Five years after stepping away from music, Teyana Taylor isn’t just back — she’s moving differently. Her new single “Long Time,” the lead from her upcoming album Escape Room, signals not a comeback, but a recalibration. Released under Def Jam, the track reintroduces Taylor on her own terms, pulling from house rhythms and thick basslines, while the accompanying video folds her visual storytelling talents into the sonic narrative.
“Long Time” doesn’t go for cheap nostalgia. Instead, it borrows the muscle memory of her earlier Kanye West-assisted hit “Fade” and stretches it into a tighter, darker groove. There’s body, grit, and control in the production — this is house with intent, not window dressing. The track walks a fine line between vulnerability and power, a tension Taylor leans into with vocal delivery that feels both lived-in and fiercely composed.
The music video, directed by Taylor herself, cements that vision. With actor Lakeith Stanfield playing her partner, the visual takes viewers into a cinematic flashback, blending eroticism, horror aesthetics, and performance art. It’s more than a standard roll-out — it’s part one of a larger world, teased to unfold with the full Escape Room release. Taylor plays with visual cues from psychological thrillers and trauma-driven cinema, while never letting go of her signature glam-sweat energy. Think Saw meets Janet Jackson’s Velvet Rope tour — intimate, controlled chaos.
Teyana Taylor’s post-2020 pivot into directing seemed to some like a career left unfinished. But in hindsight, it was a necessary departure. In the years since The Album, she’s lent her eye to some of the industry’s top female acts while carving out a credible film résumé. That behind-the-scenes work wasn’t a break — it was training.
Now, with Escape Room, Taylor is building a framework where music, film, and autonomy coexist. If “Long Time” is any indication, she’s not asking for a seat at the table — she’s designing the floor plan.
