By Madeline Zavala ’24
Rhythm and Blues, known today as R&B, originated in the 1940’s and is one of the most popular music genres in the world. People everywhere have loved R&B because of how much of a personal connection someone can make with the music, and it’s still very loved today. R & B can consist of different types of music such as jazz and pop. It is famous for making people feel many kinds of emotions, typically setting various types of moods for themselves like relaxation, sadness, empathy, and many more. As time passed, many R&B artists gained popularity through their music such as The Weeknd, SZA, Kali Uchis, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and many more. One artist in particular who rose to fame and is well-known in the music industry is Bryson Tiller.
Bryson Djuan Tiller was born in 1993 in Louisville, Kentucky, making him 31 years old. Tiller’s music career began when he released his first single “Don’t” on Soundcloud. This song gained public recognition very quickly and resulted in Tiller’s song having 475 million views on YouTube when he made a music video for the single. Since then, he has released three studio albums: TRAPSOUL, True to Self, and ANNIVERSARY. ANNIVERSARY was his most recent album which was released in 2020, and after four long-awaited years, Tiller will soon release a new album.
The name of the album, as well as its release, is still unknown, but I had the opportunity to listen to two unreleased songs when I went to see him perform last month in December. Tiller expressed to the crowd how blessed and excited he is to be releasing a new album as well as the sacrifices he had to make in order to create his music. “I just finished my new album, and I just wanted to let you guys know that. I’m really happy about this album and I’m excited for you guys to hear it. I’ve been in the studio everyday and your boy has been working hard all year, and I spent a lot of time away from the family and from the kids. I told myself, ‘I’m gonna take a little hiatus after this album just to really put it out,’ and I really feel like there are some songs here that you guys would really really mess with,” Tiller said.
As far as features go, one of Tiller’s songs from this album will feature famous singer, songwriter, and dancer Usher. “This is my brother Usher,” Tiller expressed the night of the concert when he began performing one of the album’s songs. When he previewed the song, it really showed me how good of an album it’s going to be, and it’s one I’m really looking forward to hearing. Although I can’t explain what the lyrics were in the article, Tiller has something called “Tiller Tuesdays” where he posts portions of his upcoming music every Tuesday. From the two Tiller Tuesdays he has done so far and the two songs I was able to listen to in person, it’s a very promising album. His albums have never failed and in honor of the long awaited album, I’m going to review his latest album, ANNIVERSARY.
When ANNIVERSARY first released in 2020, Tiller struggled mentally because not only did he have a hard time with the pandemic interfering with the release of his album, but some people weren’t a fan of the album overall. Fans expressed that they preferred TRAPSOUL over ANNIVERSARY because of the way Tiller wrote his music in the later album. Fans believed that Tiller “wanted to make his music sound too sad and overdid it.” Both albums were amazing, in my opinion, regardless of their differences in lyrics, which is a quality I love about Tiller. His ability to express his true feelings through his music is something I admire, and aside from the people who had a different opinion on ANNIVERSARY, many others would agree with me. On YouTube, all 15 of Tiller’s songs from the album combined have a total of 86.6 million views. The most popular songs are “Sorrows,” “Inhale,” “Outta Time,” “Keep Doing What You’re Doing,” and “Next To You.” He had two artists featured in his album for two different songs: “Outta Time” featuring Drake, and “Still Yours” featuring Big Sean.
If I gave this album a rating out of 5 stars, I would give it 4.5 stars. I was a fan of most of the songs except for two! I rated each song out of 5 stars and my ratings would be based on the lyrics, instrumentals, and the emotions I felt when I listened to the music. The lowest rating Tiller received from me was 3 stars for his song “Years Go By.” I wasn’t the biggest fan of the instrumental or the way he sang the song, but I did love the instrumental at the beginning and end.
Out of the ten songs in the album, four were rated 4 stars! When listening to those songs, I either found myself very excited listening or feeling a personal connection to his music. There were only very small things that made me place these songs at 4 stars. One example was “Outta Time” featuring Drake. Unlike “Still Yours” that features Big Sean, I felt like it was Drake’s song for a second. It took Tiller a little while to start singing, and I guess I wasn’t a big fan of it. Other than that, the instrumental and vocals as well as the lyrics were amazing! “Always Forever” was another song I loved that I rated 4 stars. This song reminded me of one of Tiller’s older songs, “Blame.” Blame was one of the first songs I listened to when I discovered Tiller and even though I didn’t connect with the lyrics back then, I found myself relating to them now. “Blame” is about Tiller trying to figure out why the relationship he had with his lover didn’t succeed and the different aspects that may have caused the relationship to fail. I’ve gone through something similar recently which is why I connected with the past couple months. “Blame” forever remains a favorite song of mine and “Always Forever” reminded me of it!
I wanted to dive deeper into my 5 star ratings for this album and why I rated them the way I did. The songs that received 5 stars were: “Sorrows,” “Inhale,” “Keep doing what you’re doing,” “I’m ready for you,” “Timeless interlude,” and “Still Yours!” I found that these seven songs had the best instrumentals and lyrics as well as the way he expresses his emotions and the connections and memories I have with them.
When Tiller first announced his tour back in March 2023, I was so desperate to land my hands on a ticket. Even though he was not performing in Connecticut, I was going to try and purchase a ticket for Boston or New York. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to buy a ticket quickly enough because not only did it sell out in ten minutes, but I was in school during the sale. To my surprise, he announced in October that he was going back on tour for another eight shows and one was in Connecticut. I was able to buy a ticket five minutes after the sale started and I got to see him up close on the floor. During the concert, he performed “Sorrows,” “Inhale,” “Timeless Interlude,” and “Still yours.” When I listen to these four songs, I never fail to find myself smiling when I remember seeing him perform live. “Still Yours” was his opening song and he transitioned into “Sorrows” after singing “Don’t.” Inhale and “Timeless Interlude” were performed in the middle of the show and I always remember the excitement I had when I heard these songs play.
ANNIVERSARY is an amazing album, and it’s one I would recommend to anyone who listens to R&B. Tiller never fails to impress me with his music and he will forever remain my favorite artist because of his ability to create amazing songs while expressing what he feels. He was able to accomplish that with ANNIVERSARY and it easily comes close to TRAPSOUL. I can’t wait to hear what he produces in his upcoming release.
The Raider Press 