Is Taylor Swift a Genius?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a once-in-a-generation singer-songwriter talent. She is underrated because she is a woman and her fan base is young women. If she was a man, well, she’d be the man.

Underrated? Please explain what more possible attention or accolades she could possibly be getting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a once-in-a-generation singer-songwriter talent. She is underrated because she is a woman and her fan base is young women. If she was a man, well, she’d be the man.

Yes I think she is hugely talented and also an excellent role model for young women - the way she has defended herself from many different unjustified attacks and being exploited shows great courage .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a once-in-a-generation singer-songwriter talent. She is underrated because she is a woman and her fan base is young women. If she was a man, well, she’d be the man.

Yes I think she is hugely talented and also an excellent role model for young women - the way she has defended herself from many different unjustified attacks and being exploited shows great courage .

+1. She was writing songs as a teenager. Doesn’t seem so common these days to

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think she's a very talented songwriter. Reminds me of Dolly in terms of her writing abilities.

[Anonymous]

I think she is. I just read a report that she is the only celebrity not to fall for the FTX scam. She asked for her lawyers to review FTX’s compliance with regulations.

I also think her music is pretty good even though I’m not a fan. I understand why she has such a huge appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a once-in-a-generation singer-songwriter talent. She is underrated because she is a woman and her fan base is young women. If she was a man, well, she’d be the man.

I agree. My very astute daughter pointed out how initially everyone dismissed the Beatles because they were a “boy band” with teenage girl fans and now every man over 50 can’t shut up about how great they are. There is a basic assumption that anything young girls are into, do or support is inherently less than.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor doesn’t just write her own songs. She’s written hits for many other artists.

Does she write her own songs or are most of them co-written?

I think something like 20% of her songs were solo efforts? But I also read articles about her process with her co-writers during the recent Damon Albarn controversy. And they uniformly that she brings fully-written songs, and they then edit them together. The songwriter who helped her on her early stuff said that lots of other young women come to her to follow in Taylor’s footsteps, and she turns them away cause they don’t write songs like Taylor. She also said that she would try to give Taylor songs, and Taylor would turn her down.

[Anonymous]

She's in her 30s and continues to sustain her celebrity without major burnout out. That means she has assembled a really great team around her, which is a form of genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a once-in-a-generation singer-songwriter talent. She is underrated because she is a woman and her fan base is young women. If she was a man, well, she’d be the man.

I agree. My very astute daughter pointed out how initially everyone dismissed the Beatles because they were a “boy band” with teenage girl fans and now every man over 50 can’t shut up about how great they are. There is a basic assumption that anything young girls are into, do or support is inherently less than.

When the Beatles were a boy band, there music wasn't that great. The reason people (and not just men) today think they are the greatest is because of the way they evolved as musicians.

Young girls aren't inherently superior music critics. What Taylor does better than anyone is relate to her fanbase, in a way that most artists don't. She makes her fans think they are her friends, and she does that in a way that seems authentic -- or at least, more authentic than a corporate boy band. She also sings about experiences most young girls think they will have...and don't. How many girls in today's social media generation actually go through the amount of romantic drama that Taylor sings about? I'd guess very few...but they can "experience" it through her music, feel like they've gone through it themselves, and can learn the lessons she's learned. This makes it seem like Taylor is some kind of mentor, and young girls love that stuff.

[Anonymous]

I think Taylor Swift is the Paul McCartney of our time/her generation and I will stand by this claim. Does that make her a genius? Probably. Maybe not, because she's also very hardworking and hard work can compensate for lack of genius, but in her case I think that her hard work just propels her talent as is also the case for McCartney.

To be a young woman with such longevity is supremely challenging. She's written hundreds of songs, many of which have become instant classics. She's a musical chameleon, and has worked to improve her most glaring weakness (her vocals) over time.

Like McCartney, she is primarily a songwriter. But, unlike other songwriters, she (and he) are able to also play multiple instruments, sing, and perform. They are famously unproblematic (more so Swift than McCartney, but he's not exactly some scandal-ridden drug addict), both engaged participants with other musicians, and both are versatile stylistically. McCartney is a stronger instrumentalist, but he also has 50 years on her.

[Anonymous]

She is an incredible musical talent. She writes, sings, plays, collaborates. She takes control of her image, her business, her events. I don't own anything of hers, don't stop on her songs when in the car, but can say without question that she is super talented as a performer -- even if her vocals are lacking power.

I do think there is a large segment of people who dismiss her because 1) she's a woman 2) her fan base is younger (though she benefits from all of those fans growing older as lifers) 3) her subject matter hasn't really grown up, yet.

It'll be fun to see what she does next, but can anyone blame her for staying in the very safe, very successful lane she does?

[Anonymous]

I think she's extremely talented, yes.

[Anonymous]

Taylor Swift is a marketing genius and a good pop star

Lauryn Hill is a musical genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's in her 30s and continues to sustain her celebrity without major burnout out. That means she has assembled a really great team around her, which is a form of genius

Agree! I do not really know her music, but if one looks up the definition of "genius"-- she would qualify as one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Taylor Swift is a marketing genius and a good pop star

Lauryn Hill is a musical genius.

Lauryn Hill is not exactly prolific. She has some good songs, but she has one solo album from 1998 and two albums with the Fugees