Teyana Taylor’s newest project, The Album, is truly THE album of the year. It seems like just about every big name in the music industry contributed their vocals: Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, Rick Ross, Erykah Badu, Quavo, Kehlani, Future, Big Sean and King Combs. Of course, Teyana’s voice stands just as powerfully alone across the 23-track album (this was truly an undertaking). But one particular track on the 29-year-old powerhouse’s record made many cheeks wet.
The album’s very first song, “Intro,” gave a peek at an incredibly private moment in Teyana’s relationship with her husband, NBA star Iman Shumpert: the birth of their first child. Iman can be heard making a frantic phone call to a paramedic as Teyana welcomed their baby girl, Iman Tayla Shumpert Jr., inside their home in Dec. 2015.
“She’s having a baby!,” Iman exclaims over the phone. You could hear both the wonder and concern in his voice as he adds, “I have my daughter in my hands.” Teyana was just eight months pregnant at the time, so the birth was unexpected. The first-time father starts to break down in tears, and it didn’t take long for listeners to shed tears as well.
https://twitter.com/aliyajmari/status/1273831123982966785
The intro to Teyana Taylor album got me crying. He crying. She crying omg
— blueprint. 💋 (@SixelaS_) June 19, 2020
“Omg I’m crying. Iman!!!! I would have 25 of his kids if he wanted me to if I was her. So sweet,” one fan gushed on Twitter, and another wrote, “Teyana Taylor got me in tears off this intro (the phone call to EMS Iman made when their baby was born).”
Teyana and Iman’s daughter is now a healthy four-year-old girl, who even lent her incredible little voice to the very next track! The mini songstress harmonizes with her mom on “Come Back To Me,” and adorably exclaims to “Be quiet!” during the recording session. To that, Teyana amusingly says, “Excuse me!”
Even Iman jumped on for a song in the third track, “Wake Up Love.” The music video for the track dropped ahead of the album on June 12, during which Teyana and Iman made a big announcement: they’re having baby No. 2! Hopefully their newest addition will get a feature on a future album of Teyana’s (for now, we’ll be enjoying the one she just blessed the world with).