The Album
| Teyana Taylor
The Album
The Album is the third studio album by American singer Teyana Taylor. The album was released on June 19, 2020, through GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings, almost exactly two years after her 8 track second album K.T.S.E. The album was preceded by the release of six singles "How You Want It?", "Morning", "We Got Love", "Made It", "Bare with Me" and "Wake Up Love". The 23-track album features guest appearances from Erykah Badu, Kehlani, Big Sean, Lauryn Hill, Future, Rick Ross, Quavo, and Missy Elliott. Taylor's husband, Iman Shumpert and their daughter Junie also appear. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Teyana Taylor regains control of her art across a long and complex album, one that deftly recontextualizes classic R&B and better represents the fierce persona she has honed in public.
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NME
It's been a long time coming, but the pop star's third record, which explores heady themes and skips between genres, was well worth the wait.
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Rolling Stone
The singer-dancer-model-choreographer’s latest is an ambitious 23-song odyssey.
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DJ Booth
Teyana Taylor’s third studio album, ‘The Album,’ is an honest work of art.
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Jezebel
For where Taylor is in her life, as an artist who also happens to be a mother and wife, The Album is an accomplishment and tangible proof for Black women in music whose presence seems to rest on stretches that are fleeting, or where their look, sound, and inventiveness are distilled and then portioned out for white pop stars to imitate.
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Ratings Game Music
There isn’t a bad song on The Album. Teyana clearly knows how to make complete/satisfying hip-hop/R&B records.
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Uproxx
Teyana Taylor’s third album is a well-written book of love in her own eyes, one that shows the many faces of pain, confidence, hope, pleasure, and happiness enclosed in an emotional playback of the birth of her first child and a celebratory discovery of love.
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All Music
The Album is rounded out by an up-tempo trifecta that with each verse and chorus, all the way through Lauryn Hill's closing words of wisdom, increases in power.
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Baller Status
Overall, Teyana delivered with this new project. With every listen, you find a new song that you may not have paid attention to initially. Each listen gets better than the first.
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Sloppy Vinyl
“The Album,” is a strong showing from Teyana Taylor. Every song is great, they each sound acoustically great, the lyrics, the content, the structure, the sequencing, and the features all have a purpose and take you on the journey of a relationship cohesively.
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Clash Magazine
An extraordinary return from the R&B goddess.
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Music Xclusives
Teyana has always been locked in a place where she had to prove herself musically after so many hiccups. But with THE ALBUM, Teyana may have just proven herself to the masses after all. Consider this the re-introduction of Teyana Taylor.
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Black Cloudent
while The Album is billed as Teyana’s long-awaited breakout moment; it doesn’t have the same artistic impact as her visual work, or even the tightly constructed gem that was K.T.S.E.
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Medium
The Album still stands, the pros one-hundred percent outweigh the cons, and this project will probably stand as one of the most memorable albums of 2020.
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The Forty Five
Like its creator, ‘The Album’ is by no means flawless, but this is as honest a reflection of Taylor as we’ve encountered yet.
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The Floor Magazine
The Album is a great project, playing on both Taylor’s vulnerabilities and strengths. She finally appears to be dancing to the beat of her own drum, and for that, I have no choice but to stan.
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Black Boy Bulletin
The Album is ultimately another win for Teyana, but there is still so much more that she has left to give.
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The Young Folks
The Album, is an impressive compilation of intimate, raw songs which span different genres and themes.
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The Daily Californian
Teyana Taylor demonstrates excellence, expertise in ‘The Album’.
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The Musical Hype
Not every artist can pull off such a long album as well as Teyana Taylor does on The Album. Sure, she could’ve trimmed a few songs, but honestly, this is one 80-minute album that works extremely well just as it is.
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Spectrum Culture
The Album is a little like George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, another record made by an artist so intoxicated by hard-earned freedom they decided to do pretty much everything they always wanted to do in one place. It feels beside the point to argue that the album’s too long, so inspiring was it to see the liberation of such a great mind. But the next album he made was 44 minutes long. Taylor should take note.
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Everyday Froday
Teyana Taylor’s album is an ode to Black womanhood and reinforces that Black Women are indeed MAGIC!
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Flood Magazine
Sometimes, you do wish that The Album was a little shorter, or better edited with its plateaus and extended vibes—too many up-tempo tracks in a row, then too many ballads—but, overall, Teyana Taylor has found new expressionism in R&B traditions you didn’t think were possible or probable. That’s what makes her a superwoman.
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The Needle Drop
At a sprawling 23 tracks, The Album has highlights and duds in equal measure.
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AURA
Inception to conclusion, ‘The Album’ is a raw portrayal of five different forms of love that Teyana Taylor has experienced throughout her life. Reaching an impressive twenty-three tracks, there is a plethora of styles that Teyana Taylor experiments with, from modern R&B to 90’s hip-hop/rap.
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Euphoriazine
There’s no short of stylistic options for Taylor, and The Album serves to solidify her place as an adaptable, eccentric musical force.
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Ben's Beat
While there are a standard-sized album’s worth of great tracks here, it would appear that Taylor simply overcompensated after being upset at being held back with how much material she could place on an album.
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Opinion Police
The Album is by no means perfect. However, its flaws, like its unwavering humanity and bold melodrama, allow it to be real; to be joyful yet genuine.
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