The who’s who of entertainment and Jamaican business crammed backstage at Usain Bolt’s Tracks & Records to congratulate Tanya Stephens on an enthralling performance. The Appleton-sponsored ‘Tracks Live’ set last Thursday marked Tanya’s major return to the local stage in two years, and the exaltation was wildly kinetic – even at 1 a.m.

“Tanya, what do you want to drink? I’ll get you

anything,” Gary Matalon, CEO of KLE Group (which manages the restaurant)

declares.

Positive influence

A sea of fans had ushered Stephens to the small room, with phones in hand ready to record a snap or selfie with the no-holds-barred star, while others were satiated with just a hug.

“I’m not an awards kind of person, but it feels good

when people seh my work did something for them or touched them,” Tanya

told BUZZ. “I want to be a part

of people’s journey. Mi waan be a part of something more tangible than just

external validation. Mi waan fi be useful inna people life, so when I hear that

my music means a lot to someone I get emotional. If I can be a positive

influence that makes me happy.”

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Tanya Stephens wows at Tracks Live Session[/naviga:li][/naviga:ul]

Critically acclaimed album

This year marks 15 years since the release of her critically

acclaimed fifth studio album, Gangsta

Blues, but it goes unnoticed to Tanya.

“People tell me it’s a classic, but I don’t get lost

in the words because if you get too caught up in praise, comparisons and

descriptions, it feeds your ego, and I really don’t want that,” she said.

“If it was that good then I feel like I need to top that, and that’s the

only time I think about the album really. Other people say it’s great, but I

kinda find it annoying cause dem tag you to it and it’s like Steve Urkel being

stuck in that role and him want other roles… I love the album, but mi do

other stuff too.”

The sexually and socio-political album was released in

2004, three years after the release of Tanya’s soft-pop, reggae album Sintoxicated, released by Warner Music

while she resided in Sweden.

Romance and broken society

Collaborating with a host of producers and musicians,

including Andrew Henton, Philip ‘Fatis’ Burrell, Barry O’Hare and Robert ‘Bobby

Digital’ Dixon, Gangsta Blues hosted

17 tracks released by VP Records and Tarantula Studios.

The album title provides an inkling into the ebbs and

flows of romantic relationships, balanced with the toughness of navigating a

broken society and bigoted system.

Stephens unapologetically exudes her sexuality on tracks

like Boom Wuk and Good Ride, is the villain in the ‘jacket’ case of Little White Lie, has side chick buyer’s remorse in Tek Him Back and switches roles as the

devout wife in What’s Your Story.

There was also It’s A Pity, the

‘Doctor’s Darling’ rhythm hit, The Other

Cheek, an anthem for the marginalised, and even some spoken word.

Rise to fame

The album was followed by Rebelution in 2006 and Infallible

in 2012.

A lot has changed since Tanya’s rise to fame, making it

challenging for her to find inspiration.

“I reach for new people with new music (like producer Triple L) cause inspiration is a very fleeting thing, mi nuh driven by the same things anymore,” she said. “I’ve been fortunate; a one-room mi come outta, mi caan tell when last mi inna one room. Mi nuh know weh it feel like fi nuh eat, in fact mi a eat too much. Now mi a try struggle fi tek off the weight cause mi waan be back to mi meagre self so mi nuh have dem same motivation deh.”

The evolution

She said that she has been working on an album for a few

years, but will not release it unless it is representative of who and where she

is today.

“At one point I didn’t want to put out an album

because #MeToo was going on and all the songs kept leaning in that direction,

and then something else was going on and it was the same thing,” she said.

“I don’t want to put out an album full of songs featuring depression, I don’t

want to immortalise that, so I kept pushing back and now I’m back to my

mischievous self.”

The album’s name is not set, but Tanya hopes the songs

will spark discussions in progressing Jamaica forward. This is also another

challenge.

“It’s very hard because we’re not an open people. We’re

really not into change, but we keep saying we want better and better is change

but we don’t want to change nothing,” she said. “It’s very

frustrating, but mi still a try wid the conversations and hope that eventually

they’ll stop cussing me and just listen first cause as soon as mi talk, Jamaica

just slide right down mi throat. It’s a whole bunch of okra out there and at

times it gets tiring. I hope soon they’ll understand that I’m on their side. I

live here, and I wouldn’t suggest anything that would make me uncomfortable

cause mi a go experience everything weh me a suggest.”