Update: Teyana Taylor took to Instagram to elaborate on the meaning behind her sartorial salute to Janet Jackson, writing about the "emotional rollercoaster" of her artistic journey and that she "chose this look because of Janet's mindfulness of making a statement." You can read her full statement here.
This story was originally published on August 27, 2017.
During the MTV VMA blue carpet pre-show, singer, dancer, and actress Teyana Taylor was presented with the Best Dance Video award for her work on Kanye West’s “Fade” music video, in which she also starred. West premiered the video at last year's VMAs, reminding us that Taylor — who danced Flashdance-style in a thong and a sports bra alongside her husband, Cleveland Cavaliers player Iman Shumpert, and their daughter, Iman Tayla Shumpert Jr., also known as Baby Junie — was about to become a force worth reckoning with.
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But, back to Sunday's awards show. When Taylor accepted her Moon Person, she was wearing a fitted, cropped white T-shirt and a pair of high-waisted, wide-leg black pants. Sounds simple, right? As it turns out, her outfit was actually channeling another iconic look from music history: The combination seemed to pay homage to Janet Jackson’s 1995 VMAs outfit, which, get this, Jackson wore when she won the same exact award for her performance in “Scream” alongside her late brother Michael Jackson. The only difference? The back of Jackson's top read "Pervert" with the number two, while Taylor's was printed with the word "Underrated" above the number seven.
This isn’t the first time she's embraced her inner-Miss Jackson, either: In 2012, Taylor recreated Jackson’s iconic September 1993 Rolling Stone cover, which also doubled as the cover art for her album "Janet." Could this be a hint at what's to come from Taylor's forthcoming album? Either way, we hope she continue to Stan out, because she sure as hell knows how to turn a simple fan girl moment into a major statement-maker.