Tanya Morgan at SOB's, NYC -- Photo Credit: Elizabeth M. Allen

Thanks to the advent and growing popularity of the Internet over the past decade, the internationally known indie Hip Hop group, Tanya Morgan was formed. Often mistaken as a female soul singer, the group actually consists of three male members: Donwill (Emcee), Von Pea (Emcee and Producer), and Ilyas Nashid (Emcee) – They insist that the ambiguity of the name Tanya Morgan adds to their mystique. Deeply connected to their roots in Brooklyn New York, and Cincinnati Ohio, Tanya Morgan’s aptly titled album, Brooklynati exhibits the mystique of which they speak, with an array of musical influences that most listeners would not expect to find together in a single, well-produced Hip Hop album.

With two full-length albums under their belt, a loyal and fan base, and endorsements from industry influencers such as Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, Tanya Morgan continues to gain notoriety from the independent music community as well as the mainstream, partly due to their ingenuity and perseverance. I had the pleasure of meeting with Donwill and Von Pea at the start of their High Fidelity Tour with Kooley High, to promote Donwill’s upcoming solo album, Don Cusack in High Fidelity.

Akilah Scharff: Tanya Morgan has been together since 2003, and you first met on the Okayplayer boards – How did that come about?

Donwill: For me it came about from hanging out online, trying to find people who were just as interested in the things that I was interested in. Not necessarily music, but the sort of music. It’s a big world, and there are a lot of people in it – It was cool that there was a hub where people could go and discuss things on the same wavelength.

AS: A lot of like-minded individuals?

Von Pea: Yeah. Believe it or not, I didn’t even know that people were into A Tribe Called Quest growing up. Then I got on the Internet and found people who liked The Roots and Tribe… I mean, somebody was buying a million copies of Midnight Marauders – I found them on the internet! It wasn’t like that around my way.

AS: When it comes to touring and album sales, do you think that most of the support comes from the relationships (internet friendships) that you built with people over the years?

DW: Tour support! There were a lot of times where we could visit different cities (while touring), and instead of staying in a hotel, we can call up the homies. In 2002 when I had to tell my mom that we were going to Chicago and that we were hanging out with friends, she’d ask how I knew people in Chicago. I’d say “I went to college! I know people from everywhere!” I couldn’t say that I was staying with [insert internet username here]. Back then I didn’t know these people’s last names… I was just hanging out in their city. It was fun, but now as opposed to being fans, it’s a support system. You know that they support your art, but they also support you as a person. We know our fans, we know these people.

AS: Many groups come together, “blow up”, do really well, and fall apart. It has been seven years since Tanya Morgan’s inception – What are the foundational elements that have kept you guys together?

DW: It’s the money! (laughs)

VP: I think that it is because we didn’t “blow up”. We’ve never had that point where people were saying “Okay, y’all are large right now,” or if we were (large), we never recognized it ourselves. It felt like,we were always trying to get somewhere.

DW: I just put up a tweet (on Twitter) today that said: “I would like to be rich enough to do nothing… Just sit around.” Similar to Andre 3000’s decision to stop touring. Though Big Boi still wanted to tour, Andre was (financially) comfortable enough to decide that he didn’t want to participate in that aspect of the music business anymore. It leaves your band mates in a really awkward position, though.

DW (continues): People have noticed that me and Von have been performing without Ilyas, but it was due to situations, life, and timing. It’s not that Ilyas doesn’t want to perform with us – We can do it (perform), but sometimes internally we’re like “Damn, I wish Ilyas was here.” People often ask us: “What happened? Did y’all break up?” It leaves us in a weird place sometimes.

AS: How do you guys usually field those rumors without divulging your band mate’s personal business?

VP: I would tell them the truth. I don’t normally go into detail, but we went on tour for three months without him. People asked “Where’s Ilyas, what happened?”  I’d just tell them (the fans) that he had a family thing, and that he couldn’t come out. That’s the truth.

DW: He (Ilyas) wanted to spend time with his son, which is understandable because they’re miles apart. We can’t really hate on him for that. (Von nods in agreement)  On the other hand the rumors worked, so let them talk about it! Maybe they’ll buy our album again, because they thought it was the last one! (laughs)

AS: 2010 is being coined as the “life-changing” year. What kind of wisdom have you brought into 2010, that wasn’t present at the start of 2009?

VP: The thing that I learned about last year is the way that music is compartmentalized now. It’s almost like someone can only be a fan of Diamond District, and you’d think that they would know about Tanya Morgan, but they’ve never heard of us. Or someone can be a fan of Tanya Morgan, but they’ve never heard of Pacific Division, or they’ve heard of Pac Div, but they’ve never heard of Little Brother… That’s strange as hell to me! (laughs) We went on tour with Hieroglyphics and people came to see us, but didn’t know Hieroglyphics at all. I’m like “How the hell do you know us, but don’t know Heiro?”

VP (continues): I think that it’s because the “big machine” is gone – It was more organized (in the past). It used to be like, “If you like The Pharcyde, then you’ll like The Roots, and if so, you’ll like Souls of Mischief.”  But now, people say “I stumbled upon this (site), and I liked the dude’s shirt so I listened to this song, but I don’t know anyone else on this blog.”  It’s strange.

AS: Do you think that it has anything to do with the fact that people can easily gain notoriety from the Internet nowadays?

DW: Yes. Before blogs, back in the 56k (modem) days, we’d all be in one popular music forum and someone could post “Yo, there’s this cat from North Carolina, check out this mp3,” and they would have one song. But with the Internet, instead of trying to get on, in 2010 you’re already on.

VP: Your computer comes with Garage Band…

DW: Your computer comes with a record deal. You can pretty much make a beat, record lyrics to it, mix it down, upload it to Youtube, upload it to Fileshare, and blast it out. Your post might have three views, but if somebody like Eskay or Meka (2dopeboyz) stumbles upon it, you automatically have fans. In a way, it’s a challenge to lose in 2010.

VP: Nowadays, if you have a lot of money, you can throw (a celebrity) some money to get featured on your song. The blogger will say “I don’t know who this (artist) is, but I know the guy who is being featured on this song so I’ll post it up.” One time I was featured on this song and I didn’t know the artist, but I liked the beat. The song ended up on a mixtape, but the DJ cut the guy’s verse out because they only knew me! That was messed up. His part was dope, but they (the DJ) just didn’t know who he was.

DW: We’re all fighting for attention and downloads, for free. It’s not all about the money, but at a certain point, where does that lead if you’re just trying to dominate the blogs? I guess that nowadays it can lead to (bookng live) shows, but it’s different. There’s definitely a polarization. The music has to be really good, or really bad to break through “the noise”.

Von Pea: It’s almost like you have to be really good like Jay Electronica, or really bad like ‘Chocolate Rain’ in order to get a strong following.

DW: And as a result we have ‘Chocolate Rain’ in a Dr. Pepper commercial, and Jay Electronica is being played on Hot 97 (mainstream radio).

Tanya Morgan performing at SOBs, NYC -- Photo Credit: Elizabeth M. Allen

AS: There are a handful of three-man Hip Hop groups that are in direct “competition” with Tanya Morgan. What differentiates you from the pack?

VP: Our versatility. Our fans often comment on our “old school” vibe in some shows, or sometimes we’ll perform a set with all party songs. We have something for everybody, but what helps us, harms us.

AS: How so?

VP: People can’t pigeonhole us. If someone wants to record a song about getting fly, they’d probably call Pac Div. If someone wanted to record a song with a hard beat, they might go to Diamond District. But with us, we just record good songs. People can’t put us into a box. We purposely try to confuse people, and do imaginative things – Not saying that the other cats don’t, but we make up fictional cities (Brooklynati), and we have a weird name (Tanya Morgan). Ilyas wears spikes, and Don might get on stage with a mannequin sometimes… (laughs)

DW: We kinda like the confusion. We’re like the kids who will be off by themselves drawing, when everyone else is playing kickball. We might come over and kick the ball once or twice, but we’ll go back to drawing right afterward. (laughs)

VP: Some people get it, and some people don’t. I’ve been asked where Brooklynati is, literally. On a map.

DW (continues): With that level of confusion it does cause some conflict within us as artists, because we wanted to confuse y’all, but sometimes we think that we were a little bit too good at it (confusing people), and then we think about pulling back. But at the end of the day, it comes down to making the music that we want to make. It is evidenced by Von Pea’s production skills being featured in Comedy Central’s The Daily Show that we can produce some Hot 97, radio ready music… “This is my monkey, I’m so funky, blah blah blah,” (laughs) but that’s not challenging or fun to me. We want to be proud of everything we’ve done.

Check out solo projects from the members of Tanya Morgan:

Donwill: Don Cusack in High Fidelity (to be released on March 23, 2010 – Promo tour in progress)

Von Pea: Pea’s Gotta Have It (to be released on September 7, 2010)

Ilyas Nashid: Hello Hell (to be released in January 2011)

Catch Tanya Morgan in the tail end of the High Fidelity Tour:

March 4, 2010 – Pittsburgh, PA: Shadow Lounge

March 5, 2010 – Toronto, ON: The Drake Hotel

March 6, 2010 – Chicago, IL: Subterranean

TAGS: Brooklynati, Don Cusack, High Fidelity, Ilyas Nashid, Tanya Morgan, Von Pea