With the winter weather invading the East Coast, Footaction’s Cuffing Season campaign is right on time for the VIBE staff. As we gear up for the holidays, our inboxes are receiving indicators that finding the right bae is one wish going on a lot of Christmas lists this year.
Lovebirds Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert are just two of the stars who are cuffed up and proud in 2016. VIBE sat down with the couple at Footaction in midtown for an honest chat about how they keeps things spicy during Cuffing Season, how they managed to stay together through the drama, their advice for those seeking love and more.
VIBE: Let’s get right into it, guys. As a married couple, how do you keep things sexy during Cuffing Season?
Teyana Taylor: I’m obsessed with dressing up, and I think he’s very lucky on that behalf. I think some girls think it’s played out, but it’s definitely not. That’s what keeps things spicy.
Iman Shumpert: She’s talking about when the bedroom doors are closed and the candles are lit. She’s talking about “role play” dress up…
VIBE: But does Iman “dress up” too?
Teyana: Oh yeah, we be in characters and everything.
VIBE: Like cosplay and stuff?
Iman: Now, he’s reaching (laughs).
VIBE: Y’all started it!
Teyana: You know what would help a lot of relationships for Cuffing Season, too?
VIBE: Fill us in.
Teyana: We have this thing that we do… but we haven’t done it in a while. I think I’m gonna bring it back for the holidays, though. When he would go on the road, I would meet him in a city but I would be dressed undercover to make him feel like he kinda had a mistress. So I would be really sneaky, I wouldn’t go in as Teyana Taylor. I would go in with a wig on, real seductive, like a movie. You got to make him feel special. It can’t be the same thing over and over again.
VIBE: I’m starting to feel some kind of way because I’m 30, and I’m still single without any kids. You guys are only in your 20s and already are married with a child. What am I doing wrong, guys?
Iman: Check this out though, and I want to know this for my own personal knowledge. Did you ever push girls away because people always gave you advice like “don’t get married yet,” “wait until you are older…”?
VIBE: Definitely! Especially when I was in my 20s, looking back now, listening to my boys probably wasn’t a great idea.
Iman: People condition you to think like that so much. They want to tell you “live your life, make mistakes.” You can’t listen to people who are single, especially, about love and relationships.
Teyana: Misery loves company, and they want you to be right along with them like ‘nah son, don’t wife that girl.’ If someone can change you for the better, then she’s definitely a keeper.
Iman: You just become each other, that’s what it really is. We get like that. Like when she moved into my brownstone in Harlem, she made it into our home. Like certain people couldn’t come through no more. It’s wasn’t the “kick-it crib” no more.
VIBE: What about dating in New York specifically? I can’t really grasp it, still. It’s like here, we meet someone, and then it cools off after a few months because I’m busy as hell and she’s busy as hell…
Teyana: It’s about making time! Let’s be clear, when you love a person you got to do what you got to do, especially as a woman. You make time for people you really love. You gotta fight for what belongs to your heart.
Iman: I’m a tell you the coolest thing she did, and I apologize if you don’t want this out there. She gave me that freedom to do my thing. We had split for a second, and she was like ‘cool, go see what’s out there, dog.’ She wasn’t like ‘you better not be in the streets’ or none of that. Then I realized that the single life is not what I wanted. Waking up dolo is wack.
Teyana: Honestly, I can say since that little break, and after getting back together, I feel it made him appreciate me more in life, and made me appreciate him more. I think when you find a soulmate, you forget everyone isn’t like that person. He got it right after that. One thing I respect about him is that he never disrespected me while we were together.
Iman: I wasn’t publicly wildin’ and doing all that social media stuff. People didn’t even know we were together when we took a break.
Teyana: Literally when our relationship went public is when we got back together. He’s so spontaneous. Even when we got married, we knew right away. It just felt right.
