Is Taylor Swift’s colossal fanbase finally beginning to dwindle? BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey sees the writing on the wall, and it doesn’t look good for the global pop star. While Swift is coming off a record-breaking album and a very public marriage, her latest release has even some faithful Swifties wincing.
On this episode of “Relatable,” Allie sits down with former producer and longtime Swift fan Bri Schrader to have an honest conversation about Swift’s latest album release, whether or not it forebodes doom, and what Swift’s sudden “trad” shift may point to.
“So Taylor Swift released basically the deluxe version of her album ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ ... and everyone's talking about it because some of the songs are controversial,” says Bri.
She explains that the original album was already controversial because even hardcore fans thought it was “bad writing.” The four added songs only worsened matters.
Allie notes that “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore” has a Metacritic score of “39 out of 100” — the “first red album” of Swift’s career.
“And then, we also have Poppie Platt, a reviewer for the Telegraph. She titled her review, ‘I'm a Swiftie, and even I think these songs are terrible.’ ... She said that what [Swift] doesn't seem to have realized is that the music must be good to do a surprise release,” Allie continues.
“Do you think, as some people are speculating, that she has lost her artistic edge since meeting Travis?” she asks.
“I love Taylor Swift, but I have felt that almost every song that's been about him has just not been her strongest lyrically. And so has she lost her edge? I don't know. I mean, maybe,” says Bri.
“She wrote a whole album about concepts and stories that aren't even hers or related to her and that was my favorite album of hers, and so I think she's still able to tap into that. So maybe it's just the songs that are strictly about [Travis] that are kind of meh to me,” she continues, noting that people are specifically “clowning on” Swift’s song “Cleveland,” which is about Kelce taking her to see his hometown.
Bri believes Swift has entered a new era. “She's in this phase right now that's very like, ‘Oh, screw the haters. I found my man, and he plays football.’ She has, like, five songs that are just basically that,” she says, “and I think that's what I'm tired of a little bit.”
“You would think she'd be more popular than ever having this football husband, having gotten married, obviously being excited about getting married,” says Allie.
“Maybe it's because she's moved even more. I mean, obviously she was always mainstream ... but she's gone into other realms that typically maybe don't think about Taylor Swift ... and now people just feel a need to always commentate on her life or her politics.”
“I feel like people are more annoyed with her in general than in seasons past in her life.”
Bri agrees that Swift’s public perception is shifting. “There's a section of people who have always not liked her, who have always thought she was cheesy and annoying. Then there's the people, I think, who were turned off by this album specifically,” she says, explaining how certain songs expressing desire for marriage and motherhood were criticized for being too traditional.
“People are now like, ‘OK, so she's going to be a little trad now,’ and that's annoying to a lot of the people who liked her before,” Bri continues. “So I think those things combined, she's just at levels of annoying for most people right now, which is unfortunate for her.”
Allie believes Swift’s sudden shift to traditionalism is less about a real change of heart and more about political influence.
“Her and the Kelces are all a part of a psyop. ... I'm not saying that it's not real, but they represent what Democrats want to convey — that you can be a progressive feminist who likes Kamala Harris and hates Donald Trump and you're from the Midwest, you represent normal Americans, you can be trad, you can have kids,” she speculates.
“But I think when presidential election time comes around that the Kelce-Swift combo is going to be flexing their influence muscles for the Democrats.”
In their crosshairs, she argues, will be a very specific demographic: “that white suburban mom ... that instinctively doesn't like Trump but is also kind of trad.”
“And I think the more trad she gets and the more she remains progressive in other ways, the more they think that she's going to be able to persuade people over to their side. ... She's playing a long ideological game here,” says Allie.
To hear more, watch the episode above.
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[H/T Blaze Media]
