K.T.S.E.
All five projects to come from Kanye West’s summer 2018 creative spurt have appeared to be equal collaborations between West and his G.O.O.D. Music colleagues, but that balance manifests itself most clearly on Harlem singer Teyana Taylor’s *K.T.S.E.*. The project—eight songs, one more than its four predecessors—owes as much to Taylor’s airy melodies as it does to Kanye’s studied production ear; the producer utilizes vocal samples as choruses, as bookends to her verses, and as the backbone of beats. For her part, Taylor is the embodiment of the formidable, around-the-way-girl persona fans have adored since her debut in the late aughts. Addressing a one-time elephant in the room on “A Rose In Harlem,” Taylor sings, “N\*ggas like, ‘You ain’t hot, you ain’t pop/Yet, sup with you and Ye?’” And in *K.T.S.E.*, they have their answer.
Teyana Taylor and her tremendous voice are so deft at performing modernist soul with the genre’s forebears as her backdrop, and her album features some of the best Old Kanye beats heard this year.
Florence + The Machine open up old wounds (and stick to old sounds) on High As Hope, while both Gorillaz’s The Now Now and what should be Teyana Taylor’s breakout moment, K.T.S.E., feel unfocused and undercooked. These, plus Panic At The Disco, Jim James, and Dirty Beaches’ Alex Zhang Hungtai in this week’s notable…
Teyana Taylor released a new album, 'Keep That Same Energy,' produced by Kanye West.
On K.T.S.E., Teyana Taylor sings with the self-assured maturity of a woman coming into her own. There are, however, still a few hurdles to c...
Teyana Taylor asks in the grand cinematic intro of Kanye West’s masterful My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Producer West melds old and new R&B with flair on the Harlem singer’s second album – and ends with a wild left turn
A really good left-field pop album that introduces an exciting new singer.