Tanya Stephens Plans World Tour For 20th Anniversary Of ‘Gangsta Blues’ Album
This year marks 20 years since the release of Tanya Stephen’s critically-acclaimed fifth studio album, Gangsta Blues, and she’s doing it big with an anniversary tour.
The singer is currently accepting bookings for the Caribbean, North America and Asia through Starburst Music Agency, Almighty One Promotions and Ujama Designs.
“It’s been 20 YEARS!!!!” Stephens exclaimed in a promotional post before engaging comments about the timeless body of the work.
“Will there be physical copies on sale at the tour?” stylist Bootleg Rocstar asked.
“Doing the unplugged live specially for tour sales,” she responded.
One user revealed, “As a guy, I know every song on this album word to word 😅 my sisters played this non stop!!!”
A male fan replied, “I can sing them all word for word😅😭. Forever a Tanya fan!”
Stephens joined the thread, “Good! Then you should both be good men!😁.”
There were some comments that imbued Stephens’ laughter, like the fan who “Scratch up my mother CD and had to run go buy another before she found out, memories.”
Figurative flowers also pervaded the tour announcement.
“@iamtanyastephens an original and still the best to do what you do! Any Tanya show, the ladies are out in full force and know EVERY lyric!!”
“The Best and Most Heartfelt and REAL Album Ever… I STAN You for this album. You spoke to ALL Women & Men on this One.”
The sexually and socially political album debuted in March 2004, three years after the release of Stephens’ soft-pop, reggae album Sintoxicated (which was released by Warner Music while she resided in Sweden).
Released by VP Records and Tarantula Studios, Gangsta Blues hosted 17 tracks curated by a host of producers and musicians including Andrew Henton, Philip ‘Fatis’ Burrell, Barry O’Hare and Robert ‘Bobby Digital’ Dixon.
The unvarnished singer represented the lover navigating the ebbs and flows of romantic relationships, as well as the political advocate scrutinising 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 were also anthems for the marginalised like The Other Cheek, the Doctor’s Darling riddim hit, It’s A Pity, and even some spoken word.
Commenting on its 15th anniversary in 2019, Stephens told BUZZ that she doesn’t absorb the “classic” label of the album as it feeds egotism.
“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,” she said. “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.”
Gangsta Blues was followed by Rebelution (2006), Infallible (2012), Guilty (2014) and Some Kinda Madness (2022).