Imagine you’re at a sweltering Mardis Gras kick-back. Cajun aromas spike your nerves and thick swamp air hangs and shines as the sun sets over the bayou. Then, out of nowhere, a queen emerges to sing you the most lyrically intricate spoken word jazz story about the human experience, love, and childhood. You don’t have to go to New Orleans to get this experience – Tank and the Bangas brought this undeniably vibrant flare of creole culture through anecdotal poetry, funk, rap, and more to NYC. The New Orleans natives were sensational for Summer Stage’s inaugural summer event, which featured a star-filled line-up of funk, jazz, and DJ acts including The Soul Rebels, Marcus Miller, and DJ Logic.

Audience members roared when the ensemble took the stage and right off the bat, lead vocalist Tarriona ‘Tank’ Ball was an absolute force to be reckoned with as she commanded the crowd in a stunning yellow and silver sequin dress. With a captivating genre-blending instrumental presence and unreal lyrical prowess, the band started off the show with their original “Quick”. After the first track, we could tell there was a reason why they won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album in the last year. Tank’s style is a combination of multiple hip-hop and R&B artists combined. The ability to characterize her voice based on impulses and directions her words provide is similar to that of Niki Minaj, while her storytelling ability reminds us of great MCs like Lauryn Hill. All this to say, she’s a performer in her own league and her originality shines from the culture in her veins and brings poetry to our ears.

Accompanying Tank was an insanely talented group of instrumentalists and vocalists who helped to bring the heat during their set especially during a favorite cover of ours, “Another Star” by Stevie Wonder. There was no shortage of spoken word poetry as pieces like “This Black Girl” and “Remember ft. Samara Joy and Robert Glasper” had us closing our eyes to feel the emotion of Tank’s own human experience, a soliloquy of growing up different and finding herself through the chaos of life. Other notable tracks were a cover of “Hollywood Swinging” by Kool and the Gang as well as Big (ft. Big Freida), a song off their Grammy nominated Album Red Balloon, which brought the NOLA funk to NYC.

With the show coming to a close, what other way to end a set than with some rock n’ roll as they busted out “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey mashed up into their original track “The Bradys,” which sounded like something out of a Disney channel movie and had our heads absolutely spinning. Needless to say, Tank and The Bangas brought a refreshing new take on poetry, jazz, hip-hop, and more, making them a must-see act this summer on their US tour.

Connect with Tank and the Bangas on Instagram, Spotify, TikTok and their website.