Taylor Swift Blasts Famous Musician For Claiming She Doesn't Write Her Own Songs
Claiming a musician didn't write their own music is one of the worst things you can do. That accusation is what started the infamous beef between Meek Mill and Drake in 2015. "Stop comparing drake to me too.... He don't write his own raps! That's why he ain't tweet my album because we found out!" Mill said in a now-deleted tweet (via Billboard). When Cardi B was nominated for a Billboard Award in 2019, some people on Twitter were upset because she has a team of songwriters who help her write her music, per Complex. Cardi B clapped back on Twitter, in her own Cardi fashion. "Because I do write a lot of my s*** that's the thing .Yes just like every other artist I do have a couple writer that help with hooks but I wrote plenty of songs on my album specially my mixtape," Cardi B wrote.
It isn't uncommon knowledge that many of today's musicians receive assistance in their writing. In fact, "the average number of credited songwriters in the U.S. market's Top 10 streaming hits of 2018, per-track, was a whopping 9.1," according to BuzzAngle data as interpreted by Rolling Stone in 2019. However, when an artist actually writes their own music, falsely claiming they don't puts a huge stain on their reputation. International superstar Taylor Swift is known for many things, but she's especially famous for writing her own songs and calling out BS. Swift's "reputation" is on the line after a famous artist claimed she doesn't write her music — but she isn't going down without a fight.
Damon Albarn claimed Swift 'co-writes' her music
The Blur and Gorillaz musician Damon Albarn spoke with the Los Angeles Times to promote the January 24 release of his new orchestral solo album, "The Nearer the Mountain, More Pure the Stream Flows." Albarn was discussing the state of music today with Times interviewer, Mikael Wood. When Wood brought up that international pop star artist Taylor Swift is an "excellent songwriter," Albarn scoffed at the idea, insinuating that she doesn't write her own music. "That doesn't count. I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing," Albarn said. "I'm not hating on anybody, I'm just saying there's a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes. Doesn't mean that the outcome can't be really great."
Swift was not about to have her name dragged through the mud, so she proceeded to clap back on Twitter. "I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging," Swift tweeted. "You don't have to like my songs but it's really f***** up to try and discredit my writing. WOW." Even Swift's producer, Jack Antanoff, defended Swift by sarcastically tweeting about the situation. Albarn quickly tweeted back at Swift to get rid of the "Bad Blood" between them. "I totally agree with you. i had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait," Albarn wrote. "I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand."