Teyana Taylor has announced her highly anticipated third LP, THE ALBUM, will be released on Juneteenth aka June 19th. THE ALBUM features special guests Rick Ross, Erykah Badu, Quavo, Missy Elliott, Future, Big Sean & more.
The announcement of the album release date comes on the heels of another very special reveal: Teyana’s pregnancy with her second child. Teyana revealed the news on Friday in her intimate, self-directed video for “Wake Up Love” featuring her husband Iman Shumpert, and daughter Junie. Teyana’s increasingly significant and dynamic body of a work as a director was celebrated today with a 2020 BET Award nomination for Best Director.
Tapped by Pitchfork as one of the “most anticipated albums of the summer,” THE ALBUM also features Teyana’s new graduation anthem “Made It,” pegged by NPR as a “a triumphant, isolation-proof anthem for the Class of 2020,” the Janet Jackson-approved viral sensation “Bare Wit Me”, the Kanye West-produced “We Got Love.”, and “How You Want It? (HYWI?)” featuring King Combs
Since 2018’s KTSE, Teyana’s star has continued to rise; from her successful career as video director and continued investment in her production company, The Aunties, to her acting and modeling career, to a string of scintillating self-directed singles and videos, including “Morning” with Kehlani. THE ALBUM is poised to take her to the next level.
THE ALBUM is the highly anticipated successor to K.T.S.E. (June 2018), Teyana’s second album, one of the five G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam albums produced by Kanye West during his 2018 sojourn in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. K.T.S.E. (acronym for Keep That Same Energy) set off an 18-month chain reaction for Teyana, starting with its summertime Top 10 R&B smash “Gonna Love Me.” She performed “Gonna Love Me” (in a medley with “Rose In Harlem,”another K.T.S.E. track) on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Hip-hop audiences embraced the “Gonna Love Me” remix featuring Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, Method Man and Raekwon, whose video was directed by Teyana.
K.T.S.E. spun off a hot new single and video for Teyana in early 2019, the explicit “WTP (Work This P***y).“ The video was nominated for “Best Dance Performance” at the 32nd annual BET Soul Train Awards. The third single from K.T.S.E. was the evocative “Issues/Hold On.” After slaying the audience with the song live on Ellen in April 2019, Teyana was surprised on-air when Ellen presented her with the RIAA gold award plaque for “Gonna Love Me,” bringing it all full circle.
