Teyana Taylor Poses For Playboy: Being in the business of this dirty game, I had to grow up fast. [Photos]

Teyana Taylor Talks Patience In Playboy

For Teyana Taylor, it’s been a long road to get to K.T.S.E, her new album released over the summer.  Now, while living her dream and touring the country, Teyana has carved out some time to sit down with Playboy Magazine for their September/October issue.

Teyana takes it back to her childhood, reminiscing about growing up a talented tomboy who stood out amongst the other kids in her Harlem neighborhood. She tells Playboy,

“I have a leader vibe about me. Because I was homeschooled, I had no choice but to raise my hand even if I didn’t want to. But I was fearless—pure, raw. I would see groups of people dancing, and instead of joining in, I would actually want to make up the moves. I’ve always been a person that wants not just to do it; I want to be it.”

She also opens up about getting signed to Pharrell Williams and her early entry into the music industry. A decade in the business, to be exact. For Teyana, it took a long time to finally break out and it was a very challenging time.

“Being in the business of this dirty, dirty game, I had to grow up pretty fast. You gotta be careful. You got to know what’s going on because some people are intimidated that you know too much at a young age. Patience has been my biggest challenge. There’s times where I’d just be laying in bed, crying. I’d been doing this for so many years and it was just not happening.”

On working with Kanye, Teyana says:

“That’s the beauty of working with someone like Kanye: He gets how creative people work. I would never let someone tell me, ‘This is what you’re going to sing today.’ ” She laughs. “That’s the Karl Lagerfeld in me. I got to grab the camera myself, because you don’t see what I see, baby. I need you to be able to feel me. I need you to be able to touch me.”

And when it comes to being a strong woman, that’s what Teyana Taylor stands for:

“I’m going to have self-respect. I’m going to be a strong woman all across the board whether you like it or not. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to get where I wanted to be. I was never willing to be what someone else wanted. Hey, if we don’t bust it wide open, there ain’t gonna be no you! So put some respect on that capital Win Woman. Wo-man.”

You can read the rest of Teyana’s Playboy interview here.