Teyana Taylor made sure to clear things up following a message earlier this weekend that she shared saying she was “retiring” from music. The R&B singer addressed an Instagram post in which she shared her disappointment with how her singing career has gone so far, saying she feels “under-appreciated” but she took to Instagram Live on Saturday (Dec. 5) to say the message was intended for her record label. She is currently signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music and Def Jam.
“My post was misread, and I think that my core fans got mad before really understanding what I was saying. In a nutshell, one, first, let’s be clear, this has nothing to do with a Grammy. Like come on, I’ve been signed in the industry since I was 15 years old. I’ll be 30 in how many days? Y’all know me. I mind my business. I like to say unproblematic. I stay to myself, I mind my business. I’m all about my family, love. I’m not that type,” the singer said.
“I’m tired, I’m just tired, baby. And it’s not to throw anybody under the bus, but I do feel like the majority of what that post was was toward my label that I’ve been signed to for almost 10 years. Everything you guys see of me, everything that I put out, everything that I do is 100% me,” she continued. “My thing about it is there’s no gun to anybody’s head to do anything that they don’t want to do. So yes, I am going to feel under-appreciated if I’m putting in 110 percent and my label is giving me, they’re reciprocating 10 percent of that.”
The “Gonna Love Me” songstress also revealed she has repeatedly asked to be dropped from the label: “I constantly feel alone. I constantly feel unappreciated. I constantly feel failed. You know what I’m saying? Because there’s literally no push. I be looking at things, like, ‘Why am I not doing this? Why am I not doing that?’ And the crazy part about is, I asked Def Jam to drop me on almost 10 different occasions, straight to their face, up in the building, at the table, like, ‘Yo, just drop me!’”
Some fans took it to heart when she said she was “retiring this chapter” of her life but said she has to do it to preserve her mental health for the sake of her children: “At this point, I can’t let this kill me. So granted, to my fans, I think that, I can see maybe how my message can come across. But at the same time, it’s a tiny bit selfish to say ‘Well, what about your fans? Do it for your fans.’ Baby, I gotta do it for my mental health. I have to do it for my emotional health. I have to do it for my kids, so I can stay alive for my kids.”
Taylor has received messages of support from other fellow artists including Cardi B and The Game. The “West Side” rapper took to Instagram to share a lengthy post expressing his support for the singer, who he met years ago and took on tour with him in Europe as she waited for her career to take off. “The 1st time I heard you sing, I knew what you were & also knew it was only a matter of time before you were a SUPERSTAR,” he wrote. “You signed to @pharrell & I remember how bad you wanted the world to hear your voice. You were writing day in & day out. In studio every single day trying to perfect your craft. But sometimes amazing things take time so you waited & continued to be you.”
“When we came back to America, your confidence had grown even more & you had an added energy to apply to your music & everything you were. You signed to @kanyewest & I remember how excited you were to start a new chapter. Time passed again…. but you were patient and you never stopped being amazing & kept your head up as you progressed in your talent,” the rapper continued. “I always told you, you were one amazing project away from your destiny & then it came….. ‘THE ALBUM’... your CLASSIC !!!”
“Live in your glory & never be detoured by the minds of those weakened by this watered down era of appreciation,” he added. “We didn’t get where we are by things going exactly the way we thought they would. We made it here cause WE believed in our craft when no one else did. I say all of this to say, YOUR GIFT IS SO APPRECIATED & as your big bro I want you to know, you are truly one of the best artist/people inside & outside of music I’ve ever known. NEVER TIP THE CROWN QUEEN… Love 🙏🏾.”
Cardi also sent out a message for the singer over the weekend, tweeting: “If you know me then you know Teyana Taylor’s album it’s my favorite of 2020. I swear she really got the best album this year. I hate that she feels how she feels cause she sooo talented and the music is soo good.”