Teyana Taylor has been very open with her frustrations regarding her current standing at her Def Jam. The singer has shared the ill feelings she carries toward the label, but this time around it seems that they have reached a breaking point for her. She recently announced that she will be “retiring this chapter” of her career due to “being overlooked,” a statement that left some fans confused about what chapter she meant. As a result, she went on Instagram Live on Saturday night to clear up the confusion and confirm her desire to retire while explaining the exact things that upset her about her label.
“[The] majority of what that post was to warn my label who I’ve been signed to for almost 10 years,” the “Rose Harlem” singer said. “Everything that you guys see of me, everything that I put out, everything that I do is like, 100% me… My thing about it is, there’s no gun to anybody’s head to do anything that they don’t want to do. So yes, I am going to feel under-appreciated if I’m putting in 110% and my label is giving me, they’re reciprocating what 10% of that.”
She added, “I constantly feel alone, I constantly feel under-appreciated, I constantly feel failed…there is literally no push.” She then revealed that she’s asked Def Jam to drop her “on almost 10 different occasions” before addressing some of the reactions she’s received from fans.
I asked Def Jam to drop me on almost 10 different occasions. Straight to the face. Up in the building. At this point, I can’t let this kill me. Granted, to my fans, I think that, you know — and I can see how my message can come across but at the same time, I feel like it’s a tiny bit selfish to say, “What about your fans? Do it for your fans.” Baby, I gotta do it for my mental health. I have to do it for my emotional health. I have to do it for my kids so I can stay alive for my kids.
Elsewhere in the livestream, Teyana said that she’s never received the support from her label that she felt like she deserved and that she’s been left high and dry to handle issues that are the label’s responsibility, like the recent conflict she had with Mykki Blanco.
“I constantly get attacked for all the f*ck sh*t the label do and, y’all know me, I stay quiet. But, it’s so much I can take. So maybe, if I retire, n****s will let me go. Drop me, fam. Let me be free,” she said. “I’m tired… Baby, I’ve been doing this since I was 15 years old. I’m about to be 30. And besides performing for my real fans and actually being in a booth, nothing else about music makes me happy.”
You can watch clips from her livestream above.