Don’t Sleep On The “Sleepy Soldier” Tanna Leone

Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free’s multilingual label pgLang has been promising thus far with the signing of Baby Keem, and now emerging Los Angeles-based artist Tanna Leone is the latest to join the squad. Defining what it means to not be put in a box, Tanna’s music is extremely unique in its own world. “I’m not interested in being put in a box, or people attempting to categorize me as one thing or another” Tanna said in an interview with Complex. “In reality, it’s pretty normal for a person to be able to change their faces depending on what room they’re going into. We all do it. So as an artist, I just wanted to be that” he adds, and that is exactly what he is accomplishing with every one of his songs sounding distinct from one another. With influences from Tupac to DMX, Tanna is cultivating his sound while incorporating what he grew up listening to.

With the release of his debut album Sleepy Soldier and featuring on Kendrick’s new album, he is on his way to a promising career. A compilation of new and old songs that he has been working on for the past two years, Sleepy Soldier is a great balance of lyrics and melody highlighting the versatility of Tanna. Taking a different approach into every track Tanna is pushing the boundaries of alternative rap by pulling elements from other genres. On songs Fatal Attraction and One of One Tanna utilizes more melodic flows, something similar to what Kid Cudi or Travis Scott have done. While songs Here We Go Again and Go Mode are more lyric driven showcasing his rapping ability. Tanna slows things down on the songs Heartbreaker and Death n’ Texas getting more vulnerable and personal about his life and the perception of it. There are two tracks that really separate themselves from the rest, Nirvana and February. Both songs taking an alternative rock approach shows how far he is willing to expand his sound.

Sonically this album is great for any mood or occasion as it has many different elements to it and keeps the listener engaged with the constant switch up between instrumentals and cadences. There aren’t many artists to compare to Tanna but his music is similar to the likes of Reese LaFlare.  From the release of his debut album to his feature on the long-awaited Kendrick project, Tanna has proven himself to be here for a long time. pgLang has put together a nice roster thus far and we can’t wait to see what’s next for the collective.