go feat. @FLYestintheeERA (CJ Fly of ProEra) & @TNahApex

Brooklyn MC Chelsea Reject just released visuals for her song Go earlier this week.  The track is assisted by Pro Era spitter CJ Fly and frequent collaborator T'Nah Apex.  The track is produced by Psymun and invokes a jazzy musical ambiance with very prominent trumpets throughout and serves as a melting pot inasmuch as it seamlessly combines Chelsea Reject's bouncy yet profound lyrics, CJ Fly's smooth and laid back flow, and T'Nah Apex's scattershot mix of bohemian-like singing punctuated with raps.  The overall vibe of the song is well represented by a Dorian West-crafted video filmed in classic black and white.  Cinematography is on point and the use of lighting and shadows complements the song well.  "Go" is off of Chelsea Reject's forthcoming album "CMPLX". 

Listen: Fair Warning @t_naahalex

Pro Era's leading lady, T'Nah Apex released a new track a few days ago titled Fair Warning. Listen for yourself below via soundcloud.