A fresh generation of bold New Orleans artists have been forwarding the Crescent City’s legacy of Black music towards ambitious new topography in recent years. A unicorn project born from the spoken word scene, Tank and the Bangas are one of the groups reimagining the storied sound of this town in her own multi-hued image. Formed in 2013, across the past decade they’ve experienced a glow-up of the highest order, first winning NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2017, eventually breaking through on national and international stages, and then blasting off on a meteoric ascent to a trifecta of critical acclaim, cross-cultural impact, and pop music stardom.
After multiple nominations in different categories, Tank and the Bangas brought home a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album earlier this year, honored for 2024 three-volume masterpiece The Heart, The Mind, The Soul. Another esteemed recognition followed: the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival official 2025 poster features a beautiful rendering of Tank and the Bangas, illustrated by celebrated New Orleans artist James Michalopoulos.
In February, the genre-smashing squadron returned to the high seas for Jam Cruise 21, marking their second sailing on the funky festival hosted in the middle of the ocean. A colorfully-costumed, theatrical full-sensory experience, Tank & the Bangas fit right into the bosom of Jamily once again. Flowing footloose and fancy-free, the scintillating ensemble delivered two sets of their patented hybrid strains of conscious hip-hop, soulful R&B, slam poetry, NOLA-funk, jazzy grooves, and more.
On the fifth and final morning of Jam Cruise 21, Live For Live Music’s B.Getz was fortunate to sit down with bandleader, visionary, founder, and frontperson Tarriona “Tank” Ball for a candid conversation touching on the group’s presence on the boat, their Grammy win, her friendship/collaborations with Norah Jones, representing New Orleans, and what makes a “Banga.”
This dialogue has been condensed for brevity and clarity.
L4LM: What does Jam Cruise embody, from your perspective as an artist not necessarily native to the “jam” scene?
Tank: My first thought is just that everybody definitely has freedom here. It reminds me of an old commercial in New Orleans, people would zip out of their business suits and say, “Come to New Orleans! You’re yourself here.” So Jam Cruise is on that theme, on brand. People are really into the jams of it all.
Sometimes I wonder if we fit into the mold of what’s going on here, because we are different, and we don’t have as many years of performing here. We also don’t, you know, sit around and just jam, I suppose. So I wonder: “Are they sure they wanted the right girl?” [laughs]. But then you get out there, perform your music, and people tell you how your set made them feel, and then you know you’re right where you’re supposed to be.
L4LM: It doesn’t have to be your target demo for you to touch people’s lives. In fact, maybe that’s the point!
Tank: You’re right. But I don’t even know what my target demo is in this world, honestly. Cause I always have somebody 80 or 90 years old coming up to me saying, “I’m your oldest fan!” And I’m like, “No you’re not!” But I appreciate that my fans really range in age and race—our music goes everywhere. But sometimes, here, I definitely wonder.
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L4LM: Do you find yourself having a good time on Jam Cruise when you’re not performing? Do you take advantage of the amenities and pamper yourselves?
Tank: Oh yes, I love being on the boat, when we’re not performing, definitely. Because I just got me some insoles made for my feet. You know what I’m saying? So I’m out there doing different things. I’ve had a stone massage. I’ve sat in the hot tub. I’m gonna get in it again right after me and you get done talking. Might take a swim. So I’m taking advantage of all that for sure! And I think all the artists do, if they’re not so busy just performing, performing, performing.
But as a performer, I’m someone who also needs rest. So I’m into all of it, but if I’m not at every jam, I don’t worry about all that. I appreciate my rest.
L4LM: The Pool Deck looks like a challenging environment as far as nature and the elements, especially with a multi-faceted, high-energy, nuanced performance like your band delivers
Tank: It’s very, very difficult. It’s almost like Mother Nature is pushing against you just saying, “Sit down bitch!” Like, that’s what it feels like. I talked to my musicians afterwards, and they felt it too. Oh, it’s intense! Performing on a pool deck with a stage on top, sailing in the middle of the ocean. Shit! Oh my gosh, because it looks fun, it looks like, “Oh, I can’t wait to do it.” And then you do it and you’re like, “Wow, this is difficult!” I have moments of, “Damn, this is hard!” And you have moments of, “This is really beautiful. This is so special.” You feel exasperated, and it knocks the wind out of you.
L4LM: Rest assured, fans couldn’t tell it was a struggle. Y’all looked real good doin’ it up there. And sounded even better! It was a fantastic voyage.
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L4LM: Tank and the Bangas just won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album for The Heart, The Mind, The Soul. Your roots are in slam poetry. Take us back to the embryonic beginnings as a writer and poet, and the evolution of your art.
Tank: I’ve been writing since I was 11 or 12 years old, since I opened my sister’s journal and began to read her poetry. Then I got my own notebooks and filled them with my own poetry. Later, in middle school, I got a CD with a bunch of kids doing poetry, and I just fell in love with these kids. I went to their school to do a poetry slam, and I already knew all of them just by their voice. I was a big fan already. And I won that competition at that school, and was able to stay friends with all these children for years. We just grew with each other.
Years later, after Hurricane Katrina happened, I was living in Indianapolis. I heard from one of those kids, who was an adult now, and he told me they were starting a new poetry group in New Orleans, and wanted me to try out. I got on the team, and we just made this beautiful team called Team SNO [Slam New Orleans]. We worked really hard. We combined music and poetry in a very unique and special way.
Our band, we were birthed from an open mic night. we just know how to flow with each other, and with my poetry and music. I was able to do both, and flip them. When I was at the Grammys and I saw the category come up, I said, “Oh, my gosh, that’s my category.” We just went full force into the spoken word category after that, making this album.
Tank And The Bangas Win Grammy For Best Spoken Word Poetry Album
L4LM: The Heart, The Mind, The Soul—the album that took home the Grammy—is three volumes, with a different producer on each. What was the vision and intention with this project?
Tank: I wanted to talk about the different relationships that I’ve had with my heart, and with my mind and with my soul, and even with my body. I love the way it was put out, how intentional it was. We made it shorter so we could keep our fans’ attention. We looked at what was going on in the world today and how people’s attention spans are so short. So we made shorter songs, short videos, and it connected. It was a real brainchild!
The three producers—you need to get into Iman Omari. He is a vibe, comes from California, started out making beats, now he sings as well. I didn’t even know he lived in New Orleans for a while too! He’s amazing. I always knew I wanted to work with him because his work makes me want to write. I also didn’t realize how incredible James Poyser is; he’s a pioneer of neo-soul. Robert Glasper, you already know, just press record and man… Robert is gonna have us a good time and he just don’t stop. With Robert, you gotta always keep recording, do not stop, because you never know what kind of magic we’re going to make. We like to be very free in the studio together.
Norah Jones & Tarriona “Tank” Ball Duet On “Rollercoasters” (2023)
L4LM: Early in your career, you connected with Norah Jones. What’s the origin story with that relationship? Was that before or after your NPR Tiny Desk Concert?
Tank: It was before Tiny Desk. Norah heard me at One Eyed Jack’s in New Orleans, and then she reached out. I was at Waffle House, and I will never forget what she said. She was like, “Hey, I got a really silly song. I would love for you to get on it, but you can say no.” And I’m like, “Girl, you NORAH JONES! I’m NOT going to say no!” But I realized why she said the song was silly, because it was about poo-ing. It was about men who don’t think women take a sh*t [laughs]. That’s what the whole song was about. She liked the voices I have inside, and she wanted to play around with that.
We’re kindred spirits. Even the night before the Grammys, we went out to dinner. She said, “I’m just here, I’m not gonna win.” And when they called her name to win [Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Visions], I was just like, “I love that girl so much!”
L4LM: Now I bet that was huge, getting an industry break from such a revered artist, especially someone who is not from New Orleans.
Tank: Yeah, but I don’t even feel like it was some type of break. Doesn’t feel that way. But Norah definitely helped in her own special, natural ways—even when I first went on Jimmy Fallon with her. Because I would never do background, for real, I feel like I don’t have the ear for it, honestly. But when she calls, I’m gonna do it for Norah. And when I went on Jimmy Fallon, I said, “I’m going to be on Jimmy Fallon with my band, and he’s gonna love me. He’s not gonna know why.” And that’s exactly what happened. Because like… I spoke it. And what’s so crazy is that if I didn’t go on that TV show with her, I don’t think I ever would have dreamt that for myself.
Tank And The Bangas Perform On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2019)
L4LM: Let’s talk about your band. What makes a “Banga?”
Tank: Tank. I choose a Banga.
L4LM: Are there any Tank qualifications or prerequisites?
Tank: You’re looking for a vibe, an energy, and chemistry when executing the music. What can you add to it? What’s your stage presence like? And if you don’t have no stage presence yet, we will work on that together in our alone time. Because it’s really all about good energy.
Norman [Spence, multi-instrumentalist/musical director] is the Banga that’s been with me the longest. He loves a quote from Greg Phillinganes [Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson]: “You’ll never be more of a musician than you are as a human being.” Basically, be a better person, be a good human being. The musicianship will follow you, afterwards. Because if you’re a jerk musician, I don’t want to work with you, even if you’re the best. If your personality, your spirit, and your heart aren’t right, why would we want to work with you?
It may be like The Temptations. You never know who it’s gonna be at the end of the day, but I’m always gonna be here. The songs are gonna evolve, change, grow, and we’re gonna keep doing them.
Tank And The Bangas on The Kelly Clarkson Show (2024)
L4LM: Your performance art is so theatrical. Were you a theater kid in high school?
Tank: No. I haven’t been in one play before.
L4LM: So, then where does that element of theater come from? The different characters and voices, musical scenes and stories, etc.
Tank: I think it comes from having sisters, and playing with Barbie dolls for a long time. I was one of those children watching the TV from up close. And from reading! It just sharpens your imagination, and widens it. We’re just coming from the heart. Yeah… it’s from the heart. But I can see why anybody would think it’s theatrical. It is theatrical. It’s just not birthed from the theater.
L4LM: Here on Jam Cruise, when people think of New Orleans music, they think The Meters, Dumpstaphunk, and Galactic, among others. But things are evolving, and it’s high time we start thinking Tank & the Bangas, too. What are some ways in which you embody the Crescent City, musically or otherwise?
Tank: Well, to me I feel like I’m birthed from the underbelly of New Orleans. Which is the open mic scene, the artists, the painters and the skateboarders. People that may have walked in on a jazz club and were like, “Nice,” and then walked out. People that were influenced but not guided by the traditional New Orleans sound. So when I think of myself in New Orleans, I think more of the spirit. It can speak to anybody, it says “hey” from your porch even when I don’t know who you are. Just getting in where I fit in, for real. It’s new kids on the block, for sure, but it’s a familiar block.
We created something. We carved our own lane, definitely with New Orleans people. The poets were always so accepting of me; that’s why I feel so free. And though I grew up in the church, I don’t feel like a gospel singer, even though I have gospel roots. I feel more nervous singing at church than at an open mic full of strangers. I’ll pass it up and do a poem at church. But New Orleans, it’s a spirit. It’s the “hey, bebe.” It’s inside.
Tank And The Bangas ft. Jelly Joseph (2024)
L4LM: You‘ve blossomed into a shining star from the Crescent City, all over the world. Tank & the Bangas are ambassadors to NOLA. Do you feel like you represent New Orleans?
Tank: I can represent a certain part of New Orleans, yeah definitely.
L4LM: Does that feel good to you?
Tank: Hell yeah! Why not? I feel like I’m New Orleans baby girl.
L4LM: And is it reciprocal? Now that you’ve become so successful, do you feel that the city’s got you?
Tank: Yeah, I do. The people that should. Am I always gonna be at the clubs? Probably not. Because bounce music and brass music rule New Orleans. So, you know, that’s not all the way me. It’s a part of me, but it’s not all the way me. But that’s okay. I’m okay with that. I ain’t from nowhere else, right? Yeah. This is the place.
To move our way up like this, it’s crazy. We’re on the Jazz Fest poster this year. Now that’s crazy! I would have never even thought that. Especially since when we were starting out, we played a Jazz Fest stage and nobody was there except the people that were working! You can’t say it happened overnight. People may look at it from our Tiny Desk and be like, “Oh, they did this overnight.” But no, we’ve been really doin’ our thing for years.
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As told to B.Getz.
Catch Tank and the Bangas on Saturday, April 26th on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Main Stage. On Wednesday April 30th, Dew Drop Nights will feature the ever-rare solo show: An Evening With Tarriona “Tank” Ball at the Dew Drop Inn.
Special thanks to Cloud 9 & Jam Cruise for making this possible!