AccioEmpireBuilder

If anything, I could see "Agora Hills" cousin "Acts of Service" taking off, or even "Aaahh Men" around Halloween.

TBH, her secret weapon is her gift for melodies. My dream Taylor Swift album? 1 anthemic Ryan Tedder record (multi-tracked like Phil Spector back in the day), 1 retro record like Leslie Gore's "It's My Party", 1 Max Martin record (all harps, banjo, and guitar loops, no synths), 1 classic country torch record like Olivia Newton-John's "Hopelessly Devoted To You," and the rest? Rostam (Vampire Weekend, Frank Ocean, Carly Rae Jepsen), Dev Hynes (Solange, Sugababes), Jimmy Napes / Eg White (Sam Smith), Paul Epworth (Adele), Coldplay, and T Bone Burnett (Safe & Sound). That's it.

The best live performer in history doesn't need 0.00001 per stream, especially when true fans buy the physical editions at full price. No Amazon asterisked, happy meal or value menu-priced albums over here. I also find it interesting she was the first female artist in this group to receive ownership of her masters from shrewd boardroom negotiation and leverage. What motivation does Columbia Records have in the year of our Lord 2026 to promote her streaming and pay Spotify when she's making most of the money? Food for thought.

A key indicator otherwise would be her ability to get sizable chart smashes on her own, but the evidence just isn't there: She hasn't been able to get much Top 10 chart success without group projects since... 2016-2017? Who would've thought "Million Reasons" would be her swan song, and "Stupid Love" the final nail in the 'Top 10 solo chart' coffin? Definitely not me.

Again, I think trolling in threads to grow them like this is my form of ATRL community service: the monsters downvote everything I post, and suddenly they can't downvote anything else of merit for a few hours. Those retaliatory threads they love to make disrespecting every other artist die very quickly with no monsters left to react. That fanbase needs to boost their self esteem. Maybe then they'd stop lashing out at everyone else. A solo #1 hit for the first time since 2011 would help. Get to streaming y'all.

Agreed. The fact title track "Something Beautiful" was rumored to have been in the running for Act III should tell us all we need to know: Miley Cyrus has been working towards this direction for a long time. I don't think this is a Drake x Renaissance submission situation where Miley submitted something and then made an entire album first once she had a hint of Beyonce's direction/sound to be seen as the front-runner (looking at you, Honestly, Nevermind).

Not too shabby for a 13-year old throwaway that leaked years before official release.

It was just a tough time to be a relatively new pop act during the J Records / Jive Records merge into RCA. Budgets disappeared overnight, and all of the money gravitated towards teams with sure things: Britney, Usher, Pink, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake. Ciara, Christina, Kelly Clarkson, and The Backstreet Boys were the B-team, with Jordin and Mike Posner beneath them. If Adam Lambert didn't get "Whatya Want From Me" from Pink, I think he would've struggled to get a second album.

One of my favorite demos of all time. How Jordin Sparks didn't make this second single always baffled me. Yes... it leaked, but it was worth it. This, "No Parade," and "Watch You Go" would've been a good singles run after title track "Battlefield" cleaned up on the charts.

Thank you! Added. I'm sure it would be fun as the A&R for a talent show winner to figure out the desired sound/genre and then just going out to acquire the best demos at the time for the budget you have.

"Hey Mama" is a BIGGIE! Thank you! I have added it next to "Wrecking Ball" in that 'written for others at Beyonce sessions' section and given credit to Ester Dean, who is the only person on the writing team potentially at the 2012 Hamptons Writing Camp. Also, in other updates: ... finally added "Feeling Myself" to the correct ST section, as that Nicki Minaj / SZA beef unearthed the truth from their own mouths that it was a Beyonce song (co-written by SZA) gifted to Nicki for The Pinkprint (with Beyonce's vocals on it) in return for Nicki's verse on the "***Flawless Remix."

You know what... if it can take the song to Platinum and 300M streams like "Alien Superstar"? I'll accept it. Let them speculate.

There was a period where I hungered for new Lana Del Rey music... but then I remembered her "Question for The Culture," "country club" imagery, and these strange characters she ends up dating. I quickly realized return-to-form songs "Taco Truck / VB" and "A&W" were suitable parting words for me, and I'm good with listening to her early run of albums (sans Blue Bannisters & Chemtrails ) and those only.