Preview: Teyana Taylor + Jeremih @ 9:30 Club
As part of our continuing partnership with IMP, we are excited to preview Jeremih and Teyana Taylor at The 9:30 Club on August 11.
Whoever said R&B is dead must have stopped listening in the 90's. From Kali Uchis to Kehlani, the genre of tear-inducing ballads and baby making night tunes is in full swing of a renaissance. The beats are steamy, the lyrics are raw and the kids are loving it. While most the new wave of urban crooners have only started their ascent to fame in the past three years, both Jeremih and Teyana Taylor are no strangers to the spotlight.
Photo: Getty Photos/Thaddaeus McAdams
Jeremih, the 31 year old singer, songwriter and producer, has been adept at claiming summer smashes since his 2009 debut, forever modifying birthday party playlists with the hit single, “Birthday Sex.” He followed that up with 2010’s “Down on Me” which hit #1 on the Billboard charts, and he’s been a power player in the genre ever since.
The Chicago native spoke on his confidence in his art saying, “I can make a great sex song anytime I want, without even saying a body part, without saying anything that could be omitted on the radio. Somehow I’ve just been given that ability.” Serving up sexy hooks and the sensual anthems for the millennial generation, concertgoers can expect a night of intimacy and smooth jams.
Photo: Teyana Taylor
Teyana Taylor is a songstress that implements the strongest point of both nineties and contemporary R&B. A born vocalist, her range and tone control are on par with legends like Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey. Taylor, the sole woman signee to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music label imprint, melts the lushness of her voice over clean minimal production to create a vivid image of what it means to be a black mother and wife in these times. Fresh off of her seven song album, K.T.S.E (Keep that Same Energy), a powerful (if woefully brief) collection of songs that highlights the maturity and insight she’s gain over her four year, Post-VII hiatus. The whole album sounds like SZA’s Ctrl mixed ever so slightly with Solange’s A Seat At The Table, if both were being played in a coffee shop on a breezy Sunday afternoon.
This combination, undoubtedly, has many excited to what the live versions of many tracks will sound like. “I’m from the old school, you know, where I want seven minute long songs. I want the five minute long Teena Marie, she just ad-libbing for three of the minutes of the five and really only got two verses," Taylor said in a recent Pitchfork interview. Safe to say, 9:30 Club can expect extended versions of all of K.T.S.E tracks, most guaranteed to send chills down multiple spines and you’ll want to be in the audience for that.