Skilla Baby

In early December 2020, R&B singer-songwriter Teyana Taylor surprised fans by announcing she was retiring from the music industry. In a caption for her Spotify yearly listener wrap-up post, she thanked fans before admitting to feeling “super under-appreciated” by the industry at large, adding that she felt that there was “little to no real push from the ‘machine.’” Later, she clarified those comments on an Instagram live, sharing: “I’m putting in 110%, and my label is giving me — they’re reciprocating, what, 10% of that.”

Since her debut in 2014, the star had released three critically acclaimed albums, with her 2020 release, Album, reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts. Still, she felt that pushing a career in R&B was leading her down a path to nowhere. “Baby, I gotta do it for my mental health,” she continued on her live. “I have to do it for my emotional health.”

Later, she spoke to Cam Newton for his BET series Sip ‘N Smoke, sharing: “I felt like the label [first Pharrell’s Interscope imprint Star Trak, then Kanye West’s label Good Music] wasn’t really hearing me and seeing me. I felt underappreciated. So, for my mental health, my mental well-being, for my kids, let me just put this on ice for a little [bit],” she said. “It’s not that I retired permanently. It’s more like: I just don’t feel like I want to move another inch for a company.”

Fast-forward to now, and the idea of retirement seems to be the antithesis of Taylor’s multifaceted creative career. In the four years since she announced her exit from making music, she’s poured herself into other lucrative creative endeavors—ones that have positioned her as a leading visionary in not only music but also film and entertainment and as creative director.

“I pour into other artists because I want to give them something I wasn’t able to have,” she told NME about her creative direction career. “There are people that are like, ‘I don’t know how to love because I never received love,’ and then you have people that are like, ‘I want to love harder because I want to give you everything I wasn’t able to have’ and that’s me. Imagine retiring and taking the secret potion [of success] to the grave with me. Why would I do that?”

Last year, Taylor took on the reigns of one of Latto’s biggest performances to date, orchestrating the star’s debut Coachella performance. She shared a BTS video of the process, from overseeing choreography to double-checking stage props and analyzing the timing of graphics. Her production company, The Aunties, also worked with up and-comer Lola Brooke. “We literally only had two four-hour rehearsals, but I had no worries,” Taylor wrote in a video post of Brooke preparing for the set. “‘Cause I knew you could and would kill that sh*t. I want to thank you and ya amazing team for trusting The Aunties and knowing that you were in good hands.”

Her team also co-produced and creative directed Lil Baby’s 2023 tour and worked with Summer Walker for a one-off, intimate show in Atlanta last May. Recently, it was announced that she’d taken on creative direction for Skilla Baby. In a video published near the time of the announcement, you can hear Taylor giving the young rapper advice, telling him that the way he carries himself, the way he releases music, all tell the story of who he is and who he’s going to be as an artist, “you got to embrace it,” she says.

Creative direction has always seeped its way into Taylor’s repertoire, even when she wasn’t running a production company. “I think a lot of people get confused and think it was this pivot,” she told the crowd at CultureCon. “I wasn’t like, ‘Now that I’m not doing it I can help others.’ I was already doing it for other artists behind the scenes since I was 15 years old. It’s healing to me,” she said. She directed the neon-lit, slow-burning video for Coco Jones’ “Caliber,” R&B legend Monica’s video for “Commitment,” and has shared her vision with acts like Bryson Tiller, Macy Gray, and ScHoolboy Q.

She also provided choreography for massive stars, like the intense and jittery moves in Beyoncé’s “Ring the Alarm” video, choreographed by Taylor when she was just 15. Direction has been another hat for the star to wear when she isn’t creating elsewhere. She took on the lead in 2023’s critically acclaimed film, A Thousand And One, or when she’s creative directing for fashion brands like the UK’s Pretty Little Thing. Despite her segue from singing, she has no plan to stop creating, and according to one interview, she hasn’t completely ruled out releasing music.

The star even teased a new track on social media earlier this year. “I’m like a Glade plug-in. I want to be plugged all throughout the room,” she told CULTURED magazine of her multi-hyphenate status. “Why only be locked in this bathroom? Why only have the kitchen smelling good when the whole building can smell good?” As Taylor told Jimmy O. Yang for Interview magazine after her film release, “When I follow my heart, it takes me in the right direction every single time,” and much of that direction has been to become a beacon for other artist on the rise, other creatives who could use direction, other creatives who can learn from what she’s been through in the music industry.

Taylor isn’t only rooting for herself, she’s directing in hopes that other artists “win.” “One thing about working with artists, it’s already there,” Taylor said with regard to creative direction and collaboration during CultureCon. “Some people just handle things differently. I don’t feel like I’m teaching anybody anything. I’m just putting makeup on a face that’s already beautiful. I’m just enhancing what’s already there and bringing it out.”