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Teyana Taylor shows off washboard abs on the cover of ‘Maxim’: ‘I don’t have much time to be and feel sexy’

Teyana Taylor is celebrating a big "pinch me" moment as she becomes the first Black woman to be named Maxim's Sexiest Woman Alive.

The 30-year-old made her Maxim debut on Monday when the publication released its latest cover featuring the singer, actress, choreographer and director showing off her washboard abs in a powerful photo. But Taylor admitted on her own Instagram that appearing on this particular cover made her "nervous."

"Stepping back in front of the lens has been a journey of self-reflection and self-confidence," Taylor wrote, referring to her recent focus on directing after giving birth to her second daughter, Rue, back in September. "As a entrepreneur, wife, a busy mother of two & working behind the lens in my director bag I tend to hide behind my sweats & vintage tees, My 'Spike Tey' glasses, and whatever hair style I’ve mustered up that day under my @theauntiesinc snap back! So I as you can see I don’t have much time to be and feel sexy."

The mother-of-two, who also shares 5-year-old Iman "Junie" with husband Iman Shumpert, went on to say that the shoot day for her Maxim cover "made me see another side of myself," as she appeared on set directly from dropping her eldest off at school. "My hair wasn't done for a 'shoot' because I planned on throwing on a wig & I didn't have on any make up," she explained. Still, the photographer requested that she take a few photos as is.

"So let me understand this...I will be the sexiest woman alive in sweats and a skully?" she recalled thinking. "As confused as I was my heart also melted."

Taylor posed in a number of looks for the magazine's cover story, where she shared more about her return in front of the camera for her upcoming E! reality series We Got Love Teyana & Iman. "Usually my lens is on everybody else. It feels good for the lens to be on me and my family so I can look back and know I did a good job as a mom, I did a good job as a director, I did a good job balancing careers, balance your love, things that are important and good," she told the publication. "Life happens, and no regret in that. I love every bit of it."

Now, with the honor of being named the sexiest woman alive "by literally living in the skin I'm in," Taylor has learned even more in her journey of self-love.

"Embrace and love yourselves for who & what you are because only the purest heart shines through," she wrote on Instagram.

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