IN DANCEHALL music where trends transcend quality, Tanya Stephens is an exception to the rule. Two years after rocking the dancehall with the acclaimed Gangsta Blues, the diminutive singer returns with Rebelution, another message-based album.

Rebelution, Stephens' sixth album, was released by VP Records in late August. Already, it is being touted as the album that will do for dancehall what Lauryn Hill's wildly successful The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill did for hip hop. That is, make it credible.

Stephens is aware of the expectancy that surrounds Rebelution. The outspoken singer told The Gleaner last week that she does not know what the fuss is about, since she's been making solid music for some time now.

"The first and foremost statement it (Rebelution) makes is that Tanya Stephens is not going to live within the box ... Certainly not what is expected of dancehall," she said. "I have already held up my hand several times and said, 'Hey, here's something different'. Anybody who never got that must have been deaf."

Stephens has tackled topics that are taboo in the dancehall, such as oral sex on the song Freaky Type. Cock Up Yuh Bumpa challenged the genre's exploitation of women.

She stays that course on Rebelution, playing the 'other woman' on Still A Go Lose while Do U Still Care ridicules racism and homophobia. On Rosa, she pays tribute to Rosa Parks, the American civil rights icon who died in 2005.

"I touch on many of the topics that people are reluctant to tackle in a public forum, but I don't have a problem tackling them because I think we need to solve them," she said.

Dancehall's downfall

She believes most dancehall performers' obsession with bashing gays has hit the movement where it hurts most - in the pocket.

"It has affected all of us, not only the people who have been censored," she said. "When it gets to the point where an entire festival is cancelled because of homophobia, it becomes everybody's business, including me."

Production-wise, Rebelution bears some similarities to its predecessor.

Most of it was produced by Andrew Henton, with contributions from Barry O Hare and Ainsworth Higgins, better known as disc jockey 'Big A' of Irie FM.

VP Records, the Queens, New York independent that has enjoyed platinum success with Sean Paul and Beenie Man, is distributing once again with Tarantula Records, Stephens and Henton's production company.

For all its quality, Stephens felt Gangsta Blues did not get the respect it deserved. In a 2004 interview with The SOURCE magazine, she was critical of how VP handled the project; Jamaican radio, she said, was indifferent to it.

Since Rebelution's release, Stephens has done promotional appearances in the United States and Europe. The album has got the thumbs-up from popular urban publications like VIBE magazine and the respected All Music.com website which called it a 'thematically cohesive concept album.'

Thumbs up for the album

Clyde McKenzie, a senior member of Shocking Vibes Productions which manages top dancehall artistes including Beenie Man, says Stephens is the real deal.

"In terms of songwriting, she is definitely one of the best out there, and you've got some good songwriters in dancehall like Sizzla and Jr. Gong, said McKenzie. He stressed that marketing will determine how well Rebelution does overseas.

"If it's done in the regular way it may not get off the ground. The college circuit (in the U.S.) would be a good place to work this album," he said.

Twelve years ago when Tanya Stephens broke through with the catchy Big Things A Gwaan, she was a shy single mother from St. Mary, the sixth of seven children.

That song was followed by other hits including Goggle and Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet. The latter, produced by Dave Kelly, was arguably the biggest dancehall song of 1996.

However, critics said her songs were formulaic, as several had a distinct anti-male theme. In The SOURCE interview, Stephens said she was weary of developing a reputation of being a man-hater who had been dealt a bad hand in the romance department.

Gangsta Blues confounded the critics, proving she had the chops to be a serious songwriter. With Rebelution, Tanya Stephens may finally prove that dancehall is more than just catchy hooks and bawdy lyrics.

- H. C.