Tanya Morgan Reunites for ‘Celebratory’ Third Album

Having recently taken a hiatus from recording as the trio Tanya Morgan, members Von Pea, Donwill and Ilyas are linking back up to record their untitled third album, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2009 offering 'Brooklynati.'

"The way we're doing it this time is, as artist and as soloists, we each have a cache of producers that we work with specifically," Donwill tells The BoomBox of the group's routine. "Our process is always submitting songs to one another. How we're going to do it this time is we're going to get our [separate] producers to pull in beats. This Tanya Morgan album will definitely have a different vibe than other projects we've done. We don't want to make 'Brooklynati Part 2.'"

In an effort to step away from the rusty soul-drenched sound of 'Brooklynati,' the group is looking to give their music a more "celebratory" feel, a pat on the back for making it in an industry where new rappers are constantly introduced to the digital world without sustaining their buzz. "It's kind of hard to survive in this industry," says Donwill. "But it's every man for themselves. We're just celebrating our presence and our legacy at this point."

In addition to recording their third album, Von Pea and Donwill are currently working on a mixtape set for release in the near future. "I've been tooling around with making beats," he says. "I want to get more into production and DJing and stuff, just trying new areas out. I don't necessarily want to confine myself to just emcee, emcee, emcee. But for now, I think I might just focus my energy on the Tanya Morgan project."

Not only does a reunion appropriate for the group after taking some time off, but it makes even more sense knowing how awkward it can be promoting projects apart from one another. Donwill recently had to appear separately from his band mates during Record Store Week, a situation where he didn't feel right about. "It was kind of strange not having them around certain shit. It's already weird enough to know that I'm going to be in another city alone with a band doing my shit," he says of promoting his recent solo album 'Don Cusack in High Fidelity.' "But it's really weird to see that we all have separate followings at this stage."

The followings are likely to collide with the release of Tonya Morgan's third album. "I know we don't have a long story career like a De La Soul," Donwill says, "but three albums and two EPs and a solo career for every artist isn't looking that shabby at all." Let the celebration begin.