By Jack Rafferty
“Terror knows me by name.”
This record came completely out of left field for me. I’d never heard of Tianna, and merely found this record by browsing through year-end lists. Even then, it only appeared one time. I’m so glad something about it intrigued me, because from the first moments of the album, I was entranced by it. Especially the lyrics. From the opening lines, sung in a deceivingly dulcet tone, I knew I was in for something special:
Sometimes when I’m walking and a man looks at me
I think of all the ways I could make him bleed
I would dig my key into his eye
I’d crack his teeth, liver and spleen.
The fact that Tianna is only twenty-three writing such visceral and deeply mature lines is a testament to the incredible creative mind behind this music. This album is uncompromisingly dark, unabashedly crude, wild, and chameleon. Tianna also is not afraid to be direct regarding political lyrics. A great example is from “Lewis,” about the civil rights activist and Harlem bookstore owner Lewis H. Michaux:
When the white man landed here he brought two weapons
One was the Bible and the other was the gun
If he didn’t humble you with the Bible,
He crumbled you with the gun.
And they’re still praising the Lord,
And passing ammunition all over the world.
Each song is vastly different, carrying its own complex, unique identity, and there is not a bad song on this album. The sheer diversity of soundscapes and songwriting spanning multiple genres is purely baffling. Also, her grandmother is Palmolive from The Slits and The Raincoats, so there is clearly a lineage of radical, innovative songwriters from whom she has learned. Nothing has recently captivated me like this album, not in this way. Go listen to this right fucking now.
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