Modern Classic Vol. XIII: Rebelution by Tanya Stephens

Tanya Stephens - Rebelution [VP Records]

Two Modern Classics in a row? If such a resumé is reserved strictly for the legends of the game (and it should be) well then I guess Tanya Stephens is a bit of a living legend, because that is exactly what she did between Gangsta Blues in 2004 and Rebelution just two years later. The first of these was definitely a bit surprising for many as, after having spent years doing very very strange music in Sweden, the once potential packed Dancehall diva returned to far more terrestrial grounds and came back with such an ATTENTION TO DETAIL that you definitely had to take note. When Rebelution dropped, it served more as a confirmation that Gangsta Blues was, in fact, no fluke and was actually what Tanya Stephens was these days. She was, first and foremost, an absolutely DEVASTATING lyricist. We knew this from back with her interesting way of phrasing, but on these levels??? Hell no! Rebelution was smart, it was sleek and it was a not too subtle call to action, but listening to it revealed that the leader of this pack wasn’t prepared to go to war with guns and bombs, but something much much more powerful.

The Music

#1. Welcome To The Rebelution [Intro]

“If you’re reading the booklet, or you’re listening to track one, you’re proof that the Rebelution has begun”. I wouldn’t put it past this genius that this thing was all or mostly all a freestyle, but whatever it is, it’s amazing and such an EPIC opening.

#2. Who Is Tanya?

A declaration of MAMMOTH proportions. Definitely one of the lasting signature efforts of mastery from the Rebelution album is ‘Who Is Tanya’ and probably, in retrospect, one of the signature tunes from Stephens’ entire career. Almost as if anticipating quite a few people walking past the album in the store and seeing it and being attracted to it, but asking themselves “who is that”, or even more, anticipating new and newer fans tuning into this album as an introduction to her, Tanya Stephens weaves an answer to the question which is lyrical PERFECTION by its end, nearly outlining every portion of her life and what she brings as an artist. ADDICTIVE material.

Line Of The Song: “Dem waan know WHO IS TANYA? Mi nah haffi strip fi control dem man yah. Mi have di game inna di palm of mi hand yah. A world domination a di plan yah”

#3. Put It On You

“Don’t even front cause you know you want it baby”. ‘Put It On You’ is the first of two DIVINELY poetic tracks on Rebelution which find Stephens focusing almost strictly on the risqué side of the vibes. Of course like most things, that’s not a problem AT ALL for her skillset and Put It On You is one COOL ASS tune. Reminiscent of the MASSIVE Boom Wuk from Gangsta Blues, the song has a bit of a quiet confidence as an aggressive Stephens has well identified what she wants, identified what she wants from what she wants and is on the pursuit. And she isn’t shy about it at all! One SEXY SEXY tune.

Line Of The Song: “Caress yuh wid mi two hand. Mi have a few rubbers and few grand. An mi dun book a room ova di Hilton. Like Paris, mi nah get embarrass, so yuh free fi bring di still cam”

#4. The Message [Interlude]

“Hey Tanya bloodclaat Stephens”, that’s really all you need to know here. It’s hilarious.

#5. Still A Go Lose

Well, after outlining her bedroom prowess and after identifying the object of her affections, apparently Tanya has run into a bit of a problem with her new beau already having another. In the interlude, said “another” calls and leaves a very (funny) angry message for Stephens and ‘Still A Go Lose’ finds her dealing with it. There’s more valuable material here than Stephens bragging about how great and wonderful she is and it, in my opinion, kind of starts to get into the entire relationship aspect of things. There’s a definitive general relationship commentary (do’s and don’t’s style) in there as well, saying if it wasn’t her taking his attention, then it would be another because the woman in question just isn’t treating her man too right.

Line Of The Song: “Well if him waan stray him will find a way, no matta how much you move like mange. Cuz if him leave me alone or mi send him back home, and nuttin in yuh house no change, yuh know you still ah go lose him”

#6. To The Rescue

Tanya Stephens dons the superhero outfit and cape for the guys whose women are apparently just hounding them right out of the relationship. Almost as if to cover all of her basis, following Still A Go Lose him, speaking to said hounding ass woman, ‘To The Rescue’ is Stephens’ discourse to the man of the situation (a little to the women as well). I’ve heard a few women over the years who finds this tune in particular to be offensive to a degree, but I don’t take it as just a complete warning shot that there’s someone (and especially not Tanya Stephens) always trying to get your man, I took it as an urge of COMMUNICATION within a relationship. And is her outlining what might happen if there is a problem with said communication which goes unaddressed (like when she says, “Well if yuh sex life is dead boss, we a di first pon di scene like di Red Cross!” (DAYUM!).

Line Of The Song: “Di man a fiend fi a gyal weh nah bend, every time him say him a chill out wid him friend. Gyal weh nah get vex and lock off di punash, every time him go watch a little Reggae boys match”

#7. Damn You

In matters of the heart, certainly Stephens isn’t immune as evident by ‘Damn You’. Apparently the object of Tanya’s affections isn’t exactly reciprocating and she now finds herself in the RIDICULOUS situation of ATTENDING HIS MARRIAGE! This tune is so personal that you almost think it may be a true event (or based on one), but regardless of the source of the tune and its ultimate inspiration, you have to take notice and even if you haven’t gone this far(and hopefully you haven’t), I think we all can relate to having feelings for someone who either doesn’t have them for you AT ALL, or not to the degree that you have for them and RARELY do you hear a tune, especially in Reggae which addresses this ultra relatable emotion.

Line Of The Song: “And last night I was in your arms, you held me and kept me warm. Can’t help feeling left behind as she walked off with what you said was mine”

#8. The Truth

‘The Truth’, wonderfully placed, is Stephens trying to pick up the pieces following a completed relationship (over a cool Marley-esque riff). Again, as someone who went through quite a bit of SHIT in relationships (largely because of my own. . . mind-losing ways) (No. I didn’t cheat on anyone) (EVER), before finally refinding the ‘right’ person, I can well relate to this one as well. You get to the place where it becomes so important to keep up this tough and ‘okay’ face, when ‘the truth is that you’re heart is broken and you’re really a fucking mess!

Line Of The Song: “It may seem I’m it holding it down, but if you wanna know the truth. I’m slowly losing my ground”

#9. Spilt Milk

And then you get over it. You’ll notice what’s playing out here in the first half of the album CERTAINLY, as now on ‘Spilt Milk’, Stephens’ tears have dried and she’s happy again and looking forward. Of course, that doesn’t mean that she’s not bitter AS HELL. With her ex now looking back for her again, Tanya lets him have it (not it, you know what I mean) with a tune which borders on emotional ABUSE! If this tune was about you! How in the hell do you deal this! DAMN!

Line Of The Song: “I mopped some bigger messes than you up off my floor. You’re just another chore”

#10. Saturday Morning [Interlude]

Moral of the story: ‘Don’t drink and f%$k’.

#11. Cherry Brandy

For those of you who attempt to drown your sorrows and loneliness in alcohol, ‘Cherry Brandy’ is for you. No. Tanya Stephens doesn’t go AA or motivational speaker on you, instead she almost seems to empathize (by placing herself in that situation lyrically). The humour of the interlude which leads into it notwithstanding, the mood on this one is just so DOWN and so kind of hopeless to a degree that it even kind of adds to the message of the song also.

Line Of The Song: “You think me drinking is a problem, F YOU then. My best friend a Mr. Ray and him nephew dem. And if some Heineken a freeze, mi haffi rescue dem. When it comes to passing di bar, I’m not the best student”

#12. Sunday Morning [Interlude]

“. . . and I’m ready, but, for a new religion. One which promotes eradicating hunger by eliminating greed; getting rid of shortage by stamping out the illusion of need. One which directs you to the source, rather than have you depend on it to feed and one which doesn’t condemn me to the eternal flames of hell if occasionally I smoke a little bloodclaat weed. . .”

#13. You Keep Looking Up

So interesting and so powerful. Based on what we heard ‘Sunday Morning’, and leading into a tune with the title ‘So You Keep Looking Up’, you can well imagine what this tune is about even before it begins. It finds Stephens trying to do the impossible and make religion a tangible thing. Her way of doing this? Brilliant. The function of the punch line of the tune “you keep looking up” is to the many many people who literally believe “that great God will come from the sky” (biggup Cocoa Tea) and instead urges them to look for God all around you. “the flowers, I am the trees. I am the song floating in the breeze. I am the waves rocking the seas, I am even your enemies”. The tune also has messages to those who have (and are continuing to) passed on and if you read Stephens’ thank you’s [In Gratitude] in the liners, she also mention that she lost a sister while recording Rebelution. Coincidence for the message of this tune? I think not. VERY POWERFUL!

Line Of The Song: THE ENTIRE FUCKING THIRD VERSE! MADNESS!

#14. Come A Long Way

If you are a person of Afrikan descent, then I would probably say that ‘Come A Long Way’ will strike chords in you, you might not want struck, like it did for me, but it’s all the truth. The tune is kind of a bit on irony as the title is actually somewhat of a question or a metaphor for the exact opposite. Stephens goes on a history run back to the “chains and the cane fields” up to today, but she shows that although the chains have been removed and the cane fields are empty, maybe we haven’t gone that far at all.

Line Of The Song: The Hook of the song is probably going to make you cry and not in a good and happy way.

#15. Do You Still Care?

One of the greater mysteries of recent Reggae history in my mind is the ultimately BRILLIANT ‘Do You Still Care’. In this day and age where we’re seeing Buju Banton still fumbling around in his trying to defend his distancing himself from a two decade old song and almost every month you hear a story of a Reggae artist being banned from doing this concert or that concert or even being barred from entering a country altogether, I wonder why Tanya Stephens’ POWERFUL tune here has gone largely ignored. Regardless of which side of the matter you fall on (or even me), you have to recognize the power of this tune. In it’s entirety, Do You Still Care is a MIGHTY tune of acceptance and simply watching how we treat one another in general.

Line Of The Song: Can’t pick. The entire song.

#16. Warn Dem

And then there’s the very VAST ‘Warn Dem’. This one is kind of different, but different only for someone like Tanya Stephens, still she manages to put her own spin on it definitely. The tune speaks to the youths and those of us in charge of minding them and the responsibility of really setting a proper example and showing how the violent aspects of life are not a option AT ALL, come good or come bad. Still, Stephens manages to fling a necessary diss to those who aren’t handling this responsibility and are just generally fucking things up for the coming generations.

Line Of The Song: “When opportunity mean fi wait outside another brother gate and when no food nuh inna yuh plate, you know your life you ahgo hate. Your value nah appreciate, no matter how you hold di faith. End up crooked and a look it, it no pay fi live so straight”

#17. To The Limit

TUNE! Like everything Tanya Stephens does musically speaking, ‘To The Limit’ strikes you on a mental level and doesn’t let you go. How many tunes have I written about and how many tunes have you heard which are ‘inspirational’ and ‘uplifting’, but they don’t really do it in ‘earthly’ terms? This one is the anti of such material. It’s all about putting that inspiration in terms which we can apply to our lives and really not get caught up dealing with things which aren’t very important or even if they are, they’re not something which will ultimately define us IN ANY WAY. So have the best time you can and do things to the limit.

Line Of The Song: “I live my like there’s an engine revving in it. Push every minute, to the limit”

#18. These Streets

We get back to the relationship side of things on the MASSIVE ‘These Streets’, but do so in a way which is very reflective of the change of the vibes of Rebelution’s first half and second. On the song Stephens’ man is a out on the streets, up to no good and doing wrong things, potentially about to get himself in trouble and his woman is sitting at home not only lonely as hell (and looking for attention elsewhere), but worried mightily about where he might be and what might’ve become of him. Again, I don’t think there’s so many tunes around which express this vibes which HAS to be quite common and when Tanya does it, like most things she really goes after, the results are BRILLIANT.

Line Of The Song: “I wish you woulda stay pon me like yuh phone man. And neva leave the house without me like yuh chrome man. Boy I wish you woulda treat me like yuh whips. Your girl’s a perfect 10, but your Benz dem a only a 5 or a 6”

#19. Home Alone

Now, just in case you are the type of man in These Streets and you just didn’t get the fucking point, for you there’s ‘Home Alone’, telling you exactly what your woman is up to, while you’re running the streets with your friends. Seriously. From man to man, I’ve never understood the kind of mentality of a thug (or a doctor, or a lawyer, or a coroner) who would rather hang out with male friends than his own WOMAN! My bewilderment notwithstanding, if you’re that type, you might want to pay SPECIAL attention to this one, as there may be another guy who doesn’t comprehend your actions, comprehending your woman, in a very very special way.

Line Of The Song: “Tell him the kind of mood that you’re in. You need him under your skin. If him choose fi go cruise with him crew, you ahgo buss the first man who walk, a coulda him next of kin”

#20. Don’t Play

Perhaps more ‘qualified’ to the comparison to Boom Wuk, than the aforementioned Put It On You is the AWESOME ‘Don’t Play’. This one is just another one which, although it’s well focused on the sexual side of things, it’s for the mature and sexy and just COOL AS HELL. The word play is also in the extreme and there are several moments here where Stephens just LOCKS OFF the flow, leaving just a bit of room for you to say - DAMN.

Line Of The Song: “Whether mi tek it to di handle or mi settle fi di tip. Mi want yuh empty di barrel and sen on di extra clip”

DVD

I don’t rightly know if Rebelution was ever actually released without a DVD, or if it was but I just got it early (THE DAY IT WAS RELEASED) as the ‘special edition or whatever’, but I have it and I always thought it was one of the most interesting such additions to an album that I’ve seen. It’s not just your standard picture gallery and video and interview, but this one has an entire performance of several songs from the album (and a couple from the Gangsta Blues album) which is downright priceless for Tanya Stephens’ hardcore fans I’m sure. Also, there are two videos, ‘Warn Them’ and ‘These Streets’ included. AND, should you really WATCH the performance, the tunes are tied together by kind of a makeshift documentary, which is even more stellar and if this is the special version, one would be wise to track it down specifically for the reason of this fantastic addition (and I'm sure I put a few clips in this piece).

Synopsis

You can’t really (or at least I can’t really) take too much from the title here. Not because Rebelution isn’t really a word, but because the entire album isn’t what one would normally think about in such ‘Revolutionary’ and just BIG sounding terms. So instead of using the title to support this grand meaning of the album, which is what I normally do, I’ll have to do things in reverse order here and use the substance of the album to identify what is Tanya Stephens’ idea of a ‘Rebelution’.

The first bit of identification I took from the album is given on the cover itself. Tanya is, fittingly, adorned in camouflage ‘gear. She’s wearing a general’s hat (more on that in a minute) and she has a tag on of Red, Gold and Green. BUT! Look even closer and you’ll notice the tight double shirt. Which definitely shows off her figure. The jacket is very short, with very long sleeves and that hat, it isn’t quite the standard military issued variety and then there’s the sunglasses also (and the earrings). You don’t go to war looking like this, at least not a literal war, general nor soldier. Oh, there’s also that Rebelution logo which reads “A MOVEMENT OF TRUTH WITHOUT DENIAL OR REGRET”. And that word ‘movement’ is so interesting, isn’t it? You’ll also notice the ‘T’ in Tanya spelled out with a gun and then a rather slinky, almost snake looking ‘S’ as well. What the cover does, in my opinion is dispel the notion that you might just be walking into a Bounty Killer like guns blazing album. You certainly aren’t.

What you are walking into is coyly one of the most WELL PLANNED albums I think I’ve ever seen. I tried to make the point of showing how after the first two tracks, the next NINE (and arguably eleven) on the first half of Rebelution are dealing with relationships. Every aspect of the relationship and, although it may come off negatively at times, it seems to be looking at righting a wrong, at least to my opinion. Still it is one of the first tunes early on the second half of the album which, in my opinion, reveals quite a bit of the overall focus of the album, ‘You Keep Looking Up’:

“Don’t feel compelled above

Look around you, look with love

Cause whatever you see that’s me

Baby that’s me”

When you take this passage on a semi-literal level it seems as if Tanya is speaking, playing the role of ‘God’ talking to the people of the world. However, when you relate this piece to the tunes which come before it, you (or at least I) can take it even further and it’s not in the direction of ultimately shunning or running away from religion altogether, quite the contrary. It is to place higher the importance of LOVE. The love and lack of love we experience everyday through and for the people and things around us. Even more, when you go back to a tune like ‘Still A Go Lose’ or ‘To The Rescue’ on one end for the women and ‘These Streets’ for the men (like Ky-Mani Marley), it makes the point of people focusing on ANY and EVERYTHING but what is IMMEDIATELY important and not the somewhat or ultimately completely unattainable or just the abstract STUPID (meaning the ‘streets’ not the ‘God’). Furthermore is the tune ‘To The Limit’ which simply gives you no rest:

“Some people spend a lifetime only experience politics and RELIGION

Some people seize every moment

Others stay governed by indecision”

Again, not a step AWAY from religion, but a step TOWARDS what is going on in life, right here and right now. And one could definitely make the claim, to play devil’s advocate, that religion is a part of life, but to such a person I would challenge you to pray for the successful payment of your bills next month without paying them yourself or treat your significant other like shit and pray he/she not leave you one day (really, please don’t do either of those, I’m just saying). And, you’ll even notice more how the end of the album, once again drifts away from even the explaining of and the expounding ON these topics and we end with going from don’t leave your woman at home (‘These Streets’) to what she may be doing with someone else when you do leave her at home (‘Home Alone’) and finally, having successfully pried herself away from your ass, exactly how much fun she’s having IN DETAIL (‘Don’t Play’). And if that weren’t enough, then there’s always that intro:

“Well if these is the last days

Then I’m using the music as my Jesus”

A Rebelution? A MOVEMENT, not a fight. A movement away from these concepts which are either unaffected or unobserving of our actions, towards something which affects us by the day and by the second. LOVE. What else? A BONAFIDE MODERN CLASSIC!