Teyana Taylor Talks Ending Retirement With ‘Escape Room’: ‘Coming Back to Music & Being Able to Do It on My Terms Was a Big Turn-On’

Billboard gives Teyana Taylor her flowers — literally — in the latest installment of our “Takes Us Out” franchise. Five years after announcing her retirement from music, Taylor returns Aug. 22 with her fourth studio album, Escape Room.

The multi-faceted creative — singer-songwriter, dancer-choregorapher, video director and actress —recently dropped by Casa de Flores in Encino, California, to arrange an assortment of red roses and chat with Billboard’s Gail Mitchell. Asked what prompted the end of her musical retirement during the conversation, Taylor referenced her 2020 Billboard cover story which followed the release of her gold-certified third studio project, The Album.

“When I spoke to you five years ago, it wasn’t on my terms,” she begins. “I’ve returned now in a time when I get to come back on my terms. And that was important for me because … I don’t like to be stuck in a box. I don’t want to be stuck in one room. I’m a Glade plug-in: I’m going to plug in wherever I see a socket, wherever I see an outlet.

“For me,” she continues, “why only make one room smell good when you can make the whole store smell good? What do I look like just being plugged up in a bathroom? I need to be plugged in all over! I must be able to smell the fruits of my labor everywhere I go. Coming back to music and being able to do it on my terms was a big turn-on for me.”

And gauging by the response from her fan base, it’s a turn-on for them too, as Taylor clears the runway for Escape Room’s impending arrival. Revealed this week, the 22 songs comprising her fourth studio album boasts features by Jill Scott, Tyla, Lucky Daye and Kaytranada, plus her daughters Rue Rose and Junie Shumpert. Complementing the songs are monologues by a cast of powerful women’s voices belonging to Taraji P. Henson, Sarah Paulson, Niecy Nash, Issa Rae and Regina King, among others.

Taylor, who recently underwent emergency vocal cord surgery, had earlier trumpeted her return with the release of “Long Time” and “Bed of Roses.” Those accompanying videos, both of which feature her beau, actor Aaron Pierre, count 2.2 million and 1.2 million views, respectively, on YouTube.

Watch “Teyana Taylor Takes Us Out” to learn more about her escape route to well-being as well as additional projects on her horizon.