Source: 2020HHA / Getty
Teyana Taylor has announced that she has officially retired from music.
As previously reported, on Saturday (Nov 5), Teyana Taylor took to Instagram to share the unexpected news that she was walking away from the music industry.
In a post that featured her year-end Spotify analytics, the “Bare With Me” singer and mother of two announced that she would be retiring.
“Wow, who did that? Y’all did that! Thank you,” she wrote. “I ain’t gone front in times of feeling super under appreciated as a artist, receiving little to no real push from the ‘machine,’ constantly getting the shorter end of the stick, being overlooked, I mean the list on and on lol… I’m retiring this chapter of my story with the comfort that i can depart with peace of mind seeing that all the hard work & passion put in was indeed loved & supported somewhere in the world! To all my supporters.”
While Teyana Taylor didn’t initially reveal her reason for the decision, fans began speculating after she ended her caption with a cryptic message about “closing doors,” that her seemingly abrupt announcement was a result of being snubbed by the Grammys.
“To all my supporters from day 1 & all my new ones I love you and I thank you for everything & don’t worry y’all know 🤎 all hustlers have the understanding that when one door closes another will open…either that or I’m pickin da locks petunia!!! So wassup.”
After an outpour of love and support from fans and colleagues, with many of them rallying behind the notion her retirement was spawned by the Grammys, Taylor took to Instagram live to clear the air that the real cause was a rift with her label, Def Jam.
“The majority of what that post was to warn my label who I’ve been signed to for almost 10 years. Everything that you guys see of me, everything that I put out, everything that I do is 100% me,” Taylor said. “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% and my label is giving me – they’re reciprocating, what, 10% of that.”
After assuring fans that the decision had nothing to do with accolades, Taylor explained that she is unhappy with her label home, asking to be “released”, before noting her retirement was for her “mental health.”
“I asked Def Jam to drop me on almost 10 different occasions,” Taylor said. Straight to the face. Up in the building. At this point, I can’t let this kill me. Granted, to my fans, I think that, you know — and I can see how my message can come across but at the same time — I feel like it’s a tiny bit selfish to say, ‘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.”
The KTSE artist expounded on her grievances even further noting that the decision to retire was the last straw attempt to get released from the legendary imprint.
“I constantly get attacked for all the fuck shit the label do and, y’all know me, I stay quiet, but it’s so much I can take,” she said. “So maybe, if I retire, niggas will let me go. Drop me, fam. Let me be free. I’m tired … Baby, I’ve been doing this since I was 15 years old. I’m about to be 30. And besides performing for my real fans and actually being in a booth, nothing else about music makes me happy. Period.”
Catch her full statement below.
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