Teyana Taylor’s Golden Globe Nod Crowns a Year When the Culture Took Center Stage

Teyana Taylor in “One Battle After Another.” Her fearless performance in Ryan Coogler’s drama, now a Golden Globe contender, embodies the rise of authentic, culture-rooted storytelling that reshaped this year’s awards season. (Photo Courtesy Warner Bros.)

Teyana Taylor walked into awards season as an outsider again — no big-budget campaign, no glossy magazine spread, no studio whispering her name into voters’ ears. But when the 2026 Golden Globe nominations dropped today, the Harlem-born artist’s name landed right where it belonged: on the list.


Her supporting role in “One Battle After Another,” a bruising indie drama that went from festival buzz to nine nominations, marked one of the few times the Globes have recognized a performer who started her career choreographing for Beyoncé and grinding through the same hip-hop hustle that Hollywood pretended didn’t exist.

For longtime fans who first saw her dancing in Jay-Z videos or directing her own visuals under the moniker “Spike Tey,” the news hit different. Taylor, now nominated for Best Supporting Actress for “One Battle After Another” — the year’s most-nominated film — walked into awards season with the same mix of grit and grace that’s carried her through every reinvention.

Where the Culture Showed Up at the 2026 Golden Globes

Key nominees announced Dec. 8, 2025, for the 83rd Golden Globes:

• "One Battle After Another" – Leads all films with 9 nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and a Supporting Actress nod for Teyana Taylor.
• "Sinners" – Scores 7 nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director (Ryan Coogler), Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson) and Best Original Song for "I Lied to You" by Göransson and Raphael Saadiq.
• Tessa Thompson – Nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for "Hedda".
• Cynthia Erivo – Nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for "Wicked: For Good", which also picked up Best Original Song nods.
• Ayo Edebiri – Returns to the TV comedy race for her work in "The Bear".
• Quinta Brunson – Continues her awards run with another nomination for "Abbott Elementary" in the comedy series field.

For the full list of 2026 Golden Globe nominees, visit GoldenGlobes.com.

She wasn’t alone. With "Sinners," Ryan Coogler’s return to prestige filmmaking, Michael B. Jordan earned a Best Actor nod, solidifying the pair as modern cinema’s Scorsese and De Niro.. Composer Ludwig Göransson and Raphael Saadiq’s “I Lied to You” brought the film its fourth nomination, giving soul music a rare home inside a category once dominated by pop ballads and movie musicals.

From Teyana to Michael, from Cynthia Erivo’s “Wicked: For Good” nomination to Ayo Edebiri and Quinta Brunson representing television’s comedy elite, the 2026 Globes quietly told a story years in the making: the artists shaped by Black music, hip-hop aesthetics and R&B storytelling no longer sit at the margins of Hollywood — they are the pulse.

That change didn’t come from committees or press releases. It came from the culture refusing to wait for permission. When the HFPA scandal forced the Globes to rebuild, the world outside kept moving — through mixtapes, streaming, indie film circuits, and TikTok threads where music, politics, and performance blur daily. The result? Hollywood’s old party suddenly sounds like something new.

There are still gaps. No major hip-hop documentaries or biopics made the cut. Streaming platforms with Black showrunners remain under-nominated. But the list feels alive — reflective of a generation that grew up with Dilla drums under Scorsese cuts and Nina Simone lyrics sampled on Billboard hits.

If the Globes are finally listening, it’s because the culture stopped asking to be heard.