Teyana Taylor is taking the successes of 2016 into 2017 and there is no stopping the singer.
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It was announced this week that the 25-year-old wife and mom and ultimate fitspo was named official brand ambassador for Reebok. She will not only be a part of the Reebok family, but the face of the re-release of the Reebok Classic Freestyle Hi, otherwise known as the 54-11s.
This is a pretty big deal for Taylor, who partnered with Adidas in the past before a <a href="http://madamenoire.com/329287/teyana-taylor-adidas-partnership-over/" target="_blank">spat with singer Rihanna</a> caused her to lose her deal with that shoe brand (<a href="http://madamenoire.com/718135/rihanna-teyana-taylor-make-up/" target="_blank">the women have since made nice</a>). Since becoming a household name following her starring role in Kanye West's "Fade" video, Taylor started collaborating with Reebok, even doing her own version of <a href="http://www.reebok.com/us/question-mid-teyana-t/BD4487.html" target="_blank">Allen Iverson's classic Question Ts</a>. She is now joining the Reebok ambassador ranks with other artists like Kendrick Lamar and Future.
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The classic Freestyle Hi shoe is reportedly the first sneaker made for fitness and specifically designed with women in mind. In an interview with <em><a href="http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a42414/teyana-taylor-reebok/" target="_blank">Elle.com</a></em>, Taylor said she she's been a huge fan of it since she was a kid.
"I had every color," she said. "I had the lime green ones. When I got my first silver bubble coat I wore it with my white 54-11s. My mom kept me laced in every single color. Even when I first got signed, Reebok was sending me sneakers, I had the metallic ones, I had every single flavor. I still do. It's one thing for people to send you stuff, but to actually be a part of a brand that you look up to, and a legendary one at that, is super dope. Especially with what I represent. Everybody knows that I'm in love with the '80s and '90s—even as far back as when I did <em>My Super Sweet 16</em>!"
In that same interview, Taylor also said that she plans to bust a move in the popular fitness sneakers. She continues to say that her go-to form of exercise is and always will be dance.
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"Dancing is really a way of working out and it can actually be fun," Taylor said. "In dancing there might be a certain dance move that requires you to do a squat. Certain dance moves will require you to move your core. That's what people don't understand. That is fitness and that is working out, and that's why I'm coming out with a Fade to Fit video series. I'm excited about that because it's really finally happening."
And dancing is what helped Taylor slim down (not that there was that much to lose) after having her daughter, Junie. She said she was initially worried about how her career would be impacted by the decision to have a child.
"It was more so a fear of—not about my body—but what would happen career-wise," she said. "But I think Junie was like our good-luck charm. Iman won a championship. Everything finally turned out for the best and I think it's because for the first time in a long time, I made a decision not based off the label, not based off what anybody thought, not based off my family, it was something that I made out of love. It was a risk that I took. And I think that's why God really blessed me. He was like, through it all, now you're finally making decisions for you. When a lot of my life has been making decisions based on other people, what they would feel about me, what they would say about me. So I was shook. Even when I found out I was pregnant I was like, Oh my God. But that was a risk that was worth taking."
But of course, it was all worth it. Had Taylor not had Junie, her snapback in the "Fade" video wouldn't have been able to make headlines.
"Where would my career be had I not had Junie?" Taylor said. "Had I not made that decision for me? Had I not followed my heart? Not only is she a blessing, but she's motivation for me. I think that's what made a lot of women show emotion towards 'Fade.' It really made women feel like we are Superwoman, we can have a whole kid and we can look beautiful and we can still dance and we can still grind, and we can still find love. It was just that black girl magic. It was the post-baby body. The body, the happiness, the husband, the things that people say that us women can't have."
<em>Images via Reebok and Instagram </em>
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