Teyana Taylor‘s star has been rising and shining brighter than ever since her epic breakout spot in Kanye West‘ video for “Fade.” Now the singer is gracing the cover and pages of ‘Paper‘ magazine and looking pretty bad ass while doing it. The gritty shoot was captured by Albert Watson, with styling by Anna Trevelyan, while Kat Ward conducted the interview.
In the accompanying interview, she dishes on her relationship with Kanye, her love and passion for fashion, her music career, marriage, motherhood and more. Get into an excerpt from the article below, as well as the full spread and behind the scenes footage all via Paper.
Taylor’s relationship with Kanye is long-standing, going back to 2010 and the recording of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. A meeting to talk fashion (specifically so Taylor could give West her opinion on some custom Balmain) ended up with her adding vocals to the tracks “Dark Fantasy” and “Hell of a Life.” She then joined up with G.O.O.D. Music in 2012, and released her debut album, VII, with them in 2014.
The VMAs were only the start of an eventful September for Taylor. Following “Fade,” Taylor released her remix of West’s “Champions,” complete with a stop-motion video created from thousands of photos that again featured her enviable physique — this time dipped in gold. She was also everywhere during New York Fashion Week, including the runway.
Just a week after “Fade” dropped, Taylor was walking in the much-anticipated Yeezy Season 4 show at Roosevelt Island. The Vanessa Beecroft-designed production was controversial, with some models fainting and struggling to negotiate the catwalk. “I was nervous as hell,” recalls Taylor. But not for the reasons you’d think — heat and heels were nothing compared to the daunting prospect of walking in front of Anna Wintour. “I saw the posture, I saw the bangs, I saw the bob and I saw the shades, and I said, ‘Anna’s here,'” Taylor recalls. “That’s when my nervousness really turned up. I love Anna. I’m obsessed with her. So, to know she was there, that she knows who I am…” She trails off, the enormous smile on her face a clear indication of her feelings about her idol (who also got a namecheck in her “Champions” verse).
