Teyana Taylor’s newest album, Escape Room, is out, and it unlocks a surplus of emotions to sink into. In this 22-track project, Taylor runs through the many stages of grief after a painful breakup. The anger, the pain, and the overwhelming point of realizing love won’t immediately evaporate is all laid down without a veil in this conceptualized project.
With narrations from other Hollywood stars, including Issa Rae, Niecy Nash, Taraji P. Henson, and Regina King, it is a corridor into her thoughts and feelings. The narration poetically pronounces what her lyrics convey, speaking in greater detail of what her songs are about.
Escape Room is an album that doesn’t hide from vulnerability, as she expresses how hard it is to lose yourself with loss and walking into the unknown. In “Niecy Nash’s Narration“, Nash says, “The hard part isn’t losing you; it’s losing the version of me I left behind.”
Taylor recently went through a messy divorce that played out on social media and settled in the courtroom. After filing for divorce from her ex-husband, Iman Shumpert, in 2023, their breakup created shockwaves for many who remember their seemingly loud love from their reality show and interviews. She doesn’t shy away from speaking on how the breakup has damaged her, especially in her opening track, “Taraji P. Henson’s Narration.“
“I just simply wanted him to love me back to life, but no/The hardest part was realizing I should have walked out this b*tch a long time ago.”
Escape Room is the first album Taylor has released since announcing her retirement from recording music in 2020. However, she didn’t completely break away from the entertainment industry. The multi-hyphenate creative has put her talents into creative directing, acting, and choreographing artists’ performances.
The album discusses more than heartbreak, but also finding love and the intensity that comes with being with someone new. Within the second half of the album is when it shifts from heartbreak to desire, with a heavy feature list. She recruits KAYTRANADA on her record, “Open Invite,” and Tyla on her record, “Pum Pum Jump,” with a narration from Jill Scott. These tracks depict pure lust and desire that come before feelings are involved. Those feelings are laid bare in “In Your Head,” where she captures the confusion of falling for someone and wondering if they feel the same.
It’s easy to believe the inspiration for this shift comes from her relationship with actor, Aaron Pierre. The couple’s photos at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party were the talk of social media before they confirmed their relationship. Taylor confirmed their relationship in June 2025 with an Instagram post honoring the Lion King actor’s 31st birthday.
Other than a few Instagram photos, Taylor declares to keep this special part of her life private. And with a highly publicized relationship that ended devastatingly, who can blame her? Her album alone offers more than a preview of how she is navigating her new reality.
It ends on a sweet and hopeful note, with appearances from her daughters on “Always.” The outro comes with a message from the girls reassuring their mother that she can and will overcome any obstacle. The oldest ends the track beautifully with, “Dear mommy, you’ve always been strong/You’ve always been love/You’ve always been ours.” It’s a gentle reminder that romantic love is not the only one that exists, nor is it the only one that matters.
What's Your Reaction?
