Teyana Taylor is entering one of the most important parts of her career. She has been nominated for her first Grammy and Golden Globe, and it feels like a long time coming and very personal. The award means a lot more to an artist who has shaped culture through music, film, dance, and fashion for years than just trophies. It means that her voice, vision, and refusal to fit neatly into anyone else’s expectations are finally being recognised.
The Grammy nomination is for Taylor’s visual album Escape Room, which came out in August. It was a project that quietly brought her back to music after she publicly left the business in 2020. Fans were shocked when she decided to retire at the time, but she was tired of being creative and felt like she wasn’t being recognised for her work. Coming back on her own terms with a project that combined sound, visuals, storytelling, and emotional openness was both a risk and a statement. The nomination shows that risk worked.
Taylor talked about how seeing her work recognised at such a high level made her feel like she was going to cry. “Everything is happening, everything I ever wanted. [It’s] one prayer answered after another. You have so many different thoughts and feelings running through your head that you just think, “Oh, my God, this is so great.” You know that every project deserved that kind of praise. What made this one better than the other one? Her words show a common tension that artists feel when they finally succeed: gratitude mixed with thoughts about all the times they didn’t.
Taylor never intended for Escape Room to win awards. It was a close, almost therapeutic release that came from her growth as a person, becoming a mother, and getting a better sense of who she is as a creator. The project’s strength comes from its honesty, which goes against trends in favour of mood, movement, and story. That authenticity might be why it became popular now, when the industry is more open to work that feels real instead of fake.
It looks like the Grammy nomination is also a way to look back on her whole musical career. Taylor herself put it that way, saying that the honour feels bigger than just one album. “That wait is not punishment. It is preparation for what is already written for you,” she said, which sounds more like a lesson learnt through years of waiting than a soundbite. It shows the quiet strength behind her career and how she knows that timing is just as important as talent.
Hollywood and the music world both took notice. Taylor got her first Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her part in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Acting has always been a part of her artistic language, but this award puts her in a whole new cinematic conversation. Working with Anderson, a director known for getting raw, layered performances from his actors, changed how people and critics saw her on screen.
Instead of seeing the nomination as a big deal, Taylor took it with a sense of humility. She made it clear that she wasn’t focused on the outcome and instead wanted to stay focused on the work itself. “I get really shy when it comes to these kinds of things because I’m a little superstitious.” I try to focus on what’s right in front of me, and then everything else will fall into place. That way of thinking shows that you are mature because of what you’ve been through, and you value long-term success over short-term praise.
It’s quietly powerful that Taylor is able to reach these goals after taking a break instead of pushing through burnout. Her story goes against the idea that success has to be a straight line or always visible. In her case, taking a break became a part of moving forward. The space she took gave her time to think clearly and choose projects that fit with her values instead of looking for approval.
People often focus on Taylor’s style, looks, or high-profile relationships instead of her creative discipline. These nominations call for a reevaluation. They want people to see all of her work, from choreography and music videos to acting and visual storytelling, and see the common thread of intention that runs through it all.
The moment also makes us think about how the industry decides what is valuable. Why do artists like Taylor often get mainstream praise later in their careers, after they’ve had an impact for years? Is recognition catching up, or is the system slowly learning to value creators who are multidimensional and don’t fit into easy categories? There are no easy answers, but her story makes the conversation more interesting.
As the award season goes on, Taylor is at a crossroads of thankfulness and progress. The nominations alone have changed the story about her career, whether she wins trophies or not. They support a creative path based on trusting yourself, being patient, and having the guts to walk away when something doesn’t feel right anymore.
