Just days before her 35th birthday, Teyana Taylor received an especially lavish gift: a Golden Globe nomination, which she ultimately won, for her electrifying turn as a militant activist in 'Battle After Battle.' Still, it may not rival the present she received for her 16th birthday, a televised debut on MTV’s reality show 'My Super Sweet 16,' where affluent teenagers usually flaunted parties costing more than three Caribbean vacations combined.
Taylor, however, was the exception. She did not come from money and has spent years pushing back against claims to the contrary because of her appearance on the show. She landed there thanks to a friend of her mother, who raised her alone in Harlem and worked at the record label where Pharrell Williams was signed. Taylor idolized him. A meeting between the two made it immediately clear to the producer and rapper that he was looking at an extraordinary dance talent, something viewers could already see on MTV, and he signed her to a deal.
'Battle After Battle' trailer
(Courtesy of Tulip Entertainment)
Her familiarity with a popular dance known as the Chicken Noodle Soup soon led her to Beyoncé, who wanted to learn the moves from the source, and authentically. Taylor, who learned in Harlem not only how to dance but also how to hustle, managed to secure a choreographer credit on the video for 'Ring the Alarm' and from there moved on to Jay-Z’s 'Blue Magic.' All this was happening at an age when most people are still figuring out how to breathe on their own.
Naturally, the next step was pushing her to center stage. Her debut single, 'Google Me,' did exactly that. It became a viral hit back when even Guy Lerer still thought Google was a medical term. The attention helped boost her 2008 debut mixtape, but it also became clear that Taylor did not get where she was by 18 just to follow orders. With a strong voice, an exceptional stage presence and the instincts of a Harlem cat, she demanded creative freedom, and her partnership with Pharrell and Interscope did not give her enough of it. Like her character in 'Battle After Battle,' she was not there to play around.
'I don’t feel appreciated'
The reputation Taylor built led to a phone call that would largely shape the next decade of her career. Kanye West was finishing 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' and called her in primarily for fashion-related matters. Taylor, as always, saw more than one opportunity. She showed up at the studio, hummed loudly as West played tracks until he took the hint and asked her to record background vocals.
That moment marked the beginning of a partnership during the final stretch of West’s mental stability. She released her debut album through his label in 2014 and in 2018 handed him full production control over 'K.T.S.E.,' part of a string of albums West produced and released at the time. The peak of that collaboration came with her unforgettable appearance in West’s 'Fade' video, which won an MTV award for choreography. Unsurprisingly, as West himself became increasingly erratic as a performing artist, the albums he produced during that run, for Taylor and for rapper Pusha T, managed to tap deeply into talent that had always been there. Taylor, 28 years old with 13 years of experience behind her, finally sounded like the hip-hop and R&B star she was meant to be, alongside rising forces like Summer Walker and SZA. The standout track 'Gonna Love Me,' featuring a sweet sample from The Delfonics’ 'I Gave to You,' remains her biggest hit, with nearly 300 million streams on Spotify.
For her next album, modestly titled 'The Album' and running 77 minutes, she enlisted just about everyone: Erykah Badu, Missy Elliott, Future, Kehlani, Quavo, Big Sean, Rick Ross, Lauryn Hill and more. Reviews were strong, as were sales, despite the album’s release shortly after the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns. Then Taylor announced she was retiring from music. Why? “I don’t feel appreciated,” she said.
In many ways, Taylor’s path toward a potential Oscar win is rooted in the character she displayed during her first 15 years in the entertainment industry. Like the roles she plays, she is ambitious, uncompromising when it comes to her independence and fiercely loyal to those she considers allies, no matter what. That loyalty, for example, kept her close to Chris Brown, an abusive and toxic figure. She has described their bond as “brother and sister by blood” and complained that “people are trying to drag him through the mud.” That relationship led to a public clash with Rihanna in 2013, during which Taylor crossed a line by posting photos of Rihanna’s bruised face. The fallout cost her an Adidas deal. She also remains on good terms with West. “I don’t have to agree with everything he says or does,” she explained recently.
Financially, Taylor has never been hurting. She served as a judge on a dance reality show as early as 2016, and in 2022 she unapologetically competed on 'The Masked Singer,' dressed as a fly. In her debut performance, singing Chaka Khan’s 'Ain’t Nobody,' she appeared to choke on stage, prompting a medical team to rush in. Perhaps she swallowed a fly by accident. It did not stop her from returning and winning the entire season. All the while, it seems, she was preparing for what truly interested her: Hollywood.
An instinct that never fails
Five hundred actresses auditioned for the independent film 'A Thousand and One,' which tells the story of a recently released prisoner who kidnaps her son from welfare services in order to raise him herself. Taylor beat them all, leading the film to a Sundance victory and, more importantly, drawing attention to her acting abilities. Fearing she might be dismissed as a one-off, Taylor did not even read the script for 'Battle After Battle' before accepting the offer from director Paul Thomas Anderson. As usual, her instinct was right. Despite her limited screen time, it is impossible to imagine the film’s phenomenal impact without her commanding presence.
Not every project has landed as well. Taylor is among the casualties of 'All’s Fair,' Ryan Murphy’s series that managed to lure a lineup of outstanding actresses, from Glenn Close to Sarah Paulson, largely so they could appear on the same poster as Kim Kardashian. Perhaps what drew Taylor to the series about sharp divorce lawyers was the personal chaos she herself was navigating following the collapse of her marriage to former NBA player Iman Shumpert, the father of her two children. Last summer, a court ordered Taylor to pay $70,000 after finding she had violated their separation’s nondisclosure agreement. Her lawyers argued that Shumpert leaked documents related to the split and should be jailed for 20 days. The court rejected the claim, and Taylor denied seeking his imprisonment. “I did not try to send him to jail, and I am still not trying,” she said during an Instagram Live broadcast.
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You can’t take your eyes off her. Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor in the film 'Battle After Battle'
(Photo: Screengrab)
Personal matters aside, most of Taylor’s energy is now focused on sustaining the momentum created by 'Battle After Battle.' That includes a role in Netflix’s big-budget action film 'The Rip,' alongside Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, as well as an upcoming comedy starring Kevin Hart.
She briefly returned to music with the album-film project 'Escape Room,' showcasing not only artistic vision but also the breadth of her connections. The guest list spans Issa Rae and Taraji P. Henson to Sarah Paulson and Regina King. The accompanying film stars LaKeith Stanfield and Aaron Pierre, whom Taylor dated. The most important guests on the album, however, are her two children, Rue-Rose and Junie, who appear on the closing track, 'Always.' “I saw you really come home,” Junie says. “I saw it in how your laugh started to sound like sunshine again, in your eyes there was a little more sparkle, like they remembered who you were.”
Twenty years after she appeared as a carefree teenager on MTV, it sounds like Teyana Taylor’s life, much like 'Battle After Battle,' is defined by constant struggle. At least for now, she is winning.