Don’t mistake me for a Taylor Swift fan. I am not.
I do, however, recognize the amount of success she achieved. I respect her unrelenting effort to stay relevant. So I am really rooting for the TS Course UPD is offering. There is much to learn from TS’ marketing and manipulation of language.
My student who I supervised this academic year researched and wrote about the poetry in the songs of TS. Her research shows that TS adheres to the standards of song writing. In consulting literature teachers and an award winning poet, she found out that TS fits into a mold. Nothing groundbreaking in that aspect.
A few days after her submission of the paper, she came by the library for a chat about the Grammys. We both agree that Sza was robbed this year. We are biased for Tracy Chapman and share a deep admiration for Joni Mitchell. We both realized how The Recording Academy affirms and fetes TS, like the favored niece in the family. I told her that TS’ attempts to cross genres is aided by cosmetics and her investments in selling her story of white privilege. Even this, she said, can be considered a talent and skill.
From our conversation, I think that artistic talent and exceptional music making skills are not the only recipes for success in the music industry. It’s a system of composite parts. Each and every part matters.
Now, I wonder. Theoretically remove the white privileges and what will Taylor Swift be?
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