D
Devil's Nest
I know the topic has been beaten to death but I ran into Joey Gardner at the airport the other day and had a really great conversation with him about TKA and Freestyle in general. My first question to him was why he didn't work on the new TKA album and what he thought of it. He wouldn't get into details but he did say he wished TKA all the best with the new album. He also said that one of the reasons for not doing the album was that he thought it was time for the guys, especially Kayel, to follow their own creative vision for their music and their careers. He said that his one regret with working with TKA back in the days was that maybe he tried to have too much control over what they were doing but at the time it seemed necessary since all of them including himself were learning about the business as it was all happening. He said he felt someone needed to take responsibility and guide them through it. I knew Joey and Tony Moran from back in the days of the Devil's Nest when they, along with Andy Panda and Little Louie Vega were in a sense creating Freestyle. What I always admired about those guys was their absolute belief in what they were doing and the excellence they always strived for when it came to the music, image and performance of the groups they worked with(TKA, Cover Girls). The latin boom of the last few years seems to have overshadowed the fact that these guys were 15 years ahead of their time and what they were able to accomplish is just astonishing considering the means they had at the time. The one thing they understood was that no matter how far up the pop charts their records might go, they had to get the approval of the streets, the fans and the clubs first.
TKA back in 1985 were making music for their peers- young urban latinos and subsequently almost everyone who listened to dance radio in New York and Miami. They spoke to their own generation with Kayel's and Andy Panda's lyrics sung with emotion over Joey Gardner's and Tony Moran's haunting yet energetic arrangements. Their music sounded like nothing before them, yet was imitated for years afterward. There was definitely magic with this small group of people working together.
Which brings me to the new album. I don't think there was anyone more excited to hear that the guys were back in the studio. On street date, I was practically helping them unlock the gates at my local record store that morning to get a copy. I have to say I was a little disappointed with it. It's not that it's a bad album but it definitely lacked the magic of their classics. I'm not saying I wanted to hear an album full of Freestyle, but as a fan from day one I thought they would've have had their loyal fans in mind when recording their first album in 8 years. Maybe they did, but I didn't feel like they were doing it for me- a true fan. I could even accept that they were doing it for themselves as artists if there were some indication of that on the album. But I can't thinking if that were true, somewhere on the album you would feel the emotional release of an artist who finally got to do it their way.
In a music world where youth rules, how can an artist who has been around for so long, and at their age, compete with what's on the radio and MTV right now? They would need a label with unlimited resources, top notch songs with hooks that bang the listener over the head and a marketing set up to rival those of artists like N*sync on the Pop side or Ja Rule on the Hip Hop side. Sadly, it seems TKA now has neither of those things. Yes, there are a few moments of melody on the album. But nowhere do I feel the way I feel everytime I hear the first few notes of the piano on "Louder Than Love" (even today over 10 years later). Where are the heart tugging vocal performances like "I Can't Help It"? Most of the vocals sound as if they were phoned in as if Kayel didn't even want to be there and some of the music just sounds unfinished. Where are the bangin' breaks and energy of "Maria" ,"Give Your Love To Me", "Don't Be Afraid" or "Come Get My Love"? Where's the melodic sing-a-long hooks of "You Are The One" or "One Way Love" or the love letter-like lyrics of "Scars Of Love" and "Tears May Fall"? Again, I'm not saying it needed to be Freestyle but (as has been mentioned before) look at the success of K7's solo album. That's another album that was ahead of it's time. A few years later Puffy would make millions with that same formula. That album had everything. Great party tracks with phat beats and even some new school freestyle to boot. The key to that album's success was that Kayel didn't leave his old fans behind, he grew with them. He just expanded his fan base by being innovative and relevant. More importantly it contained well produced, well written songs with distinctive and energetic vocals.
I think TKA should ask themselves some hard questions. Is this the album they truly wanted to make. Is it so representative of their vision that they would forsake their loyal fans to defend it on these message boards? If it is, then maybe Tony Moran and Joey Gardner deserve more credit for TKA's previous success than we all thought. I, for one would rather have retained my image of the boys that defined my generation's music here in New York much the way my parents viewed the Beatles. It's always been about great songs that last a lifetime.
I hope TKA will think of that when they go in to record the next album (if there is a next album).
TKA back in 1985 were making music for their peers- young urban latinos and subsequently almost everyone who listened to dance radio in New York and Miami. They spoke to their own generation with Kayel's and Andy Panda's lyrics sung with emotion over Joey Gardner's and Tony Moran's haunting yet energetic arrangements. Their music sounded like nothing before them, yet was imitated for years afterward. There was definitely magic with this small group of people working together.
Which brings me to the new album. I don't think there was anyone more excited to hear that the guys were back in the studio. On street date, I was practically helping them unlock the gates at my local record store that morning to get a copy. I have to say I was a little disappointed with it. It's not that it's a bad album but it definitely lacked the magic of their classics. I'm not saying I wanted to hear an album full of Freestyle, but as a fan from day one I thought they would've have had their loyal fans in mind when recording their first album in 8 years. Maybe they did, but I didn't feel like they were doing it for me- a true fan. I could even accept that they were doing it for themselves as artists if there were some indication of that on the album. But I can't thinking if that were true, somewhere on the album you would feel the emotional release of an artist who finally got to do it their way.
In a music world where youth rules, how can an artist who has been around for so long, and at their age, compete with what's on the radio and MTV right now? They would need a label with unlimited resources, top notch songs with hooks that bang the listener over the head and a marketing set up to rival those of artists like N*sync on the Pop side or Ja Rule on the Hip Hop side. Sadly, it seems TKA now has neither of those things. Yes, there are a few moments of melody on the album. But nowhere do I feel the way I feel everytime I hear the first few notes of the piano on "Louder Than Love" (even today over 10 years later). Where are the heart tugging vocal performances like "I Can't Help It"? Most of the vocals sound as if they were phoned in as if Kayel didn't even want to be there and some of the music just sounds unfinished. Where are the bangin' breaks and energy of "Maria" ,"Give Your Love To Me", "Don't Be Afraid" or "Come Get My Love"? Where's the melodic sing-a-long hooks of "You Are The One" or "One Way Love" or the love letter-like lyrics of "Scars Of Love" and "Tears May Fall"? Again, I'm not saying it needed to be Freestyle but (as has been mentioned before) look at the success of K7's solo album. That's another album that was ahead of it's time. A few years later Puffy would make millions with that same formula. That album had everything. Great party tracks with phat beats and even some new school freestyle to boot. The key to that album's success was that Kayel didn't leave his old fans behind, he grew with them. He just expanded his fan base by being innovative and relevant. More importantly it contained well produced, well written songs with distinctive and energetic vocals.
I think TKA should ask themselves some hard questions. Is this the album they truly wanted to make. Is it so representative of their vision that they would forsake their loyal fans to defend it on these message boards? If it is, then maybe Tony Moran and Joey Gardner deserve more credit for TKA's previous success than we all thought. I, for one would rather have retained my image of the boys that defined my generation's music here in New York much the way my parents viewed the Beatles. It's always been about great songs that last a lifetime.
I hope TKA will think of that when they go in to record the next album (if there is a next album).
