NEED TO KNOW
Teyana Taylor’s talent from a young age had her destined for great things.
The multihypenate, 34, recently appeared on the Joe & Jada podcast as she looked back at getting her start in dancing as a teen and the unique opportunity that led her to work with the incomparable Beyoncé on her music video for “Ring the Alarm,” which was the second single from the B’Day album.
Taylor explained to hosts Fat Joe and Jadakiss that Beyoncé’s team got in contact with her when she was just 15 years old. The teen wasn’t immediately asked to choreograph a whole music video, however. “You wanna know what’s crazy? Another stamp to New York — she wanted to learn the chicken noodle soup,” the Straw actress said.
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The viral dance, which accompanied a track released by Webstar and Young B that year, was everywhere. Not only did Taylor seize on the opportunity to teach it to Beyoncé, but to do more with her.
“They called me because I was outside, battling everybody like it was up for everybody. So they called me to come and do it, but you already know,” Taylor recalled. “The homie was like, ‘She just wants to learn the chicken noodle soup.’ But I went in there and I was ready. I was like, ‘Everybody, I’m ready to work. Let’s go woman,’ and she just started dying.”
She taught Beyoncé a few other moves that were up and coming in Harlem, leading to a call back and more opportunities to collaborate. “To be able to work with her and at that age, I’m taking in everything,” she explained.
In a 2023 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Taylor also spoke about the moment and what it meant that both Beyoncé and Jay Z had such faith in her as an up-and-coming talent.
“Beyoncé wanted to plug me in to be in one of his videos,” she shared. “She was like a proud aunt, she was like, ‘I told you, she’s a superstar.’ ”
Taylor admitted Jay Z was more hesitant at the time. “He gave me a hard time, you know, because we’re both Sagittarius and he was testing me,” she said with a laugh.
