You guys have been waiting for this one, so it’s finally time to get into the rihanna/
teyana taylor beef.
It all started back in 2013.
At the time, Rihanna was 25 and Teyana was 22, almost 23.
Teyana posted a video of herself on Instagram singing Anita Baker’s Caught Up In The Rapture.
Apparently, Rihanna saw it and didn’t like it.
Days later, she uploaded a video of her stylist singing Caught Up In The Rapture, obviously
mocking Teyana.
It was inarguably a shot at Teyana because of the hair and the snapback, which were her
staples back then.
Rihanna did a similar thing when she was beefing with Ciara, and had her cousin post a picture
of them seemingly making fun of her singing.
She really was in her mean girl era back then.
In response to Rihanna’s video, Teyana tweeted “Petty is petty and shade is shade.
She knew what the f she was doing.”
She also said in a series of angry tweets, "Don't play wit me @rihanna f--k all this
industry s--t, YOU & I know each other VERY well.
Throwing subs 4 wat?
u got my #, don't show off."
Teyana and Rihanna had been friends prior, or at least friendly with one another, and
had been pictured at events together.
Rihanna had dated Chris Brown several years prior, and their relationship ended in 2009,
but the two rekindled it briefly in early 2013.
Chris and Teyana had been close friends on and off for years, since they both got into
the industry as teenagers.
They also have a few songs together.
Though Teyana had called Rihanna and her fans out directly, Rihanna still hadn’t named
her as the person she was feuding with.
She simply tweeted in response “Screaming in an empty room.
#dontfeed the animals.”
Less than an hour later, she tweeted, “I hate Broke Bitches”.
Of course, after being a global superstar for the better part of the last decade, Rihanna
had amassed both fame and wealth.
She'd recently earned her first number one album with unapologetic, and would later win
a grammy for it in 2014.
Unapologetic was supported by a successful world tour in 2013, which grossed nearly $140
million dollars.
So yes, Rihanna was at a high point in her career at the time she made the tweet.
But she’s always been open about her humble beginnings in Barbados, to the point where
they were used to endear her to people early on in her career.
So while she may have hated broke bitches in the moment, less than a decade ago, she
was one.
Minutes later, Teyana tweeted, “I hate broke bitches too.”
Rihanna didn’t tweet back.
Instead, she changed her twitter header to an article with both their net worths, confirming
Teyana was who she was beefing with.
The article claimed rihanna’s net worth was 90 million, compared to teyana’s being
500 thousand.
This was foul.
Like, its almost been 10 years and I’m still recovering from seeing this.
As if things couldn’t get more disrespectful, Teyana tweeted back, “Ya net worth and ya
body count go neck and neck.
90 million dollars and 90 million men driving in her box (that’s the clean version of
what she said by the way).
Teyana’s tweet fed into the rumors that Rihanna had been sleeping with a lot of industry
men at the time.
She also uploaded an edited picture of her fighting Rihanna in a boxing ring.
The picture of Rihanna that Teyana used was one of from when Rihanna was assaulted by
Chris Brown back in 2009.
Teyana was said to have been one of the few people who stuck by Chris’ side at that
time.
She was spotted with him several times that year, including at p diddy's 4th of july party
and the NBA finals.
Apparently, Teyana’s the one who set Chris and Karrueche up.
So yeah, while Rihanna was out of line with her tweets, Teyana’s low blows took it to
an unnecessary level.
Even if Teyana was closer to Chris, she probably still spent time with Rihanna when she was
dating Chris, which makes her making fun of her even more messed up.
Talking about net worths and then talking about someone being assaulted are two different
levels.
Allegedly, after this, Rihanna changed her header back and then deleted her tweets at
Teyana.
Her next tweet, said, “I REFUSE to help your career…you will NOT get an @ from me!
Not til you pay me!
#nomorefreepormo #iRefuse.”
Teyana responded with a lyric from Jay-Z’s song tom ford, saying “F hashtags and retweets,
140 characters in these sheets.”
In an interview with Hot97, Teyana said she wasn’t really sure what Rihanna’s issue
with her was.
Teyana said, “I do think she’s a cyber bully.
I really do.
I think she’s a cyber bully.
I think she has dope music...
She’s a pretty girl.
But that don’t mean that you can just bully anybody.
It don’t work like that.
At the end of the day, I work hard, you know I work hard, you know I have talent.
My s**t is gonna pop regardless.
You understand what I’m saying?
This wasn’t [a] publicity stunt.
This wasn’t trying to get free publicity.
But, clearly I was on her brain for her to even be making fun of me.”
Their Twitter spat wasn’t without repercussions.
In December of 2013, Teyana Tyalor ended p losing her partnership with Adidas as a result
of the twitter feud.
In a statement to madame noir, a senior rep for Adidas said, “We have ended our relationship
with Teyana Taylor and do not have any upcoming product launches with her.
All I can say is that Adidas partners with athletes and artists who blend well with our
brand values.
We evaluate our relationships with partners based on the values we hold at adidas and
we don't condone violence of any kind".
In my opinion, Teyana deserved to be dropped from adidas.
Not for tweeting back at Rihanna at all, because a comeback was justified, but not one joking
about Rihanna being assaulted.
And regardless of whether Teyana felt that was acceptable, most brands aren't going to
want to represent someone who’s saying things like that, or talking about how many people
someone slept with.
Teyana tried to appear unbothered about the situation, tweeting, “Hey haters, imma let
yall finish but I had the fastest selling adidas of all time.
#HandsMicBack&WalksOffStage #Kanyeshrug #ImSleepTho”.
Teyana’s earlier collaboration with Adidas, the Harlem Good Luck Charm Sneakers, sold
out faster than either other adidas shoes.
Adidas had signed Tyana on for another collab with her to drop that November.
Yall just be buying anything, cause these shoes are ugly as hell.
I don’t remember seeing anyone wearing these.
They give 2010 vibes.
Teyana referencing Kanye might seem random, but she was actually signed to his label G.O.O.D
music at the time, and had been since 2012.
Previously she’d been signed to Interscope and Pharell’s label, Star Trak.
She left the label for Kanye’s in order to find more independence in her music career.
Ironically, Kanye signed his deal with adidas just a few weeks before they dropped Teyana.
Rihanna and Kanye were also friendly at the time, as they were both Def Jam Artists.
Kanye’s label, GOOD Music, was under Island Def Jam.
Back in 2009, Rihanna and Kanye collaborated with Jay-Z on Run This Town.
Jay-Z knew of Tyana prior to her being signed to Good Music.
She danced in his blue magic video in 2007, and Teyana said he gave her the nickname of
superstar.
So you can definitely see how Rihanna and Teynana ran in the same circles at the time,
especially moreso after they were on the same record label.
Teyana had barely been signed to Good Music for a year before her fight with Rihanna.
It seemed like by 2015, whatever drama that existed between Teyana and Rihanna had cooled
off.
It’s safe to assume both girls had other things to take up their time.
Teyana was expecting her first child with Iman shumpert, and Rihanna was likely developing
savage x fenty, and was definitely working on anti at the time.
when one of her fans made fun of Teyana’s dead grandparents, Rihanna slid into her DMs
to defend her.
It’s unclear what specifically ended the rift between the 2 singers.
As of 2016, it seemed like Rihanna and Teyana had officially laid their feud to rest.
Teyana posted some PR Rihanna had sent her from herPuma x Fenty Collection.
She posted the shoes on her Instagram with the caption, thanks for the dope ass gift
Rhi!
Gimme Kiss.
The two also contributed to Kanye’s 2016 album The Life of Pablo.
Rihanna featured on Kanye’s song, famous, while Teyana starred in Kanye’s Fade video.
Teyana’s dancing in the video was acclaimed, and it won the VMA for best choreography at
the 2017 VMA’s.
In 2018, both of them were photographed together at Coachella.
The two wore masks, and Rihanna had her arm around Teyana.
In a 2020 interview, Rihanna mentioned Teyana as one of the people who had reached out in
support of her new business endeavors.
So as of now, it seems like despite their past beef, teyana and rihanna are on good
terms.
They’re both moms now, and working on their careers,and in relationships.
Teyana’s released 2 albums, and has acted in several smaller budget films, models, and
of course still dances.
Also who can forget her vmas performance with normani.
Rihanna of course, Rihanna has been mostly busy with her brands Fenty Beauty and Savage
X Fenty the past couple years.
She’s performing at next year’s superbowl, so hopefully we’ll get some new music too.
I feel like it would be cool to see Teyana model or perform at the Savage X Fenty show
coming up in a couple weeks.
That would be a fun surprise, but who knows.
I feel like Teyana would do something creative with it, if her and Rihanna were up to it.
She has the vibe of a lot of artists who’ve performed at the past shows.
This video has made me realize I need to do a Teyana Tyalor video.
Her career’s always been interesting to me.
She’s always been a sort of it-girl who’s always at the periphery of these really famous
circles, but is never in the center.
I remember seeing her first on Sweet 16, and having no idea who she was even though she
knew relatively famous people.
Apparently, her mom’s been in the industry as a stylist for a while now, so that could
explain some of her connections.
There’s also rumors pharrell and the label paid for that birthday party.
Also, I heard there was some label drama between her and Kanye, and I wouldn’t be surprised.
But anyway, I just wanted to dive into this little feud and give you guys another piece
of pop culture history.
I of course will be providing my thoughts on the Savage X Fenty shows when that comes
out, regardless of who’s in it.
As always, be sure to like and subscribe, and let me know what you’d like to see next!
See y’all in my next one!