Teyana Taylor Tops Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 List, Named First Black ‘Sexiest Woman Alive’

Source: Jamie McCarthy / Getty

Singer, dancer, entrepreneur, actress, and all-around “IT” girl Teyana Taylor now tops Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 List and has been crowned their highly coveted and admired “Sexiest Woman Alive” title. As the first Black woman to land the honor, the wife and mother of two said shooting the cover of their July/August 2021 issue gave her a chance to “see another side” of herself.

On her Instagram account yesterday (June 7), Taylor shared the magazine’s stunning cover with a long caption explaining how admittedly, she was a bit nervous about the pressure of living up to the “Sexiest Woman Alive” title. Just as every other busy and working mother, the multi-hyphenate mentioned that the hecticness of everyday life often doesn’t leave her with much “time to be and feel sexy.”

“😩😩😩😩  Somebody pinch me!!!!” Taylor’s Instagram caption began. “Maxim’s Hot 100 to be named the ‘Sexiest Woman Alive’ by literally living in the skin I’m in. WOW… Stepping back in front of the lens has been a journey of self-reflection and self-confidence. Living up to the name and title of this shoot wholeheartedly made me nervous.”

“As an entrepreneur, wife, a busy mother of two, and working behind the lens in my director bag, I tend to hide behind my sweats & vintage tees, my ‘Spike Tey’ glasses, and whatever hairstyle I’ve mustered up that day under my @theauntiesinc snapback!”

Recalling the morning of the shoot — following dropping off her 5-year old daughter Junie at school — Taylor mentioned that her hair hadn’t been done, she wasn’t wearing makeup, “barely” had any lashes on, and that she showed up wearing her everyday basics. All that said, with motivation from the photographer — and some styling of her baby hairs — the singer said she then felt confident in throwing caution to the wind and just shooting the cover simply as she was — “pure.”

“I was like SO LET ME UNDERSTAND THIS… I WILL BE THE SEXIEST Woman Alive IN SWEATS AND A SKULLY? Um I guess…” Taylor recounted of her feelings that morning. “As confused as I was my heart also melted… I say all of this to say in the true words of Audrey Hepburn… ‘The beauty of a woman is not in [the] facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years.'”

“Embrace and love yourselves for who & what you are because only the purest heart shines through,” Taylor said at the end of her post before thanking all those who helped make the shoot possible. “I am truly honored to have graced the cover.”

See the cover down below and read Maxim’s spread on Talyor here.