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Teyana: You should ask me all the cute questions up top.
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You know what I'm saying?
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You start asking the deep ones as we get deeper into these wings. It's insane.
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Sean: Hey, what's going on, everybody?
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For <i>First We Feast</i>, I'm Sean Evans, and you're watching <i>Hot Ones</i>.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by Teyana Taylor.
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She's fresh off a <i>Golden Globe Award</i> win, an <i>Oscar</i> nomination for best supporting actress for her performance in the film "<i>One</i> <i>Battle After Another</i>".
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Also, a <i>Grammy Award</i> nominated musician as well.
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Her latest album is called "<i>Escape Room</i>". But, you know what?
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You can't run away from the wings of death today.
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Teyana Taylor, welcome to the show.
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Teyana: Cannot escape the wings today. What's going on?
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Sean: How are you around spicy food? Before we get started.
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Teyana: I'm a spicy food girl. I love spicy food. Like, everything I...
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all my food, that I cook, if you gonna eat in my house, it's gonna be spicy, for sure.
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I just don't know what you planted in these wings. So I'm, like... Sean: Cautious... Teyana: You know? Alert. Sean: Mhm. Teyana: Very alert. Sean: Head on a swivel. Over here. Teyana: Yeah.
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I can't trust you right now.
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You know what I'm saying? Sean: I get it. Sean: I get it. Teyana: This is...
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this is like we're, literally, trapped in an escape room, and it's only one way out. Sean: Through.
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Teyana: No, it's either one of us gotta go.
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You know what I'm saying? It's like...
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you ever see those movies where it's, like...
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Sean: Two enter, one leaves. Teyana: Only... exactly.
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Sean: That's what's going on today? Only one can go.
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Y'all figure out who gonna, who gonna be the one.
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It's giving "<i>Saw</i>". You know? So...
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Sean: So, this first one is "Garlic Delight", and you'll start over to your right.
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Teyana: I'm not coming in here being cocky, because, the ones that be coming here talking shit be the main ones croaking.
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Sean: You recognize that pattern.
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I've seen that pattern many times before. Very smart.
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So, across your many projects, it's kind of mind blowing how many luminaries, across different disciplines, you've turned into advocates and collaborators.
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You know, from Dionne Warwick to Lauryn Hill, from Matt Damon to Leonardo DiCaprio.
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What's your approach to balancing being a student of the greats while simultaneously having the confidence to go toe-to-toe with them creatively? Teyana: Ooh.
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I think, I think that's the whole point. You know?
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Me wanting to make them proud, you know, to go from being home and watching them to actually looking to the side and watching them be beside me is, um, insane.
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And because I don't take that for granted, my goal is, like, there's no turning back.
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Like, you see how neither one of us can escape this room right now? Sean: We can't.
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Teyana: I can't escape the set.
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So, I'm always just locked in and, even if I am nervous, I just, I gotta shake it off the moment they yell action. It's just, it's up.
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Sean: I can see it today. You know?
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You're showing no signs of trepidation. Teyana: You know? Mhm. Sean: You know?
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You're cautious, but you're confident. Teyana: Yes. Careful. Aware. Sean: And on that...
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and on that note, are you ready to move on here to wing number two?
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Teyana: Is this Sriracha? Sean: This is.
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It's a pickled garlic Sriracha here.
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Teyana: Ooh, pickled garlic. Okay.
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Oh, I just peepked, you got me all flats. I'm a flats kinda girl.
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Sean: We pay attention to the rider over here, all right?
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We take a lot of pride of that. Teyana: I like that. Teyana: You know?
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It's very, it's giving detail oriented.
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I like this show, already. I like it here.
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Sean: So, last summer, you enrolled in the Escoffier School for Culinary Arts... Teyana: Yes. Sean: ...
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pursuing a degree in both pastry and culinary.
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What has, so far, been the most challenging dish or technique to master?
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Have you tried your hand at the perfect beurre blanc, yet? Teyana: No. But...
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fabricating protein is so hard.
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But, I am gonna fry, it's so... It turned out so... Sean: Worth the process? Teyana: ... good.
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It was worth the process.
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Sean: When you close your eyes and picture, in your mind, your dream Teyana Taylor restaurant, what's the picture look like? Can you paint it for us?
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Teyana: Gotta be something cool.
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I wanna bring the skates back. You know?
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I need 'em to bring the skates back.
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Maybe a little drive in...
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and, maybe, the seats look like you're in a drive in.
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Like, maybe the seats is giving, like, car... Sean: Mm.
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That, sort of, 50s era...
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Teyana: Yeah, but, like... Sean: I see the vision.
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Teyana: And I think I want tied up chef jackets, like, or leather.
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I'm, I'm very extra, so...
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it's gonna be something cute. Sean: I know that.
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Teyana: Maybe, like, patchwork or, like, you know, it's gonna be something cute.
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Not just the logo right there, like, no, I need the logo right here, I need a big logo in the back. like...
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Sean: The merch will go hard.
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Teyana: You already know I'm putting on my merch. I got merch everywhere.
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I season my chicken in mustard.
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You gotta put that mustard, once you season it, you gotta marinate that thing in mustard.
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Sean: Getting lots of chicken tips, already. You know?
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And we can use those over here, at this show. Teyana: Yeah, yeah.
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Me don't burn no chicken. You know?
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I don't play it by my fried chicken, now.
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Sean: So, in your documentary "<i>Assembly Required</i>", there's this scene where you're struggling through a pre-show sprained ankle, you have problems with the lighting, and it made me wonder...
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When you think about all your live shows, all the times you've had to take stage, and a show where everything that could go wrong, did, is there one that immediately comes to mind?
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Teyana: I mean, that's all of 'em.
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It's always so chaotic backstage.
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I mean, dancer don't, lost a bra, this person can't find a pinky toe, it just, it's...
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it's just always so much going on.
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So, what I try and do is be like, okay, like, if it didn't go as planned, it still worked out.
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Like, one time my wig slipped back, or whatever, and I went pullin' it off and, like...
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you know, swinging it in a circle and the crowd went crazy.
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So, it was just like, yeah, I didn't go, it wasn't, it didn't go as planned.
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I didn't plan for my wig to fly off, but I made it a moment and it became even bigger.
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I can think quick on, quick on my feet and, you know...
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Sean: You embrace the chaos. Teyana: Absolutely.
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I'm like organized chaos.
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Sean: And you're embracing it, so far, in this show. Three wings down. Doing great.
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Are you ready to move on here to wing number four?
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Teyana: This one with the lizard?
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Sean: This is the one with the lizard.
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So, we call this one a smoked habanero and peach.
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Teyana: Oh, yeah, this about to be, it's about to be some hot shit happening. I...
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could tell by the lizard. All right. Oh. Sean: You know.
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Teyana: And I would be greedy, would take a bigger bite. It's real good.
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Sean: What stands out as the most heated dance battle that you've ever participated in firsthand?
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Like, how closely does art imitate life when you're in a movie like "<i>Stomp the</i> <i>Yard</i>"?
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Teyana: I think my most intense battle was in, like, third grade.
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Sean: And you still remember it.
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Teyana: It wasn't like, oh, I'd never forgot that day. It was on. It was recess, too. We ain't have no music.
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You know what I'm saying?
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And I just, I remember we just got it, we got it poppin, they had to, like...
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I don't even know what was playing. It was so good.
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Sean: Two entered, only one left. Teyana: You feel me? Sean: Yeah, yeah.
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We're on theme today, yeah.
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Teyana: It felt like today.
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Teyana: You know what I'm saying? It felt like today. Oh, it smell good, too. It got curry in it?
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I feel like I'm getting greedy about a wing, and I don't like that, 'cause that's not smart. Sean: Mmm.
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Teyana: You know what I'm saying?
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Like, I feel like I've been...
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Sean: Like you're violating your rule about being cautious. Teyana: You feel me? Sean: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Teyana: Right.
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Teyana: But, I love anything with curry in it.
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This, this gotta have some type of curry in it. Sean: Yeah.
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It has that powder to it that you're catching. Yeah. Teyana: Mhm.
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Sean: What's the most essential ingredient for a proper summertime Harlem block party, in your experience? Teyana: Good music. You know what's crazy?
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I never understood the importance of, like, DJs when I was younger.
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I was like: "He talks too much. Play the song." .
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But, I realized that you have some DJs that do talk over the whole song and it's horrible, but then you have DJs that know, you know, like when...
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Sean: That have a spiritual connection to the vibe. Teyana: You feel me? They know...
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<i>"and you got $100</i> <i>bill</i> <i>put your hand... what? What?" </i>.
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You know what I'm saying?
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It just they, they blend with the music.
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You know what I'm saying?
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Um, and I love a call and response.
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I just love when people know what they're doing.
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So, to have a good party, for me, you, you... got to be a good DJ.
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Sean: Do you have a number one tip when it comes to mastering the jump roping art of Double Dutch?
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Teyana: You don't know how to Double Dutch if you ain't holding the chest.
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You gotta, you gotta hold, you gotta go like this.
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Even if you don't need to.
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It's just something about this that just, like, it's good luck.
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You know what I'm saying?
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And you gotta kind of like, you gotta, like, fumble a little bit, like, you gotta ad a little jump in, you like: "Oh, no. Hold on, wait.
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Slow down or speed up, hold on." . You hit the jump...
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You know what I'm saying? It's, it's an art.
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Sean: I know exactly what you're saying.
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Teyana: You know what I'm saying? Sean: Yeah, yeah.
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Teyana: It's, it's, it's an art.
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Sean: And then do you have a go to order at 'Amy Ruth's' on 116th Street? Teyana: Ooh.
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Teyana: 'Amy Ruth's', yes. I love cornbread.
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And I love when they give me extra butter.
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But, I don't want the butter melted, but I don't want the butter cold, neither.
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It got to be just enough to, like, how you see it in the commercial, when you just smear it, and then it starts to melt on there.
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Don't send me no melted butter.
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Send it, I need it soft enough to melt on top. Mh!
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So, you got the cornbread. Sean: Mhm.
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Teyana: Then you got the fried chicken. Crispy.
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You got collard greens, little bit of hot sauce... on that. Sean: Mhm.
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Teyana: Big macaroni and cheese, maybe a little bit of yam. There you have it. Sean: Delicious. Teyana: Mhm.
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This smell like it's about to be some shit that's about to go down. Oh.
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Sean: And this one, to me, is kinda sneaky.
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Like, kind of like one of those false first impression sauces. Teyana: Groovy.
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Sean: Still dancing on it.
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Teyana: Dancing, dancing, dancing...
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Sean: You are dancing on it. Teyana: Dancing machine.
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Sean: So, you gave an interesting quote talking to press backstage at the <i>Globes</i> where you said: "Honestly, if everything would have happened my way, on my time, I don't even know if I would be standing up here." .
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Do you think patience is underrated in Hollywood?
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Teyana: I just learned that there's always something bigger in store for you.
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So, even when you, when you get that no, understanding that that no is, is also a win.
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And I think that patience is a part of knowing what's for you and what's not. You know?
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And when it's your time and when it's not.
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But, I also have a, I have a sports mentality. You know? I'm gonna wait my turn.
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I'm gonna clap from the bench or on the court, you know, whether I'm six man or defensive player in the corner or, you know, like, it doesn't matter.
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I know how to wait and understand my position.
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Especially with a movie, because now I'm looking at PTA and I'm like: "Listen, you're our quarterback." .
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You know what I'm saying? So, it's like... Sean: Let him cook. Teyana: Let him cook.
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I show up in my jersey and I'm, I'm ready to have a good game. Sean: And you know what? Sure hands, so far. All right?
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These wings have not been too hot to handle.
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But, if you're ready, we can...
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Teyana: Almost to the touchdown. Sean: ...
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move on to sauce number seven.
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This one's called "Nirvana".
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Teyana: Oh, I almost said...
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Wait, that is Havana, right? My heart is in Havana...
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I almost said I'm going to Nirvana. Okay. It's starting. I'm okay if you okay.
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Sean: All right, then we're okay. Teyana: Okay. Since we're a team. Sean: Mhm.
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Teyana: You wanna take a sip of water? Together? Sean: Yeah. Let's do that. Teyana: Okay. Sean: Let's do that.
11:58
I've heard you say of your early life: "I was always in go mode. I'm from Harlem. I'm a hustler. I'm a grinder." .
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Looking back, what do you see as like, your boldest "shoot your shot" moment?
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Like, has there ever been a time where you've surprised yourself with your own instinct to hustle? Teyana: Yeah.
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I didn't know how many things I was, like, collecting, until now.
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I'm like, you know, like, even signing up for culinary school, like, I didn't...
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I really surprised myself. Bitch.
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You know what else surprise me?
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Sean: What else surprise you?
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Teyana: Going in Nirvana. Sean: Nirvana? You know what?
12:36
I noticed that it was the first one that you didn't smell test.
12:40
Teyana: 'Cause we was in, like, deep conversation. Sean: Yeah, right. Lost in it. Teyana: It's your fault. Sean: Lost in it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:45
I took my eye off the ball...
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Teyana: I found out I can't trust you. Sean: All right?
12:45
I took my eye off the ball.
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Teyana: I can't trust you.
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Sean: I'm gonna earn it back.
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I'm gonna earn it back along the way. Teyana: Ooh, bitch.
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Baby, I need you to stop asking me questions right now. Let's take a beat. Are you ready? Sean: I'm ready.
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Teyana: I can't even have my tongue involved in this one. Sean: Right. Teyana: Come on, T.
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We got two more to go, bitch.
13:21
We got two more to go, bitch.
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Sean: That's the athlete mindset right there. Just two more reps. Just two more reps.
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We're almost at the finish line.
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Teyana: Almost at the finish line.
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Sean: What makes R&B music the "realest bitch in the world"?
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Can you unpackage that quote from <i>Billboard</i> in an interview from 2020?
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Teyana: I said that, right? Mm. There we go.
13:58
That's the one right there. The whole picture.
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Sean: Straight from the jug?
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Teyana: Straight from the jug. Sean: Hits different? Teyana: Aha. Aha!
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No stone is left unturned in R&B. You know?
14:10
You get to be your most vulnerable. What you doing?
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Sean: Just trying to survive, you know. Teyana: You chewing ice? Sean: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. A little bit.
14:20
Teyana: Why didn't you tell me? Oh. Very selfish, over here. Sean: Yeah.
14:28
Teyana: You preyin' on my downfall. Sean: No, never. I'm... No.
14:29
I'm praying that we make it to the top of this mountain. All right?
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And then we get a beautiful view from the summit.
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That's always my goal, going through this.
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I never wanna take anybody out.
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I never prey on anyone's downfall. Never.
14:43
Teyana: You should ask me all the questions up top.
14:45
You know what I'm saying?
14:45
You start asking the deep ones as we get deeper into these wings. It's insane.
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Make it look like I ain't got an answer.
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You see, I have all the answers in the world earlier. I was spinning bars.
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Now it's just getting a little... getting a little crazy. Sean: All right.
14:57
I'll try to come up with a cute one. All right? For this next one. Teyana: It's too late. Sean: It's too late?
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Teyana: I said the cute ones needed to go up top. Okay.
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Teyana: Mama say, mama sa, mama cu sa. Yeah.
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Sean: What makes "<i>Pretty Woman</i>" the perfect film, in your opinion?
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Like, why does that film resonate so strongly with you? Teyana: Oh, my God.
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I love "<i>Pretty Woman</i>".
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That instantly just made the burn go away.
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Sean: I told, I'm trying over here. You see? Teyana: Oh, my God.
15:34
Sean: I'm trying to reciprocate.
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Teyana: That was so cute. You redeemed yourself.
15:39
"<i>Pretty Woman</i>" is just so special.
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I, one, I love rom-coms, you know, and I love, I love the idea of fairy tales, as well. And I just love love.
15:48
Julia Roberts is, like, my favorite person in the whole wide world. It was just my favorite.
15:51
I had the biggest crush on Richard Gere.
15:51
Say "<i>Pretty Woman</i>" again.
15:59
Sean: "<i>Pretty Woman</i>". Teyana: Ahh. Um, yeah.
16:00
You know, it's just, it's, it's, it's so good.
16:06
And it's one of my favorite films, and I just, I love what it talks about, and I just love Julia.
16:11
Like, she just is, is bright.
16:13
Everything she does, it just always feels so bright, and... I just love it. I'm a rom-com girl. Sean: All right, Teyana.
16:25
Teyana: I'll be looking like a punk if I don't do that. What a fuckin' run.
16:29
Sean: What a fuckin' run.
16:31
Teyana: How much you dipped in there? No. Dip, dip it some more. Sean: Okay.
16:37
Teyana: Dip it some more. Sean: I got you. Is that good enough?
16:39
Teyana: I want you to eat that part where you dipped it. Sean: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course.
16:41
And with that, the wings of death are behind us.
16:54
And, as we've learned today, as someone who wears many hats, a multi-hyphenate, including aspiring pastry chef, if you could put together the ultimate antidote dessert to combat the wings of death, what would you whip up in the kitchen?
17:07
Like, can you describe it step by step? Teyana: I would...
17:12
I would have to bake a cake. I have to bake a cake. Strawberry.
17:20
Strawberry cake, with a whole lot of icing and a big ass scoop of ice cream.
17:26
Between that and "<i>Pretty Woman</i>", you know, "<i>Pretty Woman</i>" got me through one of these rounds. Sean: Yeah.
17:30
Teyana: You know what I'm saying? Sean: Mhm.
17:34
Teyana: And now I want some cake.
17:35
I, actually, wanna go and dabble back into te... What was that curry one?
17:39
Sean: Back into the "Tropical Amarillo".
17:42
We don't have any cake, but we do have some ice cream.
17:45
Teyana Taylor, here comes a bowl. We've earned it. And look at you.
17:49
Taking on the wings of death. Living to tell the tale.
17:53
And, now, there's nothing left to do, but roll out the red carpet for you.
17:55
This camera, this camera or this camera.
17:55
Let the people know what you have going on in your life.
18:00
Teyana: My current status is that I am dying.
18:04
And then, after that, from my casket, I will be releasing my Air Jordan 3s. March 7th.
18:12
And then, when I rise from the dead, I want you to go and watch "<i>One Battle After Another</i>", on <i>HBO Max</i>, or I'll hunt you. Um... and, yeah. I'm dying. This is for you. Sean: Ah.
18:38
Teyana: "<i>One Battle After Another</i>" shirts. Sean: Oh, sick! Teyana: Mhm.
18:41
I told you, I'll make merch. Sean: Thank you so much. I know you do merch. I know you do merch.
18:45
Teyana: I knew when you said it.
18:45
Sean: I got some Teyana Taylor merch. Sean: Yeah.
18:50
Teyana: I knew when you said it. But, yeah.
18:54
Sean: And they can't take that away from me.
18:54
Teyana: And I'm gonna get you some sneakres, too. Sean: You will? Teyana: Some sneakers. Yeah, I got you. Sean: Jordans?
18:55
Teyana: I got some in your size. Yeah. Sean: You're the best. Teyana: And I got you.
19:00
You know what I'm saying?
19:00
Sean: 'Cause we're a team.
19:00
Teyana: Even though you tried to take me out to get...
19:02
Sean: 'Cause we're a team.
19:04
Teyana: I wouldn't go that far. Sean: Okay.
19:06
Teyana: You was chompin' on ice without me.
19:08
You still can't be trusted.
19:09
I don't even know what's gonna happen when I get in the car back home.
19:09
"<i>Little bit of hot</i> <i>sauce... Uh!
19:13
</i>" Sean: Hey, what's going on <i>Hot Ones</i> fans?
19:18
This is a very special announcement for the heat heads out there.
19:22
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19:28
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