base talk Billboard's Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century | #2 Taylor Swift

[commander]

The world is truly healing 

[halcyonday]

Y'all only care about this list cuz they made it a huge deal and stretched it across 5 months  

[PoisonedIvy]

Congratulations to Ms Knowles and Ms Swift on dominating the music industry this millenium.  

[Dom]

5 minutes ago, poki said:

Honestly. How could they also snub Avril and Fergie? Their 2000s runs were A-list tier. But no one moves for them (or P!nk) anymore so they got snubbed. 

Um no ones moves for P!nk is a lie.

All her albums go top 3 in USA. Touring 700M from latest tour.

 

i wish no one moved for me like this.

[Burn]

9 minutes ago, Kool_Aid_King said:

Swifties having a Klan rally on Twitter over this.  

They always show their asses. This is a Taylor stan btw:

 

[Bloo]

Congrats to Taylor!  
 

Assuming #1 is Beyoncé, both ladies easily deserve the top two spots and the order is just a dice roll at that point. 

[NEUTRON]

Called it

 

Congrats to all the Kings and Queens on this list

[Dear Reader]

22 minutes ago, Burn said:

Be grateful that Kanye gave Taylor a career that night and that Beyoncé acted so graciously in giving Taylor her moment.  At least Taylor hasn't forgotten it, even if her stans are a lil forgetful.

Imagine awarding Taylor's accolades to ******* Kanye West... Be for real...

Edited 2 hours ago by Dear Reader

[Burn]

Just now, Dear Reader said:

Imagine awarding Taylor's accolades to ******* Kanye West... Be for real...

Did you miss the pages of swiftys crediting Jay-Z for all of Beyoncé's accolades?

[Dear Reader]

1 minute ago, Burn said:

Did you miss the pages of swiftys crediting Jay-Z for all of Beyoncé's accolades?

so you retaliate with lies instead of facts? got it

[OhMyAlf]

Beyoncé being my favourite artist of all time and Taylor a very close second has made the last few years so enjoyable for me. No petty stan wars just enjoying the 2 greatest pop stars of our time 

[Burn]

Just now, Dear Reader said:

so you retaliate with lies instead of facts? got it

Well no since it's a fact that Kanye did popularise Taylor. As if anyone knew who she was before that. 

[Dear Reader]

2 minutes ago, Burn said:

Well no since it's a fact that Kanye did popularise Taylor. As if anyone knew who she was before that. 

That's so true, that's why she won AOTY that year, Kanye was the only Grammy voter  Keep feeding those delusions in your head, just know you're no different than a swiftie saying Jay-Z buys Beyoncé her awards.

[BGKC]

Makes sense to me. Bey had one of the longest running ones in 2001 (with DC) and she is still out here snagging #1 hits in 2024 (the first black woman to do it with a country song). Taylor could have had the #1 spot too due to being a commercial anomaly, but it really isn't that deep. 

[Arrows]

1 minute ago, Burn said:

Well no since it's a fact that Kanye did popularise Taylor. As if anyone knew who she was before that. 

What about those people who voted for her to win an award over Bey, who made Fearless a 11 week 1# album and the best selling album of the year, and who turned Love Story and You Belong With Me into smashes? Did they not know who Taylor was either?

 

 

[gustavothehuman]

2 hours ago, gustavothehuman said:

Anyway, I'm happy with the Top 2 regardless of who's leading the list, both Taylor and Beyoncé deserved the honor. The real atrocity here is including Maroon 5 but not Coldplay 

 

I know this was pages ago, but just to elaborate a bit more: Coldplay were mentioned on the special articles written for Bruno Mars, BTS, Shakira, Rihanna and I won't be surprised if they get name-dropped on Bey's piece too. They're easily the most culturally ubiquitous band of the last two decades, how does one fumble the bag that hard? 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by gustavothehuman

[AxelFox]

The dramatics over some silly list. Be thankful she's even being spoken to in the same breath as someone like Beyoncé, 'cause there's a clear distinction between them.

 

Beyoncé's greatness brought her sales and numbers, whereas Taylor's sales and numbers are what brought her greatness. Remember that. 

Edited 1 hour ago by AxelFox

[khalyan]

#2 seems a little high for Taylor. Happy Beyonce will be #1 

[Cruel Summer]

All things considered, I think this makes sense for now, given Beyoncé's presence in the pop culture of a portion of the century in which Taylor was either not yet active or not yet a commercial and cultural juggernaut (which didn't happen until Fearless, though her debut sold very well over time), as well as the particular narrative surrounding Beyoncé's iconography and performance skills. This is a subjective list, not an objective one, and it's sensible to try to account for Beyoncé's unique positioning in our broader cultural conversation. It's maybe not the choice I would make if I had to guess how the next 25 years play out with regard to legacy and influence, but it's not a choice I'm mad about, and right now, no other top two makes much sense, whatever order you prefer. It's nice, in my opinion, to see this recognition for both these women come in a year in which Beyoncé has released her greatest work to date and in which Taylor has put the capstone on the monumental career turnaround she's had since Lover, with the second half of the biggest tour of all time and a fifteen-week #1 album. Let's celebrate both these legends.  
 

Now let's also hope that something in next week's article inspires the foremost visual artist of our time to release the damn visuals, too, because that's the core piece of her artistry that's frustratingly absent for her this decade despite teasers of what could be her best visual concepts yet!

[Michael196]

My favorite thing about this, is that the top 3 is completely occupied by talented, dedicated and hard working women that blessed the world with so much quality in every way possible (yes even miss Fenty considering the ridiculous amount of work and material she managed to put out during her prime years, like no wonder she got exhausted and retired…)

[Moonlight Nation]

36 minutes ago, gustavothehuman said:

Anyway, I'm happy with the Top 2 regardless of who's leading the list, both Taylor and Beyoncé deserved the honor. The real atrocity here is including Maroon 5 but not Coldplay 

 

Coldplay being completely omitted was ridiculous. I believe they deserved to make the list proper, so the fact they didn't even get an honourable mention while Maroon 5 did is beyond appalling. And that's coming from a "Songs About Jane" stan + "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" and "Overexposed" defender. 

 

They're the only artists besides Beyoncé and Eminem who were killing it in 2000 and still scoring hits and strong album debuts in 2024. Excellent streaming presence across their discography, a distinct sound and countless classics to their name, undeniable and highly influential touring force pushing forward-thinking approaches in terms of accessibility and sustainability, not to mention managing to successfully navigate the most complicated phase for bands and rock-adjacent acts while not losing their artistic essence, even if their recent output has become fairly hit-and-miss.

 

The fact there's a whole page on Wikipedia dedicated to their cultural impact says it all. 

 

 

The other atrocity was Drake ending up as the highest ranked male artist. For starters... 2024 marked the likely end of his hitmaking career, on a pretty disgraceful and embarrassing note at that, so I doubt this decision will age well regardless of numbers. At least Kanye West, whose legacy keeps getting increasingly tarnished, had an impressive, generation-defining run from 2004 to 2016, spanning across critical acclaim, commercial success, cultural presence, and immense influence on his peers. 

Bruno Mars being ranked at #20 and The Weeknd at #18 was ridiculous too, especially when Adele got to #10 despite having a similar profile to Bruno (only four albums, not a tabloid fixture in the slightest, and benefitting from the most widespread appeal despite not having hardcore online stans). I also believe both men have eclipsed Justin Timberlake and Usher in terms of artistry, iconography, hitmaking skills, and staying power. Comparing their respective Super Bowl Halftime shows is proof.

 

I was rooting for Beyoncé to take the #1 spot, but even if Taylor Swift had taken the honour it would have been the least of this list's problems, that's for sure.

[Club classic]

Beyoncé, Gaga and Rihanna in top 5 is so satisfying Britney deserved top 5 though

[Love4Janet]

Congrats to the 9th (tied) winningest recipient of the Billboard Awards, which are actually based on sales and streaming. 

 

But who doesn't love a list where the order is chosen first and then criteria are selected to justify it? 

 

[atemyheartinc]

I guess Jay-Z had some money left after the Grammys and the strength to write yet another threat to Billboard.

 

Anyway, I'm impressed by Taylor's achievements. She deserved the #1 spot  

Edited 2 hours ago by atemyheartinc

[Headlock]

28 minutes ago, Burn said:

Well no since it's a fact that Kanye did popularise Taylor. As if anyone knew who she was before that. 

The blatant trolling nnn