Teyana Taylor's 4th studio album, Escape Room, marked her return to music after a previously announced retirement in 2020. The album chronicles the process of navigating grief, trauma, acceptance, and new beginnings. Additionally, it features dramatic monologues from renown names like Taraji P. Henson, Kerry Washington, Regina Hall, Issa Rae, Jodie Turner Smith, and Niecy Nash.

Cultural impact

• It offers new narratives of the possibilities available to multifaceted Black women balancing motherhood, career, and love in the public eye.

• Teyana Taylor premiered an accompanying short film for Escape Room via an exclusive Amazon Music livestream, expanding the album's reach into visual storytelling and further cementing its cultural resonance.

Critical response

• Rolling Stone praised the album as "a meditation of what liberation can be in love and life," highlighting Taylor's vulnerability and creative vision in both music and visual storytelling. Read full review

• NME described Escape Room as "a tender, nuanced close to an imperfect but heartfelt album that proves that you can find your way back to yourself," noting Taylor's emotional honesty and the album's journey from heartbreak to self-rediscovery. Read full review