It’s hard to recognize the pretty 16 year-old Teyana Taylor poised in
first position at the ballet barre. Her usually wild mane is pulled back into a
scarf as she takes her final port de bras and retreats to the locker room with
a tug of her leotard. “I’m not a girly girl,” she confesses with a shrug. “I
don’t like wearing a spandex bodysuit.” When she returns, she’s rocking a
fitted cap cocked over her gorgeous crop of corkscrew curls, a subtle sag in
her Ice Cream jeans, and a pair of technicolor Air Force Ones. Yup, Teyana
Taylor’s got her swagger back. You may already know Pharrell’s latest prot’g’
from her extravagant, 80′s-themed coming out party on MTV’s Sweet 16 or as the
petite pop locker in Jay Z’s ‘Blue Magic’ video, but her V.I.P. status was
established even before the cameos and big name industry endorsements. Lady
Beyonce herself was so impressed with the Harlem bred triple threat’s moves
that she asked her to teach her the Chicken Noodle Soup ‘ the popular dance
Teyana helped innovate ‘ for her performance at the 2007 VMA’s. “That kind of
love coming from Jay and Beyonce, was crazy, recalls Teyana. “When he said,
‘Yo, you’re a superstar. I’ll see you at the top,’ I was humbled, like wow!”
With the release of her debut album, From A Planet Called Harlem (Star
Trak/Intersope), Teyana finally gets to show off her killer pipes and
full-bodied flow to the rest of the universe. The album is a macrocosm of
R&B, pop rock, and rap and deliciously rich with sticky hooks and campy
lyrical play. “From the songs to the production ‘ the whole direction of the
album is insane,” explains the Star Trak maverick. “It’s a story about having
fun.” Of course, the stylish femcee reps NYC to the fullest but it’s her
offbeat, ‘afronaut’ edge that makes her such an undeniable rockstar ‘ she’s a
seamless blend of hip hop hipster and skater chick. Her hybrid musical style is
as rebellious and eclectic as her personality and that’s not the result of a
brilliant marketing squad. Just peep her iTunes playlist and you’ll find her
rocking out to My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Lauren Hill,
Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.
It’s hard to recognize the pretty 16 year-old Teyana Taylor poised in
first position at the ballet barre. Her usually wild mane is pulled back into a
scarf as she takes her final port de bras and retreats to the locker room with
a tug of her leotard. “I’m not a girly girl,” she confesses with a shrug. “I
don’t like wearing a spandex bodysuit.” When she returns, she’s rocking a
fitted cap cocked over her gorgeous crop of corkscrew curls, a subtle sag in
her Ice Cream jeans, and a pair of technicolor Air Force Ones. Yup, Teyana
Taylor’s got her swagger back. You may already know Pharrell’s latest prot’g’
from her extravagant, 80′s-themed coming out party on MTV’s Sweet 16 or as the
petite pop locker in Jay Z’s ‘Blue Magic’ video, but her V.I.P. status was
established even before the cameos and big name industry endorsements. Lady
Beyonce herself was so impressed with the Harlem bred triple threat’s moves
that she asked her to teach her the Chicken Noodle Soup ‘ the popular dance
Teyana helped innovate ‘ for her performance at the 2007 VMA’s. “That kind of
love coming from Jay and Beyonce, was crazy, recalls Teyana. “When he said,
‘Yo, you’re a superstar. I’ll see you at the top,’ I was humbled, like wow!”
With the release of her debut album, From A Planet Called Harlem (Star
Trak/Intersope), Teyana finally gets to show off her killer pipes and
full-bodied flow to the rest of the universe. The album is a macrocosm of
R&B, pop rock, and rap and deliciously rich with sticky hooks and campy
lyrical play. “From the songs to the production ‘ the whole direction of the
album is insane,” explains the Star Trak maverick. “It’s a story about having
fun.” Of course, the stylish femcee reps NYC to the fullest but it’s her
offbeat, ‘afronaut’ edge that makes her such an undeniable rockstar ‘ she’s a
seamless blend of hip hop hipster and skater chick. Her hybrid musical style is
as rebellious and eclectic as her personality and that’s not the result of a
brilliant marketing squad. Just peep her iTunes playlist and you’ll find her
rocking out to My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Lauren Hill,
Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.
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