Taylor Swifts Early Career And How This Affected Where She Is Now.
Taylor Swift, an iconic singer-songwriter and global superstar, has left an indelible mark on the music industry with her exceptional talent, heartfelt lyrics, and undeniable charisma. From her humble beginnings in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, to becoming one of the most successful and influential artists of our time, Swift’s journey to stardom is a testament to her unwavering dedication, relentless work ethic, and undeniable talent. In this article, I will delve into the start of Taylor Swift’s career, exploring how she got started and some of her first big achievements.
From Diary Entries to Melodic Poetry:
Even as a young girl, Taylor Swift demonstrated a natural inclination towards writing and storytelling. Writing poetry and keeping detailed diaries became her creative outlets, allowing her to express her thoughts and emotions. Swift’s transition from diary entries to crafting melodic poetry was a pivotal step in her songwriting evolution.
The Influence of Country Music:
Growing up in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Swift developed a deep love and appreciation for country music. Influenced by icons such as Shania Twain, Dolly Parton, The Dixie Chics, and Faith Hill, Swift’s early songwriting incorporated the authentic storytelling elements synonymous with the genre of country. She discovered the power of weaving personal experiences into her lyrics, creating songs that resonated with listeners on a profoundly relatable level.
A Musical Prodigy finds her voice:
At the age of 12, Taylor Swift began learning to play the guitar, a skill that would become very important in her songwriting process. Armed with her newfound musical skill, she started crafting her own songs, often inspired by the roller coaster of emotions that accompany adolescence. Swift’s ability to articulate the complexities of young love, heartbreak, and self-discovery in her early compositions showcased a maturity beyond her years. This maturity at her age is what made her relatable to all ages. Not just teens.
The Nashville Connection:
When Swift was just 14 she convinced her family to move to Nashville, Tennessee to make her dreams come true. This move allowed Swift to immerse herself in the heart of the country music industry, providing her with unparalleled opportunities to collaborate and network with seasoned songwriters. Through co-writing sessions and absorbing the musical culture of Nashville, Swift coninued to refine her craft, absorbing valuable insights and developing her signature style. This is also where she got discovered by Scott Borchetta (Also know as Scooter Braun) at the Blue Bird Cafe working a music gig. At the time Borchetta did not even have a music label yet, but, he had a dream.
Early Breakthrough With Self-Titled Debut Album:
Borchetta asked Swift if she wanted to sign his record label. Swift agreed and it was at this point Borchetta reveled he hadn’t had a record label yet but he wanted Swift to be the first one singed on his label. Borchetta then made a record label and call it “Big Machine Records.” Swift’s big break came when she signed with Big Machine Records and released her self-titled debut album, “Taylor Swift,” in 2006. This album, predominantly influenced by country-pop, featured songs that revealed Swift’s ability to capture raw emotions and tell vivid stories. Some of the biggest on this album were “Tim McGraw,” “Teardrops on My Guitar,” and “Our Song” Some of the other singles were, “Should’ve Said No” and “Picture to Burn”. These songs propelled her into the spotlight and set the stage for her rise.
Swift’s big break came when she signed with Big Machine Records and released her self-titled debut album, “Taylor Swift,” in 2006. This album, predominantly influenced by country-pop, featured songs that revealed Swift’s ability to capture raw emotions and tell vivid stories. Hits like “Tim McGraw,” “Teardrops on My Guitar,” and “Our Song” propelled her into the spotlight and set the stage for her meteoric rise.
Fearless and the AMA incident:
In the height of Swifts second album, Fearless, Swift had won Video of The year at the 2009 AMA’s. At this point in Swifts career, everyone already knew who she was. This is because she had won Album of the Year at the Grammy's. She had had some of the biggest hits of the year with songs “You belong With Me,” “Love Story,” and many other singles. She had also finished her first ever tour the same year. When Swift took the stage for winning Video of the Year of “You Belong With Me” Kayne West ran up on stage, took the mircophone from Swift and said, “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and imma let you finished, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.” He then handed the mircophone back, shrugged and walked off stage. The crowd started booing. And at the time. Swift thought they were booing her. After the night ended, Swift was being asked question and one of the questions was, “How do you feel about Kayne intrupring you accaptance speech tonight?” She then went on to explain that she was a fan on Kayne and she was “Excited that Kayne West was on the stage, but then I wasen’t so excited anymore.” She also said, “You know, I don’t know him and I don’t want to start anything cause, you know I had a great night.”
Forgiving Kayne:
Swift’s next album “Speak Now” her 3rd studio album and had amazing hits. It was also completely self written because people started question if she was really writing her own songs. There was one song on the album called “Innocent” now, this song was openly said it was about Kayne but based on the context and when it was released, many fans believed it was about Kayne. There is multiply lines that fans use to back this claim up such as, “Its okay, life is a tough crowd.” and “Who you are is not where you’ve been.” This whole song to fans, seems like a whole forgiveness letter to Kayne for the incident.
Six Years later:
Six years after “Speak Now” came out, Kanye released a song called titled “Famous” this song was the fuel to the fire. There was a line in the song that said, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous.” With this, Taylor released her opinion on it stating, “I would very much like to be removed from this narrative, one I have not asked to be a part of from the beginning of my career.” This was the spark to the fire. Kim Kardashian. Kim Kardashian-West at the time released a phone call of Swift approving the lines. Although no one knew it at the time, the phone call was edited. In the phone call, it made it seem that Swift was perfectly fine with all of the lyrics. The real, whole, phone call was later released and proved that Swift had only okay-ed the line “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex” But what Kayne didn’t even ask Swift was if he could call her a bitch and use a wax figure of her naked body for revange porn on the famous music video. The feeding frenzy had officially started.
The feeding frenzy:
Everyone was attacking Swift. The number one trending hashtag on twitter was #Taylorswiftisoverparty. In Swifts documentary, “Miss Americana” Swift stated, “You know how many people have to hate you for that to be the number one hashtag?” Swift then disappeared from the public eye. No one physically saw Swift for 9 months.
Reputation:
Swift then relesed her 6th studio album and named it Reputation. She cleared the air and claimed back her spot on top of the world. She went on her biggest tour at the time, The Reputation Stadium Tour.
Where has this gotten her now?:
At this point in Swifts career, she is higher then she has ever been. She left her old record label. This caused a lot of trouble for Swift because Scooter Braun wouldn’t give her her old music back. All her work had been taken away from her. Her first 6 albums, stolen. She released her 7th album Lover and decided she wasn't going to be the “good girl” she had been before. She pushed women and lgbtq rights. With songs such as “You Need To Calm Down,” and “The Man” she pushed these rights. Swift was set to go on tour for the Lover album. This tour was set to be called “Lover Fest” Because of covid, this tour was cancled and Swift was crushed. With all of this time locked in her house she didn’t know what to do, so she wrote a complete story telling album of other peoples stories. She had so much fun with it, just a couple months later, she released a sister album called “Evermore.” Evermore ties back so much more the the Scooter Braun inccident because there is a song on the album called “time to go” This song is written about how her songs were stolen from her. With lines like, “Sometimes walking out is the one thing that will find you the write thing,” “15 years 15 million tears begging till my knees bled. I gave it my all, he gave me nothing at all then wondered why I left,” “Hes got my past frozen behind glass.” All these lines are very clearly written about how her songs were stolen from her. She then started re-recording her stolen albums and has currently re-released Red and Fearless. These albums and the songs are referred to as “Taylor's Version” because she owns them and not her old record label. Speak now (Taylor’s Versison) Is set to be released on July 7th 2023. Her 10th album Midnights has been her best selling ablum yet.
Taylor Swift is currently in the height of her career as she is in the middle of her sold out tour, The Eras Tour, and her album Midnights is still in the top 10 of the billboard top 200 albums even though it was released in Octobor of 2022.
In conclusion, Swift has had to fight many obstacles but has still managed to come out on top. It is clear that Swift is far from being done with her career and has so many surprise in store.
