Teyana Taylor: The Body That Blew Up The Internet And What She Thinks About Her New Found Fame

With sweat and oil dripping everywhere, singer/dancer/rapper/actress Teyana gave her thong leotard the workout of life throughout the video FADE by Kanye West and everybody lost.their.minds.

As a result after  Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards, there were three things everyone (at least on Twitter and Instagram ) couldn’t stop talking about: Beyoncé’s performance, Drake’s declaration of love to Rihanna, and Teyana Taylor’s insane body. For those who missed it, during last night’s awards ceremony, Kanye West premiered the new music video for his song “Fade,” starring Taylor.
 The 25-year-old singer, who is signed to West’s G.O.O.D. Music label, stole the show with her workout-inspired dance moves that left many, including Chrissy Teigen and Kim Kardashian West, in awe.

Even more impressive is the fact that Taylor had a baby girl only 8 months ago with her fiancé, Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Iman Shumpert, who also made a brief, and very risqué, appearance in the video. Below, we caught up with Taylor via phone and talked about her big VMAs moment, the inspiration behind the video, and what was up with those sheep and her cat face at the end of “Fade.”

You must be having a surreal morning. What was it like watching the world premiere of this video?

I was literally shaking because Kanye is very secretive when it comes to projects that he’s very interested in. We hadn’t even seen the video before last night. So when I heard that the video was going to be premiering at the VMAs, I was like “Oh my god, it’s tonight! Do I look good? Do I look great? Is he going to change his mind and not premiere it?” At that point I had already told all of my family, but even when he went onstage and I saw him, I thought he might just wind up doing something completely different because you just never know with Kanye.
Then he said what he had to say and presented his video. My heart started beating so fast because it’s one thing to see a video, but to do the video and not see it and just to be in shock with everyone else, it was just crazy. When they played it and it said Teyana Taylor and I was walking through the bars, I was like, “Oh my god, it’s about to go down!”

What went through your mind after the video premiered?

I was shaking. I was on Twitter and Instagram, but my phone was shaking because my hand was shaking. I was so nervous because it was really a do-or-die moment. I’ve worked so hard and I didn’t know that that moment was going to be that huge because I didn’t have time to mentally prepare. But it was dope that I was able to really sit back and really take in the whole moment. It’s emotional because I’ve been in the industry for so long and I’ve never understood why certain things weren’t happening. And now I feel like my story, everything that I’ve been through, makes this moment so much more special. Though it took so long for this to happen, I don’t feel like it could’ve happened at a better time.

How did you become the star of this video?

It was actually crazy because I was in the studio recording and Kanye came by to the other studio next door to record and asked me to come over real quick. And he was like, “Yo, you killed the Lil’ Kim tribute.” And we talked about that a little bit and then I don’t know how we got into a conversation about me and Iman. We just started talking and I was just rambling and rambling about Iman and to him it was a dope moment to just see love like that, to see that you can really have it all. Even with him, his relationship with Kim is so dope. They have kids, they’re married, they have a friendship. Even Kanye having kids has changed him a lot. He was like, “Dang, you’re singing. Your husband just won a championship. You just had Junie.” I think that really inspired him for the video. Literally when I left the studio and went back to my recording room, [a head representative from G.O.O.D. Music] came up to me and said Kanye wanted me to dance to one of his songs—for “Fade.” I was like, “Oh my god, you’re lying.”

How did the concept for the video come about?

When they first reached out about the video, all I knew was that he wanted me to dance. At that point he didn’t have to tell me twice. Our music studio has this room for office storage and so I went in there and I played the song in this room super loud and I’m already dancing and rehearsing. I didn’t even know what the treatment was but I recorded that rehearsal and sent them the video. We later all had a meeting and went over different ideas and the inspiration for the video.
By the way, the dance scene at the very, very end, maybe the last eight counts that I did; me and one of my homeboys Matthew Pasterisa actually made that choreography for Beyoncé for when the “End of Time” came out. She loved it but she wound up not being able to use it because she was pregnant, but back then the world didn’t know. All this time that choreography was just sitting there. And as soon as I was freestyling it just came out naturally.

Did you come up with all the choreography for the video?

Yes, I did the choreography. But my boy Guapo was a big inspiration to me; he helped me a lot. And then my homeboy Matthew, he co-choreographed that ending part I was just talking about. Big shout-out to both of them. The moment I found out I was in Kanye’s video, Guapo was the first person I got on the phone with. He was like, “T, you got this.”
Was Kanye on set for when you filmed it?

He was on set the whole time.

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What would he say on set?

“Iconic. Iconic. This is going to be so crazy.” When I had that cat face on . . .
Yes! Please, let’s talk about the cat face at the end.

Let’s talk about these sheep first, though. They were shitting all over the place—there was poop everywhere! And then little Junie is just so fearless; she’s playing with the sheep. I was just looking at Ye, like Yo, I don’t know what you got going on, but I know it’s going to be good. Because you know with Ye, you just gotta trust him. He’s a genius and you know he just got something up his sleeve.
We filmed that cat scene first. We didn’t shoot the video in order. I was in three hours of makeup and prosthetics to get that thing on my face. The director Eli [Linnetz], he wanted it to be a little bit sexy, so I drew my own brows on the cat face.
So Kanye gave no explanation for the cat face.

Yeah, he was just like, I’m going to put you in this cat face. It’s going to be chic. At the same time, being an actor, I love doing stuff like that—to be able to get dressed up and get out of my comfort zone. I was very excited to do something different and artistic, but since we shot backwards, at first, I didn’t know what was going on. I thought, This crazy mother-effer. He’s got 15 sheep in this gym right now, with poop all over the place. It’s crazy the thing that happens behind the scenes; my wig almost flew off. It’s just so dope to watch the final product and know all the things that went into it. From the bottom of the heart this meant so much to me.

And no explanation for the sheep either?

It was definitely something deep. The whole video is deeper than people probably processed it. So I feel like it’s up for the people to figure it out. I get it, but I want them to really figure it out and really understand what’s going on. And for them to understand, they’re going to have to watch it 20, and 30, and 40 times.

How did Iman feel about being in the video?

The crazy thing is that before we even got together, he always loved Kanye. So when he found out that Kanye wanted to do this video, he was excited, but at the same time, Iman is Iman, so he was like, “Oh god, what is Kanye going to have us do in this video?” Before he even knew that we were about to do any shower scenes, he was already like, “I know Kanye is probably going to have us doing some crazy shit.”

What did you think about the shower scene?

I just put all my trust in Kanye. When I was younger, I always felt like I had to stand up for something; I wasn’t the easiest person. As I matured I’ve learned to just be easy and to put trust in people. After having Junie, I learned that if she can put her trust in me, I have to learn to put my trust in others. I trusted Kanye 100 percent. I was like, “You want a shower scene? Cool.” What makes it even doper is that he didn’t put me in a position where I was with a male model or male actor. There was trust and comfort and protection because I knew I was with a person that I’m already becoming one with. To have that moment with him, only made that moment so much sexier, so much more genuine, so much more pure. You felt it off the screen. When I watched it, I felt the love because it was something that I shared with my husband.

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What did Iman think when he saw it?

[Laughs.] He just kept saying how happy he was for me. He kept asking if I was ready because he said, once this video drops, once it’s out here, it’s about to go down. He was dying though. He was asking, “Are my man buns going to be on the camera?” But everything was all love and laughs and jokes. Most importantly, he’s my biggest supporter. I’m pretty sure there was no telling what was going through his mind [at the shoot] as he had to stand in front of a whole cast of people in a shower. He’s a very private person. But even if he was uncomfortable with certain things, I would’ve never known. That’s what you call a supporter. “This moment is about my wife and that’s all that matters.”

I found out that you had a baby recently,which is insane. How old is she now?

Junie is only eight months old.

How did you get back in shape so quickly?

This is the trick question right here. You’re going to gag right now because I would really be lying to you if I told you that I worked out. I keep it really real, I don’t like to lie and say I work out, three, four times a week. All I do is dance. All I do is dance.

Dancing is a workout!

I think dancing, as far as fitness, is very underrated. Whether that’s Zumba, tap dancing, or ballet, you have to realize that this is an actual workout. Sometime this year, I want to make a DVD. For real. Most people are selfish—they’re trying to keep all their secrets to themselves. But I really want to do it to help out all of the ladies. My diet sucks. I eat pizza, fried chicken, macaroni; I don’t eat vegetables. But I dance!

Little Junie also makes an appearance in the video, which is pretty impressive for an 8-month-old baby.

I know, right? It’s almost like Junie is too cool for school. She might be the coolest baby on Earth. A couple months back at the playoffs, I took a picture of her and Jay Z. And she’s looking like, “You know, you Hov, but I’m Junie.” She is just so unimpressed. Junie has her own Instagram and she has the nerve to be verified! I am done with her.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a new album. I’m actually trying to drop a new record in about two days. I also remixed the “Champions” song with Kanye, Big Sean, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz. This video was such a surprise for me; I’m sitting here trying to rearrange everything! I’ll also be a character on The Breaks, which is a show on VH1 about ’90s hip-hop. And now the newest thing on my agenda is definitely to get this DVD going!

-Vogue