Before Anyone Knew Her Name

Taryn Manning had already been in 8 Mile and Hustle & Flow by 2012, but she was still operating under the radar as far as most people were concerned—better known as someone who showed up in other people’s movies than as a presence in her own right. Her music project Boomkat, which she ran with her brother Kellin, put out records that didn’t fit neatly into anything, sitting somewhere between trip-hop and electropop without committing to either. There was always something slightly unclassifiable about her. A year later she’d be everywhere as Pennsatucky in Orange Is the New Black and the conversation would shift entirely, but in the summer of 2012 she was still in that interesting in-between space where the work exists but the recognition hasn’t caught up yet.