Teyana Taylor Reveals Aaron Pierre “Damn Near EPed” Her New Album

Teyana Taylor ended her music hiatus five years after announcing her retirement.

In a new cover story with GQ, the now critically-acclaimed actress and creative director admitted that when she asked to be released from Def Jam, “I was backed in the corner, but I was ready.”

A month later, she was auditioning for her breakout role in A Thousand And One. On the heels of dropping her new album, Escape Room, under Def Jam, Taylor believes that the label wanted her back after she bet on herself.

“I think it made them see, ‘Damn, she’s doing this for others. What can she do for herself?’” she explained. Of her new deal, she said, “They came with a new team and a new plan. They made the proper choices to make sure they came back to me at their best.”

It also seemed that her new love, Aaron Pierre, played a big role in the making of Escape Room. “He damn near EP’ed the album,” Taylor revealed. “He’s so on top of it and so involved and so passionate in regards to the album. He would be like, ‘Oh, yeah, that melody right there? That was fire.’ I’m like, ‘Thank you. I thought nobody was going to notice that.’”

When speaking on her beau, she admitted, “He’s a real big music head and just how hands-on he’s been on this album with me has been really amazing to see. You ever sit back and be like, ‘This person don’t play about me’? I was like, ‘Yeah, you need to be my leading man, because you understand every single song, every single emotion, every single feeling, which is that, on set, you’re going to bring it.’”