Over the weekend, I, like so many of us, was crushed to learn that Teyana Taylor had decided to hang up her shoes in music, and retire from music. Naturally, my wig was blown back, as both me, and the entire culture screamed, "Nooooo, Petunia!" Even some of our faves, like Cardi B, came to her defense, with a tweet that we all felt. Publications like Vulture, wrote:
"In what is officially the most upsetting Spotify Wrapped social-media post of the year, Teyana Taylor has announced that, due in part to being unappreciated in the music industry, she is 'retiring' from her career as a motherfucking international sensation."
After the chaos, Teyana eventually went on her Instagram Live to explain her retirement decision, clarifying that it had very little to do winning Grammy Awards or other accolades, but more so the lack of appreciation felt on her part by her record label. She even went on to disclose that it was a mental health decision for herself and for being around for her kids, which we all know that mental health is huge around here at the xoNecole offices.
Reluctantly, we decided to accept her announcement, but at the same time, celebrate by compiling a list of the times that our favorite sis snatched our wigs and changed the landscape of music and more.
Here's 7 ways Teyana Taylor has changed the game in music and beyond:
Since the age of 16, Teyana has made herself visible in the industry.
Teyana stepped on the scene at the age of 15, as a young artist signed to Pharrell Williams' label, Star Trek. From this moment on, she has gone on to be one of the most recognizable faces in the industry, as she has made herself visible in music, fashion, art, and more. Beginning on MTV's Super Sweet 16, to Ne-Yo's "She Got Her Own", to partnerships with Adidas, to Kanye West's infamous "Fade" music video, and much more, Teyana has shown how multifaceted she could be, and that we really don't think on the innovative level that she has since a young age.
Her performances are un-fcking-matched.
GiphyOK, so we all know that if Tey is attached to a performance, you better tune in. She's going to give you everything you need to enjoy yourself. And because we can name more than three times that we know she has killed the stage (mine are Lil Kim Tribute, Janet Jackson Tribute, and Phillip Plein's fashion show to Future's "Mask Off"). Make no mistake, sis will eat up all you thought a performance should be, and spare no expense.
She brings her life, family, and personality into her projects.
Tey is notorious for bringing her family along with her to her shoots, or any other ventures on her plate. Her husband, Iman Shumpert, and baby girl, Junie, are never too far behind as she balances her many projects. And in her latest music video, "Wake Up Love", she was able to include her entire family and latest pregnancy to daughter, Rue Rose, along too.
Teyana has the respect and admiration from industry peers like Marvin Sapp to Elton John to Erykah Badu.
Some of Teyana's biggest fans are her industry peers, who revere her as one of the best to do it. Sis is able to get many to do what they won't do for many, whether it's Queen Badu serving as her doula and delivering her second child, or Elton John making an appearance in a music video. Taylor is one of the most respected women in music, even if there's no music attached.
Teyana's 'The Album' reached #1 on the Billboard R&B Album Charts, as well as won her awards for Best Director at 2020 BET Awards.
After its release, The Album went on to peak at number one on Billboard's R&B charts, the first in her career. Pitchfork labeled her album as "regaining control of her art across a long and complex album, one that deftly recontextualizes classic R&B and better represents the fierce persona she has honed in public." Soon after, Taylor went on to win Best Director at the 2020 BET Awards, under popular moniker, 'Spike Tey', who has also directed music videos from the KTSE album, as well as other upcoming projects yet to be released.
She unapologetically stands up for herself and other women.
After a rough start to a 2018 Later That Night tour with singer Jeremih and Danileigh, Teyana quit the later canceled tour and decided to go out on her own, rebranding it as KTSE Tour. Taylor told the ladies at The Real:
"He did little to none, any promo, so it was just like, when we got there and the concerts were sold out and different things like that—when we got there, everything was Jeremiah, his name was on everything, like, my name wasn't even on the ticket."
Most impressively, Taylor then decided to bring Danileigh along with her on the rebranded tour, with amenities and perks that she felt they each were robbed of in the previous.
Queen.
And despite it all, Teyana Taylor has managed to amass 162M Spotify streams in 2020 alone.
In her retirement announcement, Teyana posted a screenshot of her Spotify artist streams, which showed her monumental 2020 accolades to close out the year. She may not feel appreciated, but Teyana is one of the only artists in history to have the resume and relationships she has, with little to no push from her record label.
We know she is nowhere near to being done on her journey, and we can't wait to see what she does next. But in the meantime, Alexa, play "Gonna Love Me".Are you a member of our insiders squad? Join us in the xoTribe Members Community today!
Featured image by Arturo Holmes / Shutterstock.com
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From the day they met, food has always played a role in their relationship, and working together in the food industry is what we call a full circle moment. Learn more about Bryant and Daniella’s story of finding love with one another.
How they met.
Bryant: We met at a mutual clients’ house. She was doing the lady hair, and I was cooking for the lady. The client sent her downstairs to record me while I was cooking to, I guess, see what I was cooking, and I caught her recording, but we didn't talk. I caught her recording, we laughed it off, and she went about her day.
So I guess that was the first thing that made us interact with each other. A few months down the line, I think she posted something [on social media]. I hopped in her DM and responded to it, and then we decided to just meet up and hang out. I looked at her as an entrepreneur. I'm an entrepreneur. She don’t need nothing. I don’t need nothing. It's good to hang with people who don't need nothing from you.
When we linked up, our chemistry was just so soft and just so nice. She is a great person, but after meeting up with her [for the] first time, she went back to Miami. She came back [to Atlanta], and we just kicked it off that next weekend, and ever since then, we've been locked in.
Daniella: That same client had flew me back in so I knew I had to come up here for work. But I told him that we'll meet up and [go] on a date and see each other again. When that happened, everything else was history. It just happened organically. It wasn’t forced or anything.
Bryant and Daniella Williams
Courtesy
First impressions.
Bryant: I knew for a fact for her to come downstairs and try to record me, I knew that she was brave, and that said a lot about her, because I barely even talk when I'm cooking for my clients. So you have to talk to somebody for them to feel comfortable to play with you, or do certain things. I feel like the client sent her downstairs because she knew that she's an outspoken, bubbly type of person who don't mind laughing it off if she gets caught doing it.
When she came back to Atlanta, she booked me to cook for her family. So while I was cooking for her in the kitchen, the whole time she was in there talking to me. It was like a date in the kitchen, and I cooked her food. Once the food was laid out, I just left. We had a great conversation when I was cooking for her, and also when she came downstairs and tried to record me.
Daniella: I was impressed how he was multitasking because I was asking him deep, interesting questions, and he was cooking the food, and he was still answering my questions. But I was in a relationship at that time, so I wasn't really in tune. It was no emotions. But when I came back and flew in to work, we met with each other.
He came and picked me up from the hotel and we drove around Atlanta, sightseeing. We went to the African club. So when he came downstairs, I was like okay, you not gonna hug me, you not gonna say nothing? He was shocked and we stayed together for like eight or nine hours, and he took me back to the hotel. I think he picked me up around nine at night. He took me back to the hotel around seven in the morning. Then he walked me to my hotel door. He gave me a hug and he gave me a kiss and said, 'I love you.' And I was like, what?
We stayed together for like eight or nine hours, and he took me back to the hotel. I think he picked me up around nine at night. He took me back to the hotel around seven in the morning. Then he walked me to my hotel door. He gave me a hug and he gave me a kiss and said, 'I love you.' And I was like, what?
The one.
Daniella: When we first linked up, he took me around Atlanta. He was soft and gentle. He was a gentleman. He opened the door for me and I never had nobody open the door. He opened the door every single time I was going in and getting out the car, and when we went to that restaurant. I was like, [there’s] something about him, and he was just nice, calm and patient. So I knew he was a little different from what I'm used to.
Bryant: [I knew she was the one by] how she cared so much. She didn't really know me like that. She knew of me, but she cared so much about me. When we first met, she would lay on me and just relax. For someone who just wants to relax on you, that says a lot about them towards you. It wasn't like I had to prove myself and she didn’t have to prove herself with me either. It wasn't nothing like that. We were willing to take whatever came with it. But it just was really a break. It was like the best me meeting a woman because I didn't try.
Any other woman, I might be trying to dress up, take her to this place, I did not try at all. I picked her up and I actually thought that she wasn't gonna go on the date with me because of her status and my status. I'm such a laid back homey dude and she's from Miami. I thought she would be on the City Girls, you gotta do this, do that. But she wasn't. She was the total opposite. She was a homebody, chill, like me.
Bryant and Daniella Williams
Courtesy
Marriage advice for couples.
Bryant: Work together. Communication, put your mind together.
Daniella: And keep your family out your business.
Bryant: Keep it private please. Y'all work it out first. When y'all make sure it's solidified, then you tell them, or let them find out on their own. Privacy is the most valuable thing.
Daniella: And date each other because people get married and they stop doing the things that they did to get you, or stop doing the things that they did while they were in a relationship with you, before y'all got married. No, do the same thing. For me, I get bored easy, and I think he knows that. So just keep it spicy. Keep it interesting.
Bryant: We like spontaneous stuff like last-minute trips, trying different foods, going out the country just off a spur of a moment. You gotta make it fun. Don't just make it all business. And I think one person out of the relationship needs to take the initiative to make sure their partner is relaxing and at peace. A lot of people carry functional depression to where they’re functional, like we're doing this right now, but they can be going through something.
I don't think it's male or female. I think whichever one, the other partner should notice it and work with their partner to get through whatever they get through, like, for postpartum depression and stuff. That's something that most men don't even really know exist, but that's something when she had our daughter, I had an anti-postpartum depression plan put in place for her. She didn't know about it, but I knew I was gonna be extra sweet to her.
She won't have to think about doing nothing with the little baby. My little girl was watching the football game with me, when she was a few weeks old, because I was giving her that peace, so she can just relax, because her body has been through so much. So you got to be considerate of your mate's mental state and their mental well-being, because when it's gone, it's gone and it takes a lot to get it back, so I think that's important.
When she had our daughter, I had an anti-postpartum depression plan put in place for her. She didn't know about it, but I knew I was gonna be extra sweet to her. She won't have to think about doing nothing with the little baby. My little girl was watching the football game with me, when she was a few weeks old, because I was giving her that peace, so she can just relax, because her body has been through so much.
If you see something not right with your spouse, help them get help. It's okay for them to talk to a therapist by themselves, or it's okay for them to talk to somebody, but don't just sit there and let them go into this decline and self-destruction. I think that's the most important, because sometimes she be overwhelmed, and I have to be that person to hold her up. And then sometimes I'm overwhelmed. To her, baby, I don't want to do this no more. She's like, you gonna do this. We gonna do this. And she reminds me who I am. I remind her who she is, and we come back feeling more motivated.
Daniella: I think business owners should date business owners because they understand your hustle, your hunger. They understand when you can have a day where you make $0 and you have a day when you make $1,000. But I feel like if you dating someone who is in corporate America, and you a business owner, there's going to be a lot of friction, a lot of tension, and I just feel like I want to date someone that has the same drive as me.
Because I don't want to feel like I'm trying to build a bear, build a man, and I have to pull you and drag you, or just being with somebody who got they self together. For instance, my last relationship. I won't say I was the breadwinner, but I was kind of established, and I felt like I was sleeping with the enemy. I was growing fast and I wasn't stagnant. I was trying to get to the next level. He started to be jealous of me and I feel like a lot of women deal with men trying to be jealous of them. Men also have ego issues where they don't really want their woman making a certain amount of money or making more money than them.
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