Golden Globe winner Teyana Taylor has revealed the raw honesty and loyalty that characterize her friendship and professional relationship with on-off collaborator Kanye West, who buoyed her first wave of fame as a singer before she exited the music industry to pursue Hollywood stardom more than five years ago.
Taylor is poised to light up the remainder of awards season after bagging her first major trophy at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, where she took home best supporting actress for her scorching turn as revolutionary and reluctant mother Perfidia Beverly Hills in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Before her pivotal role in this year’s Oscars frontrunner — as well as the 2023 indie A Thousand and One, comedy roles in White Men Can’t Jump and Coming 2 America; and TV work including Straw and All’s Fair — Taylor was a sought-after choreographer and rising singer.
“Google Me,” Taylor’s debut single, was released before she was 20, and its modest success landed her on the rosters of some of the music industry’s hottest labels, including Pharrell Williams’ Star Trak Entertainment, Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music and Def Jam. In 2016, Taylor went viral for her memorable, sexy dance in the video for West’s “Fade.” In the clip, she vamps solo around an empty gym — writhing, dipping and doing splits — a routine that captivated millions on YouTube. She also appears on West’s iconic 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, singing on the hook of the opening track and contributing background vocals.
But these were for her friend West’s projects, not her own music, which struggled to gain traction. Five years ago, after four studio albums and a dozen singles, Taylor quit the music industry in frustration, announcing that she felt “underappreciated.”
“I ain’t gone front — I’m feeling super underappreciated as an artist, receiving little to no real push from the ‘machine,’ constantly getting the shorter end of the stick, being overlooked,” Taylor wrote on Instagram in 2020.
On paper, West might have appeared central to that disillusionment, as G.O.O.D. Music released — and failed to adequately promote — her third album that same year. Yet Taylor refuses to hold a grudge, according to her recent Vanity Fair cover story. This is despite West’s many controversies, including an ill-fated 2020 presidential run and a series of Twitter tirades — one of which was so antisemitic and hateful it torpedoed the lucrative partnership between his Yeezy brand and Adidas.
“I don’t have to agree with everything that he does or says, but I’m not going to abandon him and be like, ‘Yeah, eff that motherfucker,’” she said. “My brothers do shit that I don’t agree with. I don’t get into any of that.”
Taylor further explained how her relationship with West is built on blunt honesty.
“If you want a real answer, you ask me. So if he asks me something, he knows he’s gonna get a real answer,” Taylor told the outlet, before adding her personal philosophy on hard work and perseverance. “I do my shit behind the scenes and do what I need to do to help. I’m in my business and I drink my water.”