On January 27, 2023, the highly anticipated album titled “GAULTIER” (pronounced  Gaul-tee-ay) released, granting fans a listening experience which they had been waiting for. 

Serving as the debut album for 16-year old rapper/musician tana, the title of the album is in reference to French fashion designer John Paul Gaultier, known for his abstract and outside-the-box garments which have clearly influenced tana’s unique style and fashion choices he shows to the world.

The album sees an expansion of tana’s previously created sounds, as well as certain new sounds being brought in. Prior to the album’s release, three tracks were put on streaming services as singles in order to lead up to its eventual release, those songs being “hell yeah”, “fear no man” and “swaggin like this (with Lancey Foux)”. Boasting production from popular underground producers such as Zodiac, Taz Taylor, and even a couple self produced tracks, the album uses dark and airy production coupled with crisp vocals from tana in order to create a unique and at times, dark and mysterious atmosphere. 

Overall, the album is incredibly catchy and boasts great replay value, being short and easy to listen to, having a runtime of only 24 minutes. Out of the 11 songs on the LP, there is not a single one which drags down the quality of the album or feels like a chore to listen to. The music and aesthetic tana created with this album are truly phenomenal, especially considering how young he is.

My personal favorite tracks from this album are “y”, “archive”, “hell nah”, “fear no man”, “gon b ok”,  “swaggin like this” and “as i walk thru the path”. This album acts as a great starting point for what I believe could be a long and prosperous career for tana.

Album Rating: 9/10