Even if you missed the VMAs on Sunday, you no doubt saw gifs of Kanye West’s “Fade” video floating around online, featuring an oiled-up Teyana Taylor busting Flashdance-inspired moves in an empty workout room. The video culminated with the new mom sporting a cat tail and whiskers, posed beside fiancé Iman Shumpert and their daughter, Junie. In an interview with Vogue, Taylor opened up about “Fade,” working with Kanye and her post-baby body.
“The whole video is deeper than people probably processed it,” Taylor said. “So I feel like it’s up for the people to figure it out. I get it, but I want them to really figure it out and really understand what’s going on. And for them to understand, they’re going to have to watch it 20, and 30, and 40 times.”
The G.O.O.D. Music signee was first approached about participating in the video while hanging around the studio.
“[Kanye and I] just started talking and I was just rambling and rambling about Iman and to him it was a dope moment to just see love like that, to see that you can really have it all,” Taylor said. When she returned to the studio, a representative for G.O.O.D. told her Kanye wanted her to star in his next video.
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While the video looks amazing, things on set were less so.
“Let’s talk about these sheep first, though. They were sh*tting all over the place—there was poop everywhere,” Taylor revealed, “I was just looking at ‘Ye, like, ‘Yo, I don’t know what you got going on, but I know it’s going to be good.’ Because you know with ‘Ye, you just gotta trust him. He’s a genius and you know he just got something up his sleeve.”
West was on set for the entire video, offering little explanation for his vision, but regularly telling Taylor that the video was going to be chic and iconic.
What really had the Internet buzzing though was Taylor’s post-baby body. The singer gave birth just eight months ago and revealed that she really didn’t hit the gym, she just danced.
“I think dancing, as far as fitness, is very underrated. Whether that’s Zumba, tap dancing, or ballet, you have to realize that this is an actual workout,” she said. “Sometime this year, I want to make a DVD. For real. Most people are selfish—they’re trying to keep all their secrets to themselves. But I really want to do it to help out all of the ladies. My diet sucks. I eat pizza, fried chicken, macaroni; I don’t eat vegetables. But I dance!”
With the video done, Taylor is now focusing on what’s next. She has a list of projects on the way including an album, an upcoming role on The Breaks, and if you thought she was kidding, she’s seriously considering making a workout DVD. Who wouldn’t want Teyana Taylor whipping their butt into shape?
