Why Taylor Swift is the Greatest Artist of This Generation

It's no secret that Taylor Swift is madly successful at what she does. Between selling out stadiums to working on brilliant projects that touch millions of fans across the globe, Swift knows what she's doing. With the Eras Tour coming to a close, let's reflect on just some of the reasons why Taylor Swift has rightfully earned her title of being the music industry, not just a part of it. 

Taylors Songwriting Talents

One of the things that made Swift stand-out amongst other aspiring artists growing up was her ability to write her own songs. At just twelve years of age, Taylor was writing her own songs, and oftentimes not even from an autobiographical standpoint, but from the outside looking in. Swift has been known to express her inspiration not just from her own life experiences, but from stories, movies, and experiences of friends. Taylor's writing style is also vastly different from her musical peers because of the literary techniques she uses in her lyrics such as strong diction, strong imagery, and poetic metaphors. Unlike other artists, Taylor has a way of connecting with fans by dramatizing and romanticizing about such simple and typical human life experiences. Swift is known for being able to put the way people feel into words when the listener doesn't know how to convey their feelings and emotions. Taylor's songwriting ability touches the hearts of fans in ways that other artists have not even been able to touch. It's almost as if her writing makes listeners feel as if when no one else understands, she does. Her lyrics simply make fans feel heard and validated, something we all seek on every level of our emotional well-being. Unlike other artists, Taylor has a million different ways of saying one thing. For example, when you tell your significant other "I love you" Swift might write, "for you, I would fall from grace just to touch your face" or perhaps she might even say, "don't want no other shade of blue, but you." This gift she possesses has contributed to the major success of her career as this has further connected her with fans, or listeners. 

Taylor's Undeniable Work Ethic

As Jack Antonoff once said "those that are this talented don't typically work this hard." As Swift was surrounded by friends, Antonoff uttered these words at the Lover release party. These words have always stuck with me in my own day-to-day life because truthfully, they don't. Many times, those that are gifted with so much talent often don't work as hard as the ones who don't have as much talent, yet they always seem to come out above those who are more gifted in their field of work. Taylor is one of those exceptions. Swift time and time again continues to put her best foot forward into many works of art with her God-given talents of writing. Other notable artists may be exceptionally talented vocalists, or sonically inclined, but don't put in nearly as much effort as Swift does. Objectively, Taylor Swift works harder than anyone else in the musical field today. Between selling out stadiums, writing and recording new albums, and remastering her old music, it is evident that Swift earns her paycheck. It is because of her work ethic in this field that she has been able to stick around for so long in this business. To have been relevant and at the top of her game for well over a decade is remarkable in a line of work that is so judgmental, ruthless, and tiring. Not once has Swift missed a beat, even during the 2020 pandemic, Swift released two new studio albums, one of which she won the most prestigious Grammy award, folklore album of the year. 

Taylor's Versatility 

Name another artist who started out in country music and dominated, then switched to pop effortlessly. Once that genre was dominated, she then switched to folk/alternative music and dominated once again. Most people know that once an artist starts somewhere, they will typically stay in that lane. Country artists will hardly ever stray from their roots, and the same goes for any other artist in any other genre. Recently, however, we have seen a shift in that as other artists have began to experiment outside of their comfortability. With Bey's latest album Cowboy Carter, and other projects in past years like Joanne by Lady Gaga, the idea of experimenting with other genres has clearly become more widespread. However, it must be noted that the experimental albums of other artists have generally not been as well received as their other respected projects. Which is understandable considering that their fans like the lane their artist stepped into. Swift's fans, however, have been more open to the versatility of Swift's sonics because Taylor's biggest marketing strategy and focal point are her lyrics, so the sound isn't really as important to the listeners of her art. Taylor has proven that she can evolve, sing and write about almost anything and to literally any beat. Other artists in Swift's field may struggle to do so as they are not as versatile because their talents reflect greatly on their vocals and sonics. 

All Swift Does is Win

If I sat here and wrote every award Swift has won in her entire music career, I would be writing for hours. Personally, I think the root of any hate Swift gets from the media and public is the amount of wins she has under her belt. America loves an underdog, they identify themselves in people who don't really win, but have a chance at doing so. It is why NFL fans deep down are rooting for the Detroit Lions as they are the true underdog and have all the tools they need to win, they identify themselves with those organizations, people, and teams. Contrary, it is also why sports fans do not like the Oklahoma Sooners softball team as they were the first team to have ever done a four-peat. Everyone was rooting for Texas to beat the big Oklahoma. But when you're good, you're good and that needs to be respected and honored. Swift officially has the most AMA awards, the most "Album of the Year" awards of any artist, and has been named artist of the decade, just to name a few major accomplishments in her career. Because the music industry is run like a mini democracy, and is a free market essentially, the people determine what products they choose to buy and listen to. Time and time again, people consistently choose to listen to Swift's music and therefore contributes tremendously to Swift's victories in the award circle. Undeniably, Swift is one of if not the most successful artist of this generation. 

Love her or hate her, one cannot deny the success, talent, and work ethic Taylor possesses. Swift is an incredible role model for any person out there as she exhibits the qualities of what it means to work hard for something you love. Swift has taken her passion for music and made that into a legendary career. Let this be a lesson for you, the reader, to take your passions, and run with them. Don't stop until you get where your going, and once you get where you're going, aim even higher.