Kanye West was upstaged by his artist Teyana Taylor on Sunday night once the video for “Fade” premiered during the VMAs and then later on the web exclusively to Tidal. All of Taylor’s twisting, turning, thrusting, and gyrating was enough to send social media into a tizzy that rivaled what was going on at the big awards show.
The one part of the clip that perplexed everyone what exactly happened with Taylor’s face at the end of the clip where she seemingly morphed into a cat-faced woman suddenly?
She blossomed into a “fierce lioness, this fierce cat,” so says Jae Blaze, one of the creative minds behind the video.
Blaze, a choreographer and artistic director by trade, explained some of the backstory attached to the video in an interview with Pitchfork. She explained that the surprising end was intended to translate as Teyana being seen as a strong mother, woman and entertainer. “I think the vision behind that was how amazing Teyana is,” Blaze said, “and how she’s been on the rise, and how she’s working, and you are now seeing her blossom into this fierce lioness, this fierce cat.”
With that mystery solved, the rest of the interview does a good job explaining how Kanye came with an idea then allowed Blaze, Fonsworth Bentley and Guapo to shape. Of course, Teyana came in with her unlimited set of dance skills that took things to another level. Blaze said, “She used so many different elements in her choreography to bring back from the old school to the new school. She has waacking in there. She has popping in there. She has dancehall in there.”
Taylor’s been on the sidelines for G.O.O.D. for a long time. Maybe, just maybe, “Fade” shapes into her defining breakthrough that allows her to move to center stage so she can shine.
(Via Pitchfork)
