- 5 months ago
Just days after sitting down with Billboard, Teyana Taylor underwent unexpected vocal surgery and is now on vocal rest.
At the Casa De Flores flower shop, Teyana Taylor opened up about why it was time to release her new album, ‘Escape Room,’ after five years. She talks on working with Tyla on “'PUM PUM JUMP,” collaborating with Jill Scott, how she manifested working with Leonardo DiCaprio on the film, ‘One Battle After Another,’ her sisterhood with Ciara, learning how to make rice pilaf at culinary school and even sets the record straight on her viral “Straw” strut.
At the Casa De Flores flower shop, Teyana Taylor opened up about why it was time to release her new album, ‘Escape Room,’ after five years. She talks on working with Tyla on “'PUM PUM JUMP,” collaborating with Jill Scott, how she manifested working with Leonardo DiCaprio on the film, ‘One Battle After Another,’ her sisterhood with Ciara, learning how to make rice pilaf at culinary school and even sets the record straight on her viral “Straw” strut.
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MusicTranscript
00:00I'm excited for y'all to see what we're going to prune up today.
00:13Wow, these are gorgeous, they are.
00:24So Tayana, welcome to Casa de Flores.
00:27And we're going to put some flower arrangements together.
00:31Oh my God, I'm so excited.
00:32Yeah.
00:33Okay.
00:34You ready? Here's our vases right here.
00:40So how did you get into this whole thing with flower arrangement?
00:43I know you're a very creative person.
00:45Yes, it's crazy because in my first album, like it was a time where I didn't like roses.
00:51I didn't like flowers because I felt like, don't give them to me.
00:55He's going to waste my time.
00:57But I think to like maturing and growing into, you know, a young woman made me appreciate the essence of flowers.
01:05And I've just been in love ever since with Favorite Colors Red.
01:08I love roses.
01:09I love roses.
01:10Like I never really fully paid attention to them like at, like coming up.
01:15So it's kind of just like, you know, my love for roses started when I really started to get into the detail of the rose and how beautiful it was and the texture and different things like that.
01:23So, yeah.
01:24Now I never put together any roses, but I love to receive them.
01:27I love to actually like buy them for myself as well.
01:30I was going to ask.
01:31Do you have flowers around the house all the time?
01:33Yeah.
01:34Yeah.
01:35People that come over like, you love some roses.
01:36How come your roses never die?
01:38You know, my roses don't die.
01:40I do well.
01:41So in the meantime, I want to give you flowers.
01:53It's been five years since your last album.
01:56And when we last chatted, you had the album come out in 2020.
02:00So your flower is now for Escape Room.
02:02So I want to talk a little bit about that and how that came together.
02:07You know, at first you said five years ago, you're just going to push music aside.
02:10So was there a moment and situation or something that prompted you to say, I got to get back in the studio and do something musical?
02:17I think, you know, then when I spoke to you five years ago, it wasn't on my terms.
02:24And, you know, I returned in a time where I get to come back on my terms.
02:29And that was important for me, you know, because I always told you I don't like to be stuck in a box.
02:34I don't want to be stuck in one room.
02:37You know, I'm a Glade plug-in.
02:38I'm a plug-in wherever I see a socket, wherever I see an outlet.
02:41You know what I'm saying?
02:42So it's like, for me, why only make one room smell good when you can make the whole store smell good?
02:47Why would I look like just being plugged up in the bathroom?
02:50You know, I need to be plugged up all over.
02:52I want to be able to smell the fruits of my labor everywhere I go.
02:55So I think coming back to music and coming back and being able to do it on my terms was a big turn on for me.
03:00You know, so in that five years, I've accomplished so much and I've accomplished all the things that I've always wanted to accomplish.
03:07Now that I kind of had a certain weight off my shoulders, you know what I'm saying?
03:10Right, you couldn't move into other directions.
03:12Yeah, I was free.
03:13I was free to be able to do all the things that I loved, which was create a safe space for other creatives and, you know, become a director and a creative director and a choreographer and an actress and, you know, really just open all those other doors, you know?
03:27So back to Escape Room, some of the themes I wanted you to talk about that because I think a lot of people are looking at the videos, looking at social media, looking at some of your interviews, and they kind of think it's just one thing.
03:39Yeah.
03:40Romantic relationship.
03:41Yeah.
03:42And you said in a post I saw, it's not bad.
03:45Yeah.
03:46So please explain.
03:47It's so much bigger than that.
03:48I feel like Escape Room is, you know, it's an ombre album, you know, and it's an album that take you through every single stage from, you know,
03:57broken to repair, heartbreak to healing.
04:00It's customizable to whatever your situation is, you know what I'm saying?
04:03There's so many things that I feel like we must escape to evolve and to move on to greater things.
04:10You get what I'm saying?
04:11Like, even if that's down to a mindset.
04:13Right.
04:14And I always say this.
04:15I've seen this video on Instagram where there was two caged lions and they were being set free.
04:22But you can tell they got so comfortable with just kind of being caged in that they didn't even know what freedom looked like.
04:28Right.
04:29You get what I'm saying?
04:30So the gates was up and they were just still sitting there.
04:33Awesome.
04:34And then once they realized they're free, they slowly got up and they just, I mean, they ran.
04:40Made for it.
04:41Okay.
04:42They ran.
04:43You get what I'm saying?
04:44They ran to their freedom.
04:45So when I say escape home, I'm saying that's whether it's escaping our mindset, escaping, you know, what we feel like isn't right.
04:51Whatever is not serving us, appreciating us, valuing us, you know, watering us.
04:57We got to escape that.
04:58Feeding us.
04:59Feeding us.
05:00You got to escape that because nothing can be, nothing can be saved without proper maintenance and without proper care.
05:06You know, eventually a rose will die.
05:09You know what I'm saying?
05:10But a rose will die quicker if you're not watering, if you're not taking care of it.
05:13You get what I'm saying?
05:14So it's just for me, that's what the escape room is.
05:17And it's showing you the different steps.
05:19It's showing you different steps and it's showing you vulnerability as well.
05:22Right.
05:23I feel like we're in a space where we're in a generation where there's so much pride and ego.
05:28And we're not creating a safe space for people to be vulnerable.
05:31And in this album, it's like, you know, you're able to feel, okay, this is where I was broken.
05:35And then here's the in between that people don't talk about.
05:38And then here's the healing.
05:39Cause it's like, sometimes music can be really, really dark or can be really, really light and pure.
05:43And when it's dark, it's like, oh my God, how'd it get there?
05:45What happened?
05:46And then when it's light, it's like, oh, what's the prayer?
05:48How did you get here?
05:49I don't want to gatekeep the in between.
05:51Okay.
05:52I want to go into the details of it in the process.
05:55Cause I think it's very important.
05:57And I know it's hard.
05:58There's 22 tracks on the album.
06:00I know it's hard to narrow things down, but, and you put out long time and better roses.
06:06So can you, what is it about better roses between that song and maybe pick two other songs on the album that kind of encapsulate what you just explained about escape room?
06:19I do have a, a ballot called always.
06:20That's one of my favorites on there.
06:21Oh my God.
06:23Yeah.
06:24And honestly, it's, it's a letter to myself, you know, and it's, it's because I, I, I even escaped myself.
06:42You know, I, I, I've escaped back to myself.
06:46It was a letter for me and a letter for just music industry and all my fans who felt like, you know, and whatever I was dealing with, I lost a piece of me or they lost a piece of me or leaving music.
06:57They feel like they lost a piece of me.
06:58Exactly.
06:59I think now dropping so much dead weight and like feeling light again.
07:04And you know, the, the, the, the smoke being cleared, that means the world to me.
07:09You know what I'm saying?
07:10And that's what always represents.
07:11And that's why I'm like, so excited for everybody to hear the album, because you feel the transitions throughout the whole album, even with the monologues, you know, really it's 22 tracks, but it's only 13 records over here.
07:22Exactly.
07:23So they're in for a treat with the monologues and the story that it's telling and the beautiful one that are a part of these monologues is like, okay.
07:30You want to get some more flowers?
07:32Yeah.
07:33This is you.
07:34And we can go inside the refrigerator room again, too.
07:39Okay.
07:42Okay.
07:43I need to clip this one.
07:44She in the room.
07:46Nice one.
07:53Okay.
07:54Okay.
07:55Okay.
07:56I'm going to go.
07:57Yeah.
07:58This is.
07:59Can I just, um, can I just, can I just, can I just.
08:02You need some clipboard?
08:03Yeah.
08:04There you go.
08:05Yes.
08:07Oh.
08:08Cool.
08:09All right.
08:10So, and you've got some cool special guests that you were raised on the album as we're arranging these.
08:15Um, one of my favorites on the album, Poom Poom, with Jill Scott and Tam.
08:21That was a good.
08:22And your, your voice with Lucky Days on Hard Part.
08:25Oh, thank you.
08:26I think it is called.
08:27Oh, yeah.
08:28So you really, you really indulge.
08:29Yeah.
08:30I do listen.
08:31I love that.
08:32Yeah.
08:33So how did you come to, uh, align with them and say that they were the perfect choices for some of these songs on your, uh.
08:39You know, what's crazy is when I did Poom Poom Jump.
08:44When I did Poom Poom, I remember saying like, I mean, I knew from Jump that I wanted Jill on it.
08:53You know, I'm like, it just gave me very, make me some breakfast, toast, some scrambled eggs.
09:00You know what I mean?
09:01Exactly.
09:02I got you.
09:03Yeah.
09:04All of the things I knew that I wanted her on that record and I needed her to bless me with that.
09:11And with Tyler, we were in the studio and we went through a few, like a few songs.
09:16Yeah, Tyler.
09:17And when she heard it, she was like, oh, this is the one.
09:20Mm-hmm.
09:21This is the one.
09:22I said, okay, girl.
09:24And you know, that's kind of, you know, how we, how we did that.
09:27Yeah.
09:28I'm sorry.
09:29Yeah.
09:30It was Tyler.
09:31And then Lucky Day.
09:32Cause your voices to me complimented each other so perfectly.
09:33Oh my God.
09:34I love Lucky Day.
09:35Um, I'm such a fan of his voice and you know, we had already been looking for something
09:39to work on.
09:40So I was really excited that I had something for my album for him to be a part of.
09:45Mm-hmm.
09:46So I'm like, that's just one of them things where it's just like, we always wanted to work
09:48and we found he had the perfect situation for that, you know, for that to happen.
09:53The perfect opportunity for that to happen.
09:55Okay.
09:56And then earlier you mentioned the narration.
09:58Did you write the narrations too?
10:00Cause you've got some powerful women who were spouting out rosebuds worth of knowledge
10:06and wisdom and lessons learned.
10:08Yes.
10:10Starting with Taraji and Nisi Nash and Kerry Washington.
10:13Yeah.
10:14It was beautiful.
10:15So me and, uh, my partner, Coco, we have a production company, all female production
10:20company called the aunties.
10:21Okay.
10:22Right.
10:23So, uh, we do a lot of the writing and stuff.
10:25We wrote all the monologues and then we also just let the girls come and, you know, add
10:30their own little twist and whatever else they wanted to add to it.
10:34So it was like, they just made it even more beautiful than what it already was.
10:39Cool.
10:40Okay.
10:41Um, and then you've got the short film that's coming in tandem with the album, right?
10:46Yes.
10:47And I'm like, so excited.
10:48Yeah.
10:49So what was it like putting both together?
10:51Yeah.
10:52Yeah.
10:53Yeah.
10:54Yeah.
10:55Yeah.
10:56And then you're catching with your music, but then eye catching with the visuals.
10:58Cause the videos are something else too.
11:01Yeah.
11:02So the, I mean, the mini movie is going to be amazing, which I hope you can make the premiere.
11:05I think I'm going to do a little premiere.
11:07Um, and it's going to be super cool.
11:10Um, but then, you know, it just, it, it tells the story at an even deeper level.
11:16And that's what I'm excited about because you already know how I am creatively and, you
11:21know, I had a lot of fun.
11:24Good.
11:25Okay.
11:26Um, so how, you talked earlier about, uh, laying it all on the line, being emotionally
11:32bare.
11:33How was it?
11:34I need more to eat.
11:35You can't.
11:36New.
11:37Oh, yours is, yours looks great.
11:39Um, this one's a little tall, but really being emotionally bare on this particular album.
11:45How difficult was that?
11:46And what is it you might've learned about yourself that you didn't know before after this, finishing
11:51this album and working and finishing?
11:54Um, my strength.
11:56I was able to get up and get to it.
11:59You know what I'm saying?
12:00I think that that was a beautiful thing.
12:02And like I said, on this album, when you hear the, well, you heard the album, so you
12:07understand where it goes.
12:09Right.
12:10So I got to happiness very, very quickly in that album.
12:14Got to happiness very quickly.
12:17This is cute.
12:18The little pink highlight.
12:19I know.
12:20I saw that in earlier.
12:21It's great.
12:22This is such a great little shop.
12:23Whatever.
12:24Um, and folks have said too, that, uh, uh, in listening to the first couple of songs
12:40and things, uh, that, uh, it celebrates black women being loved out loud.
12:45Yes, it definitely celebrates black women being loved out loud.
12:48What I love the most is when people say exactly what the intent for it is supposed to be.
12:54You know, it also makes you proud.
12:55It's like perfect.
12:56You caught it.
12:57It's exactly what that that's exactly it.
13:01You know what I'm saying?
13:02But also I feel like we're, we're forced to be strong all the time.
13:08And I feel like with this album, like I said, the vulnerability was an important factor
13:13for me.
13:14Plus to be able to be vulnerable and create these safe spaces, you know?
13:19Right.
13:20So to be able to take your cape off and feel, take your cape off and love and be loved,
13:26you know, I think, you know, is important.
13:30Okay.
13:31We deserve the softest, most purest form of love.
13:38Well, that's when I, when I was, uh, going on YouTube, looking at some of your videos
13:43and then looking at some of the comments from the, uh, fans.
13:46And, and that is what one person said.
13:48I hope whoever's listening to this understands that, that she's, uh, that they're getting
13:54real love out of this and understanding what real love is.
13:58Exactly.
13:59And that they deserve it.
14:00I just love when they understand the assignment.
14:01I love when I, when the assignment is understood.
14:04And then love of a different kind.
14:07Cause you have your daughters, Junie and Rue on Always.
14:10That was another of the songs that I starred.
14:13So what is it you want them to take away from this album, listening to it now and then
14:17later as they become young women and, and, and adults?
14:21I mean, honestly, I really do feel like this shows them the ways.
14:26This is like how, listen.
14:28And what I love about this album, cause it's almost kind of like, and if that don't work
14:32out, go back to soul number one.
14:34I love the fact that you kind of, by the time you get to the last song, you forget where
14:37you were in the beginning of the album.
14:39And I think that it is a little, a cycle that will be great for them to hear when they
14:43get older and be like, okay, this is how I need to navigate this.
14:46It is okay to love again.
14:48It is okay to feel.
14:50It's okay to not be okay.
14:52You know what I'm saying?
14:53Instead of internalizing everything or sitting around being jaded or sitting around being
14:56upset, don't be, and never, never stop being a great person and never stop having
15:03a great heart.
15:04No matter what you go through, what somebody put you through, what somebody do to you,
15:09never stop being a great person and having a great heart.
15:14And I think that's what you hear in the album.
15:16It's like a girl who's been through so much, but like none of that has guarded her from
15:21still taking the proper steps to love again in every aspect, not just romance, but to love
15:27music again, to love life again, to love, love again, all of the things.
15:32Right.
15:33You know, I feel, I love that people can hear this album and they can relate in so many different
15:37ways.
15:38It has something to do with what the next person may take it as.
15:41Right.
15:42You know?
15:43Yeah.
15:44Cool.
15:45So, during your break and also in relation to the album coming out, you're, you have a
15:52lot of stuff coming out on the film side.
15:54Yes.
15:55I've been a busy person.
15:56So, uh, I've been a busy road.
15:59Exactly.
16:00Blooming.
16:01So, um, talk about, um, uh, your, how have you evolved your acting range?
16:09Cause and loved a thousand and one.
16:13Uh, before that stopped the yard, homecoming, coming to America.
16:16I mean, girl, you know your stuff.
16:17You know your stuff.
16:18I'm trying.
16:19You know your stuff.
16:20So, how have you evolved now to your co-starring with, with Leonardo DiCaprio and you've got
16:27some other things on, on tap as well.
16:29But talk about working on that movie and being on that set.
16:32I mean, it was amazing.
16:34I, I can't believe that even like happened, you know?
16:41But again, that was me staying a great person and staying focused no matter what I was dealing
16:49with in life or what I was going through.
16:51And I worked my butt off.
16:52This is after I retired.
16:53Right.
16:54So I already made a promise to myself.
16:55I'm going to become a big actress one day.
16:57I'm going to become a big director one day because I remember sitting in that room and
17:01it was everybody against me telling me that if I retired music, that I wouldn't, they
17:08didn't think it was smart.
17:09Nothing else would happen.
17:11So I bet it on myself, took a chance on myself and it was the best gamble I've ever taken
17:16in my life.
17:17Great.
17:18You know?
17:19So one of the best gambles I've ever taken in my life.
17:21What was it like first day on the set there?
17:23And you, had you known Leonardo before or first time when you got on the set?
17:28Yeah.
17:29So I knew Leonardo before, but we had never worked with each other.
17:33So that's a whole nother dynamic.
17:34You can see somebody out and about, we all have the same events.
17:37Hey, hey Lee.
17:38Hey team.
17:39But like being on set, one of the greats, many greats, you know, Leonardo, Benicio, Sean
17:46Penn, Regina Hall.
17:47Yeah.
17:48Chase Infinity, Woody Harris.
17:50Like these are, this is a big deal.
17:52You know what I'm saying?
17:53So I already knew I had to.
17:54Step up.
17:55Step up.
17:56Yeah.
17:57I had to, I had to, I had to step up.
17:58I needed to hang with the big boys.
17:59You know what I'm saying?
18:00Like to the point where like, when they ready to do the promo, you know, now they do the
18:05promo where it's just the last names.
18:06Right.
18:07I was there one day with Taylor, DiCaprio, Penn.
18:11You know what I'm saying?
18:12Like you are.
18:13I would be there.
18:14I would be there.
18:15Okay.
18:16Um, and then 72 hours with Drewski and Kevin Hart.
18:21Yes.
18:22With Kevin.
18:23Um, I'm excited for that.
18:25That one was fun.
18:26It was my first light role since everything.
18:30You know, I did a thousand and one, um, then went into, uh, uh, one battle after another,
18:37went into straw.
18:39Like there was a lot of heavy roles, a lot of heavy lifting.
18:43So 72 hours came around.
18:44I was like, Oh yeah, I need something to lighten this up and, you know, get some laughing
18:49in there, get some fun in there.
18:50So that was like a good thing for me to, to be able to take on exactly after those heavy
18:57rows and then, you know, going into a heavy album.
19:00So.
19:01Yeah.
19:02Okay.
19:03And speaking of straw, the walk, did you have any idea that the walk would do what it did
19:08and become viral?
19:09Oh my God.
19:10Everybody in this walk, the walk became so iconic and it's just so funny.
19:15And then it make it even worse because once I posted it, then everybody started doing
19:20a video like even more.
19:21And it was so funny because everybody thought that I was doing that walk on purpose.
19:25And that's really how I walk.
19:27And that's why I'm a sneaker girl because in heels, I'm already like bow leg.
19:32So you, it's already that little lean.
19:34So the walk always just look dramatic.
19:37It's a very dramatized walk.
19:39And I'm so shy with that.
19:41And that's just literally how I walk.
19:43There's no other way to walk.
19:44Like if I made myself not walk that way, it probably would look worse.
19:47Okay.
19:48You know?
19:49So it's just like, it's, that's my walk.
19:52And people will see that like when they see how I walk in heels.
19:55That's why I like wearing heels.
19:57All right.
19:58But then you were walking with purpose.
19:59That's what I learned about it.
20:00With your arms and everything.
20:01Just, yeah.
20:02If y'all want to see the walk, y'all just go and watch Straw right now on Netflix.
20:07See how we did that little promo right there.
20:11Okay.
20:12Um, now you also cook.
20:15Yes.
20:16Okay.
20:17I do.
20:18I do.
20:19I'm currently in school.
20:20So talk a little bit about that.
20:22You enrolled in culinary school.
20:23Yeah.
20:24How did you know here in L.A. or can we say?
20:26I was going to say.
20:27Okay.
20:28Oh, wow.
20:29Yeah.
20:30Okay.
20:31You know.
20:34They have a facility in Austin as well as Colorado.
20:37Okay.
20:38And they also have online too, but online is even harder.
20:42Cause it's not like just a program.
20:44Like we, we have to still show up in school.
20:47The chefs are live from class.
20:50We're in school on zoom in our uniforms, like camera on assignments.
20:57And it's harder because you're really reading off of the paper and say, okay, do this.
21:02Turn this and take a picture of this, this, this, that, and the third, like write your notes.
21:07You want to see diced cuts.
21:08So you don't even have your chef there to stand next to you.
21:11Say, no, no, no, no.
21:12Yeah.
21:13You really got to figure it out.
21:14Wow.
21:15It's been such a great experience.
21:16I'm very excited.
21:17Are you still attending classes or?
21:20Yeah.
21:21I have class when I leave here.
21:22Oh, wow.
21:23Yeah.
21:24I got to get to school.
21:25You have a specialty.
21:26You have a specialty yet from your lessons at this point?
21:30Honestly, it's, it all has been good.
21:32Like they opened my brain to a lot of stuff that I didn't even know.
21:36And that's what I love about it because the goal is to learn the art of culinary and the
21:41art of pastries, because it's something that I've always loved to do.
21:43I love to bake and I love to cook.
21:44Okay.
21:45So it's for me to better my skills.
21:46And if I want to go open up a restaurant somewhere, be able to do that.
21:49And I'm in week four straight A student, you know, my chef sends when they send a little
21:56feedback.
21:57Like they be so proud and I just be so proud.
21:59So like I take pride in going to school.
22:01I don't play that.
22:02Like, and it's like, even if you missed the live session to get your attendance, you still
22:07have to make it up.
22:09Yeah.
22:10You still have to watch the session.
22:11Oh wow.
22:12Okay.
22:13Like once you click it, they know, and you have to watch it all the way through for
22:14them to know that you actually came to class.
22:16So it's like, even if I miss the live session, I'd be so, I'd be so pissed off.
22:20I'd be like, I miss class.
22:21Everybody leave me alone.
22:22Boom, boom, boom.
22:23But I still watch the live session the same day.
22:25And I get my assignments in early.
22:26We're talking about an hour?
22:28The class?
22:29Each lesson?
22:30Yeah.
22:31Oh wow.
22:32Which is like another hour.
22:33Wow.
22:34So for them, it's just like, we want to see that you guys are doing the work and that
22:37you care.
22:38And, um, it's, it's hard.
22:41It's very hard.
22:42Knife skills, all of the things you're learning so much, so many different techniques.
22:46It's not easy.
22:47So if I threw open my refrigerator right now and you were there, could you pick some ingredients
22:52out and just, that's what I've always wanted to be able to do.
22:54Yeah.
22:55And make something good that others like me would just go, eh, that's just butter eggs and whatever.
23:00So.
23:01Yeah, no.
23:02And it also makes you appreciate the technique of how something is cooked.
23:05Okay.
23:06What I will say is I've never, I've never made rice in an oven before.
23:13Yeah.
23:14Like.
23:15Okay.
23:16Wow.
23:17They, it's like, it's called rice pilaf.
23:19Pilaf.
23:20Yeah.
23:21Pilaf.
23:22Cause yeah, that's what I'm still learning too.
23:23It get real fancy.
23:24The names get real.
23:25I said rice pilaf.
23:26We'll be peeling off.
23:27You know what I'm saying?
23:29Well, once I learned a technique and another thing, I hate onions.
23:34I love onion powder, but I hate onions.
23:36The actual, okay.
23:37And then the rice, we had to dice up the onions.
23:40Really, really small, like burn it.
23:42So you can do the whole chop thing.
23:44Oh my God.
23:45Yes.
23:46Oh, nice.
23:47It's on point because of school.
23:48Okay.
23:49Like the first week I was cutting myself up and you know, but then I was, I was learning
23:53it to the point where I don't even have to really measure it no more.
23:55I know exactly what it needs to look like.
23:57Um, and I could not stop eating the rice and it had all types of diced onion in it.
24:02But it's just like your technique is so amazing.
24:05It's like, we shouldn't be able to see the onion.
24:07It's really just to add the flavor.
24:08That's how I'm going to school.
24:09Wow.
24:10Okay.
24:11Yeah.
24:12So that may sound small, but that's a big thing because I don't like onions.
24:13And if I wasn't in school, I would have never even taken the chance on making out of her
24:17onions.
24:18Nah, kid.
24:19Well, when you're cooking, you have a special kitchen playlist or?
24:22Yeah.
24:23Probably in my uniform.
24:24I listen to like Sade and Anita Baker.
24:27Um, but I am very, very, I'm very, very focused on what I'm doing.
24:33And because cooking is therapeutic for me now being in culinary school and having to
24:39like, I mean, the ruler is so petty.
24:42They want one eighth of, I mean, the smallest cut.
24:48And they want you to put the cut inside the little square to make sure it's the exact size.
24:53That's how petty.
24:54Wow.
24:55It is.
24:56Geez.
24:57So to know how focused you got to be is so therapeutic for me.
25:01To make my chefs proud every week is so therapeutic for me.
25:06Like it's just something with purpose and understanding that they don't know who I am from a can of paint.
25:11Mm-hmm.
25:12You get what I'm saying?
25:13So to get pure, just people purely and genuinely being proud of you is something that money
25:22can't buy.
25:23Cause you can go on the internet, you're going to have fans that love you and you got people
25:25that hate on you.
25:26You got people that's going to hate on you just because.
25:27Just because.
25:28So what's really real?
25:29And what's not?
25:30Then you got the fans that feel like, you can do no wrong in their eyes.
25:33Okay.
25:34So they going to love it regardless.
25:35To be in school and to see people genuinely proud of you, it feels so amazing.
25:41Who did you laugh for working with Drewski and Kevin?
25:44What was that like in terms of who made you laugh the most?
25:47I'm sure there were a lot of shenanigans when you guys were sitting around with you for
25:50the different cuts.
25:51Kevin kind of a fool.
25:52Okay.
25:53I didn't have any scenes with Drewski, so I didn't get to see him.
25:55Okay.
25:56But Kevin did call him on FaceTime to talk to Junie.
26:01So that was, that was fun.
26:03But no, Kevin is amazing.
26:05And we cut up the whole time.
26:08Okay.
26:09Cause we played all day.
26:10We cut up the whole time.
26:12So that was definitely, I definitely had a ball.
26:15Well, look, yours is nice.
26:17You sure?
26:18Yes.
26:19Yeah.
26:20And these are cool.
26:21Yeah.
26:22I just like the rainbow one, but I'm a red rose girl.
26:34But now seeing the rose with the highlights, it's real cool.
26:38And you did a song at Ecstasy, right?
26:40With Sierra.
26:41Oh yeah.
26:42For the remix.
26:43So what's it like working with that good sister?
26:47Oh my God.
26:48It's amazing.
26:49I mean, Cece is a big sis to me.
26:51She's been a big sis to me forever.
26:54So like having an opportunity to work with her is so amazing.
26:58It is so warm.
26:59It is just so, you know, like it's so genuine.
27:04And I just love and appreciate her so much because it's so much more than just working.
27:09It's, it would never be work for us because we have a sisterhood and we have a bond.
27:14So it's just like, it's never, it's never working with her is, is as therapeutic as it is for me cooking.
27:21You know what I'm saying?
27:22And so it's like, I'm lucky to be her presence, to have a friendship with her and, you know, work with her.
27:28That's just the, the end.
27:29That's the add on.
27:31But who she is as a person and as a sister, as a mother and a wife is just really amazing to see, witness and watch.
27:39Okay, so can you stand here now and say and tell your fans and everybody else that you're going to be staying in music for a minute, you know, because we missed you.
27:50Yeah, y'all, I mean, I mean, I'm back, you know, I'm back, I'm back and I'm back and I'm back and I'm better.
27:57And I'm back on my terms.
27:59And that's the most important.
28:00I'm back because I love it again.
28:02You know what I'm saying?
28:03I'm in a place in my life where I don't want to do anything that I don't love.
28:07I don't want to do anything that feels like work.
28:11When it's fun for you and you doing what you love, you don't feel like work.
28:14So it's not supposed to feel like work.
28:15It's hard work being done.
28:17But that hard work is what you pray for.
28:20That's what we pray for.
28:21We pray to be blessed and be covered and be working and be busy.
28:25So me working hard will never feel like work to me.
28:28You know, especially if I love it.
28:30Listening to your album, it helped me, even though I'm more seasoned here.
28:34But it's always hard, seemingly, for women to think it's okay to say no.
28:39And that's what I'm saying.
28:40It's okay to say no.
28:42It's okay to feel.
28:43It's okay to not be okay.
28:44It's okay to take your cape off.
28:46Yeah.
28:47Because I think that we keep getting thrown in this thing of like, oh, you're so strong.
28:51Strong.
28:52You're strong.
28:53Strong.
28:54And it's just like, baby, and what about the times that I'm not?
28:57And I'm still, yeah.
28:58You know what I'm saying?
28:59What about the times that I'm not?
29:00And I think that that's what this album is.
29:02It's a safe space.
29:04It's a safe space to escape to wherever you want to go.
29:08All right.
29:09Well, thank you, Tayana.
29:11And I think this is so great.
29:12If the camera gets it, it says always blooming.
29:14Always blooming.
29:15And I think that really fits you in this stage you're at right now in your career and life.
29:19Thank you so much.
29:20I appreciate you.
29:23So good to see you again.
29:24Yeah.
29:25Thanks.
29:26Bye.
29:27Bye.
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