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I never claimed to be a stan, but most friends still did make fun of me for being a "Swiftie" because I talked about her so much. I also thought Folklore was the best album of all time at some point. I still think it's a great album, but not even Top 10 for the decade anymore. Like... what was I thinking. It makes no sense, it was certainly some kind of grand delusion.

Kind of yes. Her teeny-wheeny lyrics don't do it for me anymore. She lacks depth. But mostly, with the release of that atrocious TTPD album I had some kind of epiphany and a re-evaluation of her entire catalogue. Folklore and Red are still my top played albums, but now I don't understand what I ever saw in half of those songs. There's so much better music from literary every other major artist (and they actually have talents). I concluded that stanning Taylor must be some kind of spell.

No. For years we thought Jack Antonoff was the problem and that Showgirl would be Taylor's return to form now that she finally switched producers after working for a decade with Jack. Turned the problem was her. And didn't Max produce Eternal Sunshine? That album was good

What does spooking little kids have to do with having a teen pop to sexy adult shift? Oops to Slave 4 U, Genie in a Bottle to Dirrty is the type of "good girl" to "bad girl" shift I'm talking about. SOS to Umbrella was a smooth progression in the more liberated direction, but smooth nonetheless. I lived through those eras, I don't remember thinking wow Rihanna had a total image overhaul. I do remember seeing Dirrty for the first time though, that was a shock

That Halloween cosplay is not what I would call "bad". She was already super slůttý in SOS. There wasn't any noticeable progression between those eras other than music getting tighter

Both better than you know who

Self written effort > ai slop

Yup. Rated R was her actual "bad girl" era. Rude Boy was insanely naughty. So many other songs on that album also had badass lyrics and sounds. GGGB was like her wanting to have a perceived shift, but she wasn't actually committed to it at all

Is reading beyond the thread title illegal here?

Umbrella wasn't any "badder" than SOS. There wasn't a sonic or image shift between them. The music was just good, so it succeeded.

I'm not talking specifically about concert prices here (although they are part of it). We have dynamic prices for almost any type of tickets (airlines, train . entertainment tickets etc), accommodation (hotels, airbnbs etc), car rentals, ride-hiring (uber etc), online marketplaces (amazon etc). I just feel we got so used to them that it has become normal. And I see nothing normal in this. Why should someone pay 3x the price for the same airline ticket simply because they bought it at a different time? Why should two people standing at the same spot trying to get to the same destination see completely different prices for their uber rides based on some kind of tracking data? I understand the reasons for it from the business point of view, but most of the time it feels like it's done in bad faith only to benefit corporations. Certain variation in prices can be ok based on demand, but excessive price hikes and massive differences in price for exact same service should be unacceptable. Is there a way out of this?

I've spent months in various Latin American countries in the past few years. Bad Bunny is literally everyone, it's not even funny. When his last album dropped cafes just played the entire CD back to front as if it was a greatest hits album. He also penetrated into the non Spanish speaking sphere. I'd say he's the biggest artist on the planet right now, bar none. Taylor's cult members have deeper purses, but his popularity is certified fresh and organic

Good luck monitoring stream manipulations if those ai artists are created by streaming services themselves to avoid paying royalties to real artists.

Charli was never a #1 contender to begin with. She's trying to block Morgan if anything. Definitely an anti-MAGA girl. Not everyone's faves can relate

How about Taylor and Charli XCX rivalry?