Taylor Swift - Is she the only true Western answer to Kpop?

To me, she is the greatest pop musician in the post 80s, post-rock era (1993-present). I'm talking in the past 30 years or so. Her song quality and lyricism can consistently compete with the legends that i grew up with (Springsteen, Bon Jovi, GnR, U2, MJ, Queen, Meatloaf, etc) and she is the only artist that can claim that. She did peak awhile ago with the Fearless, Red, and Speak Now holy trinity of albums, her recent songs from Folklore and Midnights cant really compare... But there is no question that Swift is still as popular or even MORE popular than she was when she first started out. The GP has spoken and her new album apparently broke all kinds of crazy records when it came out.

Her longevity is almost unparalleled and she obviously has digital records on lock.

But what makes her the fiercest Western competitor to Kpop is her album sales, that's what truly opened my eyes recently. I just found out she sold 1.8 MILLION traditional album sales for her latest album in the US alone. That's unfathomable to me, since nobody here buys albums anymore. That's probably the equivalent to 20 million Kpop albums from mass fandom purchases tbh.

And secondly, her touring. I've read bits and pieces about her latest tour breaking records and then saw this...

What other local artist can do this? I feel like only the biggest Kpop bands can do this nowadays (BTS, BP, Twice).

I feel like Taylor is the pinnacle of a complete artist, a record label's dream... digital on lock, album sales on lock, domestic and international popularity on lock, concert sales on lock. I think every Kpop and Western label would drop any of their artists in a microsecond in exchange for signing Taylor.

Quote from tetetete

i like some of her songs, dont get the hype about others...

like whats good about all too well?

Bruh, that is one of the greatest storytelling masterpieces of the past 15 years. Everyone complains about the nonsense lyrics in most local pop nowadays and here we have Taylor outTolkiening and outRowlinging the rest of modern pop with this magnum opus on breakups .

Quote from tetetete

idk i felt like the melody wasn't melodying and there were too many words

Are you referring to the recent Taylor versions that are super extended, including the Short Film version? These are like 10-14 min versions with extra lyrics and though i normally love extended songs (i hate how modern songs are barely 3 minutes omg), i do agree that this was a bit overkill.

The OG version is still effing amazing though. Musically it's not her best, but the lyrics are perfect and even though her vocals are average to subpar, she succeeds in delivering every ounce of angst this song requires. Not everything is about technical vocal skills tbh.

Quote from Ves

TL;DR

BlackpinkHouse is a wannabe swiftie

Ahem...I am a slightly disillusioned Swiftie .

But honestly, if you arent at least a casual Swiftie, something is wrong with you . Her vocals arent great, but her song quality ranges from decent to truly inspirational, she probably has more 10 and 11 out of 10s than all the other "big name" Western stars of the past 17 years combined tbh. Add up every Bad Bundy, Justin x 2, Grande, Weekend, Styles, Sheeran, Bey, Adele, Drake song and you wont reach Swift's discography of SOTY contenders.

Quote from KpopJop

thoughts on her dating Matty Healy, OP?

I have no clue who Matty Heebie is lol. I did see a funny pic some Swiftie put up on TW with 9 of her BFs arranged in a tic tac toe grid. Apparently this new rando dude is more musty/sketchy looking compared to the clean cut lookin dudes she dated before. But tbh i stopped following her BFs after that werewolf dude and the boomer Gylenhall dude it got too hard to keep track of em

Quote from KpopJop

i unironically think you might like his band's music

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You know me so well lol, i definitely liked the song, better than 98 percent of what you normally get on Spotify Top 10. Good verses and chorus, but the bridge disappointing, no one in local pop, even for a good song like this, can seem to make decent bridges anymore , i guess that's too "complicated" for the "stripped down" sound that everyone is infatuated with these days .

Listen to the effing TITANIC BRIDGE AND OUTRO of this megabanging power ballad. The bridge starts at 3:07 where i timestamped it... Just bask in the artistry here...a smooth guitar solo, the climactic bridge, a surprise key change in the final chorus, and the emotional blowoff outro, and finally, the requisite clean and soft acoustic guitar ending.

THIS. IS. MUSIC.

Quote from One-and-only

Taylor swift is bigger than all kpop artists.

NOT IZONE

Quote from Ves

Close but no dice if he thinks she's peaked. I dare him to post it on Twitter and watch the diehard swifties descend.

I wont be falling for this banana in the tailpipe trick