If Taylor Swift was the soundtrack to navigating the early stages of teenhood, Fearless is Swift’s coming-of-age record. While her songwriting has developed and matured, feeling like an outsider and carving her own path is a theme she still writes about now, as seen on Midnights’ “You’re On Your Own, Kid.” On the track “A Place In This World,” a song she wrote when she was just 13, Swift sings about not fitting in and trying to find her path.
Rihanna cuts off questioner outside courthouse
Its win for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2014 GRAMMYs, however, proved that Rihanna’s reign wasn’t letting up anytime soon. “Mr. Jesus, I’d love to be a queen/ But I’m from the left side of an island/ Never thought this many people would even know my name,” she pleads in the seven-minute two-parter. Her swagger is boisterous in “Phresh Out the Runway,” “Jump,” and strip club anthem “Pour It Up,” but “Nobody’s Business” really drives home the album’s theme of being unbothered. Vocally, Rihanna’s strength lies in her ability to evoke raw emotion à la “Stay.” Featuring Mikky Ekko, the stripped-down, slow-burning piano ballad narrowly missed the top spot on the Hot 100 but gave Rihanna her 24th top 10 hit, surpassing Whitney Houston’s record of 23 in 2013. One of Rihanna’s most precious offerings to date, “Diamonds” emerged as a self-love mantra due to its uplifting “Shine bright like a diamond” chant. Its lead single “Diamonds” resonated in an equally major way, giving Rih her 12th No. 1 on the Hot 100.
Following the release of Unapologetic and the ensuing tour, she expressed a desire to take a break from recording, saying she wanted “a year to just do whatever I want artistically, creatively”. That same month, the Official Charts Company reported she had sold 3.87 million records in the country over the past year, placing her at number one among the 2013 Brit Awards artist nominees. Rihanna’s seventh studio album, titled Unapologetic, was released on November 19, 2012. A dance-oriented pop and R&B album, Talk That Talk opened at number three on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 198,000 copies, while debuting atop the UK Albums Chart with 163,000 units sold. Rihanna aimed to explore more sexually expressive themes on her sixth studio album, Talk That Talk, which was released on November 18, 2011. A dance-pop record, Loud debuted at number three in the US with first-week sales of 207,000 copies.
Elizabeth Taylor has appeared as a character in Swift’s songs before, particularly in rep’s “Ready For It…?” where she compares herself to the famous actress and entertainer. Comparatively, “Eldest Daughter” — track five, a spot Swift notoriously reserves for the most emotional song — is a love song about the masks we wear and the selves we choose to reveal. Throughout the record, dynamic and layered pop soundscapes mimic the same energy Swift was feeling both on and off stage. “I thought who better to ask to be a part of this song than the ultimate showgirl Sabrina Carpenter.” Instead of writing songs akin to “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart,” a song about performing in the midst of heartbreak and grief, Swift opted to focus on what people don’t necessarily see when they buy a ticket to a show. Now that the curtain is up and The Life of a Showgirl is out, read on for five key essential insights from Taylor Swift’s new album.
Expand charts menu
- The album’s lead single, “Tim McGraw,” an acoustic country ballad inspired by Swift knowing her relationship was going to end, represents an intricate part of Swift’s songwriting process; meticulously picking apart her emotions to better understand them.
- Country songs like “cowboy like me” and “no body, no crime” reaches back to Swift’s earlier work in narrative building, seamlessly crafting a three-party story with ease.
- As a pioneer of the music industry, her earnings from album sales, touring, and streaming have consistently placed her among the top earners in entertainment.
- For a project about being a showgirl, introducing people to the concept of the album at the end was puzzling for some.
- Along with having more eyes on her, Swift also felt pressured to maintain her persona as a perfect young female role model amid a time when her peers like Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato were attempting to rebrand to be more mature and sexier.
- Notable songs from her early career, including “Pon de Replay,” “Unfaithful,” and “SOS,” showcased her versatility and unique sound, quickly establishing her as a prominent figure in the music industry.
- Retrospective and reflective, Speak Now is an album about the speeches she could’ve, would’ve and should’ve said.
She formed a girl group with two classmates; when they were 15 years old, they scored an audition with music producer Evan Rodgers, who was visiting the island with his Barbadian wife. She is also a businesswoman who owns multiple ventures, including the popular cosmetics line Fenty Beauty and the lingerie brand Savage X Fenty. For her work on the single, Rihanna received her first Academy Award nomination, for best original song. Rihanna began working on a new record, but the project was delayed as she took a break from music.
- In June 2007, Rihanna released her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, to much fanfare.
- In December 2013, she topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart with a feature on Eminem’s song “The Monster”.
- Rihanna has delivered pop hit after pop hit since bursting onto the music scene in the mid-2000s.
- (Rih recorded an equally moving sequel for her Loud album.) Three years later, the two confronted their inner demons in “The Monster,” and their musical chemistry scored a GRAMMY in 2015 for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
- Written throughout her adolescence, Taylor Swift was recorded at the end of 2005 and finalized by the time Swift finished her freshman year of high school.
- In 2005, she became the first artist to sign with Syndicated Rhythm Productions, the production company founded by Rogers and Carl Sturken.
The lead single, “Work”, topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the third and fourth singles, “Needed Me” and “Love on the Brain”, peaking within the top ten. With an eclectic blend of genres such as pop, dancehall, and psychedelic soul, Anti peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, marking her second chart-topping record in the US. It spent ten non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making it both Rihanna’s longest-running chart-topping single and the longest-running number one song in the US in 2011. To support the album, Rihanna launched the Loud Tour in June 2011, which included a record-breaking ten sold-out shows at The O2 Arena in London—the most by a female artist in the venue’s history.
Early Life
Everything that happened after the success of Fearless pushed Swift from country music’s best-kept secret to a mainstream star. It might not be the romantic tale Swift dreamed of growing up, but her sophomore album signalled that bigger things were to come. It won Swift’s first Album Of The Year GRAMMY in 2010, at the time making her the youngest person to win the accolade at age 20.
On the Life of a Showgirl track directly named after the late icon, Swift circles back to the themes she touched on with folklore’s “Peace” and the tension between her private reality and her public persona. While half of The Life of a Showgirl’s 12 tracks peer into the darker corners of fame and explores the loneliness, scrutiny and fractures that used to come with it, the other half are dedicated to falling completely head over heels. And on The Tortured Poets Department’s “The Prophecy,” she pleaded for someone to change what she believed to be her predestined future of being alone and what she’d give up to find someone she loves.
Rihanna’s first studio album, Music of the Sun, was released in August 2005 to much intrigue. Her last No. betista casino 1 single, “Work” featuring Drake, topped the chart for nine weeks. Her first No. 1 song, “SOS,” topped the chart for three weeks in 2006, while her Grammy-winning Jay-Z collaboration “Umbrella” far surpassed that the following year, maintaining the lead spot for seven weeks.
Speak Now: Proving Her Songwriting Prowess
Although Jay-Z initially thought “Pon de Replay” was too big for a new artist, he invited her to audition. Rihanna’s demo was sent to rapper Jay-Z, who had just become the president and CEO of the record label Def Jam Recordings. In 2005, she became the first artist to sign with Syndicated Rhythm Productions, the production company founded by Rogers and Carl Sturken. Unnamed and without original material, the girl group auditioned for American producer Evan Rogers, who recalled that “the minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn’t exist”. Though she initially planned to finish high school, she ultimately dropped out at age 16 to pursue a music career. Signed to Def Jam Recordings, she debuted with the Caribbean-inspired records Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006), both of which reached the top ten of the US Billboard 200.
She first gained prominence in 2005 with her debut album “Music of the Sun,” which quickly established her as a force in the music industry. Known for her unique style and chart-topping hits, she has influenced music and fashion worldwide. She told Winfrey that Brown may have been the love of her life and she has developed “a very close friendship” with him. The pair worked together on the song “Birthday Cake,” released that year.
Nancy was largely unaware of its popularity as a hip-hop sample, and didn’t receive royalties for the tune (itself owned by producer Winston Riley, who died in 2012). She never stopped performing, and while Sister Nancy traveled as far as Israel to sing, she was often relegated to multi-artist bills — and not in the largest text. It’s been used in film and television, including prominently in 1998’s Nas- and DMX-featuring Belly. Multiple sources consider it the most sampled reggae song ever (WhoSampled.com counts 155 samples), with Beyoncé, Madlib, Run D.M.C., Lauryn Hill, Chris Brown, Alicia Keys, Ariana Grande, and Buju Banton and many others pulling from Nancy’s crisses lyrics. Sister Nancy wouldn’t perform the song on a Jamaican stage for eight years, until she featured at 1990’s Sting competition. “I went with Yellowman to Harry J’s Studio. Yellowman did a ‘Bam Bam,’, and I had to finish my One, Two album, and I just said I am going to do a tune like Yellowman did. And I did ‘Bam Bam,’ my way,” Nancy recalls.
In contrast to the fairytale motifs and happy endings of Fearless, evermore saw Swift become fixated on “unhappy” endings — stories of failed marriages (“happiness”), lifeless relationships (“tolerate it”), and one-time flings (“’tis the damn season”). Like its (literally) folklorian sister, evermore was a surprise release at the end of 2020, marking the first time Swift didn’t have distinct “eras” between albums. It was exciting enough for Swifties to experience one surprise album drop from Swift, an artist who typically has an entire album campaign calculated. At the 2021 GRAMMYs, folklore took home Album Of The Year, making her the fourth artist in history to win three times in the Category. After its release, folklore became the best-selling album of 2020 after selling 1.2 million records. Lover became Swift’s sixth No. 1 album in America, making her the first female artist to achieve the feat.
More than its predecessor, Fearless blurs the line between country and pop thanks to crossover hits like “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me,” yet still keeps the confessional attributes known in country songwriting. Even as a new country artist, critics claimed that she “mastered” the genre while subsequently ushering it to a new era — one that would soon see Swift dabble in country-pop. One writer in particular, Liz Rose, applauded Swift’s songwriting capabilities, stating that she was more of an “editor” for the songs because Swift already had such a distinct vision.
Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy and its Affiliates. And with that tour having celebrated her life’s work up to now, The Life of a Showgirl feels like the exhale before a brand new beginning. “That always chokes me up because it transports me right back to that actual memory of standing on that stage for the last time on that tour that was so important to me, and the tour that really inspired this album. So it’s the last track of the album and a really special one to me.” For a project about being a showgirl, introducing people to the concept of the album at the end was puzzling for some. For her, finding a balance between her career and love, and realizing that they can coexist, makes this album one of Swift’s most — if not the most — romantic to date. Yet these songs admit that she doesn’t want to carry it all alone; she wants partnership, to build something with someone else.
Her debut album, “Music of the Sun,” further solidified her presence, selling over two million copies worldwide and setting the stage for her meteoric rise in the years to come. Jay-Z was immediately captivated, signing her on the spot and launching her career in the music industry. Her journey from a small island to the bustling music scene of America marked the beginning of her transformational career. Relocating from her home in Barbados to Connecticut, she stayed with music producer Evan Rogers and his wife.
Rihanna has worked with music video director Anthony Mandler on seventeen music videos, the first being “Unfaithful” (2006). Rihanna was also influenced by artists such as Janet Jackson, Aaliyah, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, Grace Jones, Lil’ Kim, Prince, and Brandy. In her youth, Rihanna often watched Bob Marley on television due to his popularity in the Caribbean. Rihanna identified Brandy’s fourth album, Afrodisiac (2004), as a primary source of inspiration for her album Good Girl Gone Bad. After moving to the US, she was exposed to a wide range of musical genres, which she said had a profound effect on her.
Throughout The Life of a Showgirl, Swift, Martin and Shellback craft tracks that go beyond what they created with 1989 and reputation. Reuniting with her pop powerhouse collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, who worked on her biggest pop radio hits like “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Delicate,” “Blank Space,” and “Shake It Off,” was a return to form after the fog of TTPD. (“And all the headshots on the walls/ Of the dance hall are of the b—es/ Who wish I’d hurry up and die/ But I’m immortal now.”) On “The Life of a Showgirl,” she declares with her fellow showgirl that she isn’t handing over the baton just yet. The showgirl is actually the one in charge (“I was your father figure/ You pulled the wrong trigger/ This empire belongs to me”), alluding to her battle to retain her masters.
Leave a Reply