The latest epic drama between Kendrick Lamar and Drake could have made the brutal diss monitor stylish once more, however within the pop realm, oblique shade-throwing appears to be the order of the day. When the conflict includes two of the largest pop stars alive, and their mighty fandoms are those decoding their insinuations, even delicate or unintentional slights can change into amplified to the purpose of absurdity.
But that additionally leaves the remainder of us asking what’s and isn’t actual. Are Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift actually feuding? From a sure angle, it definitely appears like Eilish has spent the previous couple of months utilizing her promotional cycle for her new album, Hit Me Laborious and Delicate, to drop informal however pointed criticism at Swift. From one other angle, it looks like Swift could have retaliated in her personal Swiftian manner — by releasing bonus editions for her new album, Tortured Poets Division, timed to compete with Eilish’s album launch.
Whereas Swift’s status for petty feuding is so well-known that she made a complete album about it, this struggle appears completely out of character for the notably laid-back Eilish. But it appears to have been Eilish whose thinly veiled barbs in opposition to Swift first gained discover and steadily fueled the hearth. Have we entered an period the place followers look to show the whole lot into an epic rivalry — they usually’ll discover a technique to do it, even when there’s nothing there in any respect?
Or is the Eilish/Taylor beef — with layered jibes resulting in battles waged by fandom foot troopers on social media feeds throughout the web — simply how pop stars struggle nowadays?
The drama is all about which album tops the Billboard chart — nevertheless it’s additionally about shade
On the coronary heart of this feud is the Billboard album chart. Swift’s Poets has been on the high since its April 19 launch, and Swifties have a single-minded objective of preserving it up there so long as potential. One of many methods artists gamify the charts in a extremely aggressive digital age is by releasing variant album editions — a trick Swift is well-known for utilizing. For Poets, she launched a normal album, then instantly expanded it to a double album with 30 songs, then all of the sudden dropped three extra shock, limited-time album variants on Could 17.
To Eilish followers, the timing of those three new album drops was sus: They landed the identical day as the discharge of Eilish’s personal new album, Hit Me. Swifties argued the timing was purely coincidental — only one extra manner of boosting Swift’s objective of preserving her album at No. 1 for so long as potential. For Eilish stans (who don’t have a collective title, oddly sufficient), that rationalization fell flat: If the timing didn’t matter, why did Taylor step on Eilish’s launch date? Particularly since they have been restricted editions, that means followers had a slender window of time to purchase them — a window of direct competitors with Eilish.
For his or her half, Swift’s followers have been side-eying Eilish’s camp: They quickly realized Eilish’s supervisor, Danny Rukasin, had favored and retweeted (and unexpectedly deleted) a tweet implying that Swift had a protracted historical past of deliberately “blocking” different artists’ paths to the highest of the chart by strategically dropping her personal releases. The calendar is finite, so Swift’s releases are prone to be much less about spiting different artists and extra about restricted area, and Rukasin could have been motivated much less by this explicit gripe and extra by a common dislike of Swift as an artist. Followers quickly dug up one other occasion when he shaded Swift on social media, which fed the flames of hostility between the 2 camps.
In the meantime, each artists waged a back-and-forth with competing bonus editions of latest tracks all through the week, in an effort to cinch the highest. In the end, Swift retained the No. 1 spot, with Eilish slotting in at No. 2.
After all, all of this may simply have been chalked as much as unlucky coincidence, inevitable competitors, and heated feelings fairly than beef — nothing that actually rises to the extent of a full-blown, two-sided battle.
However what fandom nowadays thrives on a lack of battle? It’s simple to see why neither fandom has backed off the drama. You don’t should dig deep to search out proof that the meat is likely to be actual, and that Swift might need meant to go head-to-head with Eilish. That’s as a result of Eilish may have been sitting on some longtime animosity towards Swift — a resentment that might have began with one other artist altogether.
If this feud exists, it might need began, not with Eilish or Swift, however with a person’s garden-variety sexism
To seek out the supply of this mess, we would have to leap again to 2022. Damon Albarn, the frontman of seminal British bands Blur and Gorillaz, kicked off the 12 months by bizarrely bashing Taylor Swift’s songwriting capability. In a January interview with the Los Angeles Occasions, Albarn first flatly claimed that Swift “doesn’t write her personal songs,” then doubled down by including that she doesn’t even co-write her personal songs. Since Taylor Swift’s major declare to fame is her songwriting capability, this was a really odd — if not outright misogynistic — hill for Albarn to randomly die on.
However inside nearly the identical breath, he took issues in a good weirder path, by evaluating Swift’s music to that of Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, with whom Eilish continuously co-writes:
I’m not hating on anyone, I’m simply saying there’s an enormous distinction between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes. Doesn’t imply that the end result can’t be actually nice. … A extremely attention-grabbing songwriter is Billie Eilish and her brother. I’m extra drawn to that than to Taylor Swift. It’s simply darker — much less endlessly upbeat. Far more minor and odd. I believe she’s distinctive.
For all we all know, the incident might have ended there — Albarn apologized to Swift after huge backlash, blaming the Occasions for “clickbait”-editing no matter he truly mentioned.
Nonetheless, fast-forward a couple of months, and Billie Eilish herself took issues a step additional. Throughout her history-making gig at Coachella, the place she was the youngest headliner in historical past, Eilish introduced out Albarn for a shock visitor efficiency. This might have been a purely fannish gesture on Eilish’s half. Nonetheless, whereas Eilish was praising Albarn and the affect he had on her personal music, an unidentified male voice on a scorching mic could possibly be heard on the live performance livestream joking, “We’re getting sued by Taylor Swift.”
On the time, Swifties leaned towards the perpetrator behind the voice being Eilish’s brother O’Connell. Followers appeared torn on whether or not or to not view this as deliberate shade towards Taylor on the a part of Eilish and O’Connell: In any case, O’Connell had beforehand praised Swift’s songwriting as “inspiring,” and he attended her party in 2021.
Nonetheless, it’s simple for issues to get twisted within the cutthroat recreation of leisure, and we all know how Swift can maintain a grudge when she feels her artwork has been disrespected. And judging by a number of feedback Eilish has made within the promotional cycle for Hit Me Laborious and Delicate — feedback that definitely appear to be directed at Swift — the vendetta may go each methods.
Eilish can’t appear to cease shading Swift — or are followers simply studying into issues?
On March 23, weeks earlier than Swift’s Poets launch, Billboard printed an interview with Eilish wherein she spoke of the “wasteful” apply of artists releasing vinyl albums primarily to garner extra album gross sales and safe longevity or larger gross sales rankings on the Billboard charts. Though your entire interview was about Eilish’s broader efforts to advertise environmental sustainability, she was particularly sharp in her criticism of this (admittedly, sure, wasteful) apply:
I discover it actually irritating as anyone who actually goes out of my technique to be sustainable and do one of the best that I can and attempt to contain all people in my group in being sustainable — after which it’s among the largest artists on this planet making f–king 40 completely different vinyl packages which have a distinct distinctive factor simply to get you to maintain shopping for extra. It’s so wasteful, and it’s irritating to me that we’re nonetheless at a degree the place you care that a lot about your numbers and also you care that a lot about earning money — and it’s all of your favourite artists doing that sh-t.
Since, once more, it is a tactic for which Swift is legendary, followers learn your entire sidebar as a swipe at Swift particularly. Eilish herself shortly responded through Instagram and denied that she’d meant to slight any particular artist. “It will be so superior if individuals would cease placing phrases into my mouth,” she reportedly wrote. “I wasn’t singling anybody out.”
If this had been a one-off assertion, it could most likely have been simpler for followers to consider Eilish. As a substitute, this was only the start of a string of moments when Eilish’s common complaints may be learn as particular criticism of Taylor Swift. It’s value noting that every of those subsequent interviews got here after Swift’s Could 17 “block” of Eilish’s album, so it’s additionally potential that what began out as pure coincidence on Eilish’s half shortly grew to become private.
In a Could 21 interview for Apple Music, Eilish drew nonetheless extra consideration for remarks that appeared to shade overtly autobiographical songwriting — you already know, like the type Swift is once more infamous for.
“I actually wished the songs to not be like, ‘Oh, I do know what that’s about,’” Eilish says.
I believe that we reside in such a world the place everybody is aware of the whole lot … Everyone seems to be conscious of the meat that occurred and conscious of the folks that don’t like one another and conscious of this and that.
Individuals put songs out, particularly within the pop world — and I’m not saying there’s something incorrect with it essentially, nevertheless it’s simply, we reside in a world of, like, anyone places a music out and everybody’s like, ‘So that is who that is about and that is your entire story of what occurred,’ and it’s like, it doesn’t even give the listener an opportunity to interpret it how they need to interpret it and the way they naturally hear it. And that I discover actually irritating. I don’t need to hear a music that I’m like, ‘Ooh, my god’ — each single lyric, I’m like, ‘Oh, my god, that is about that particular person.’
At this level, her brother, O’Connell, chimes in, agreeing, “No, it may be gross … I don’t take heed to ‘The Luckiest’ by Ben Folds and take into consideration his spouse. I take into consideration who I’m in love with.”
Taken by itself, that is all fairly innocuous kvetching concerning the inventive course of. However taken as a part of an ongoing sample of the siblings subtly shading Swift, her songwriting, and her manufacturing course of, it feels much more damning.
Oh, after which Eilish apparently added Swift-style performances to the guidelines of issues she doesn’t like.
It’s no secret {that a} celeb rivalry like this one drives gross sales. However there’s one thing irritating concerning the ephemeral nature of this one.
Final 12 months, Eilish known as each Swift and Beyoncé “untouchable superstars” within the LA Occasions, referencing their epic stadium exhibits, which might every run three hours or extra. “The truth that they will placed on a present that lengthy, and it’s crammed with so many unbelievable moments, is basically wonderful,” she mentioned. On the time she sounded admiring, not confrontational.
Following the album launch conflict, nevertheless, her tone modified dramatically. In a Could 23 broadcast on social radio platform Stationhead, Eilish said, “I’m not doing a three-hour present. That’s actually psychotic. No one needs that. I don’t need that … I don’t even need that as a fan. My favourite artist on this planet, I’m not making an attempt to listen to them for 3 hours.” As soon as once more, Swifties rushed to allege that Eilish was shading Swift particularly (and Beyoncé, however the Hive appears much less pressed).
We’ve by no means identified Eilish to overtly antagonize Swift earlier than, and certainly in 2019 she thanked Swift for “caring for [her]” by her music when she was a baby. But this wouldn’t be the primary time a youthful feminine artist discovered herself in opposition to Swift. Simply take a look at Olivia Rodrigo, who borrowed liberally from Swift as a key affect in her music. Swift embraced the younger singer, till the pair had a rumored falling-out over the problem of music credit. That kerfuffle could or could not have led Rodrigo to burn Swift within the scathing 2022 music “Vampire,” wherein she depicts the titular fang-bearer as a considerably older determine who exploits the singer’s youth and naivete.
Have we talked about Rodrigo and Eilish are good buddies? And that Eilish has mentioned she feels “very protecting” of her? Certainly, in a Could 22 interview with Stephen Colbert to advertise her new album, Eilish riffed poetically concerning the want for younger artists to have the liberty to repeat different artists whereas they’re discovering their very own fashion. “Inspiration goes to show into extra inspiration goes to show into extra inspiration,” she mentioned. Although Eilish was ostensibly speaking about her personal vocal improvement, some gawkers watching the unfolding beef interpreted it as Eilish commenting on the Swift-Rodrigo feud.
It is sensible; there’s some hypothesis that Swift tapped Sabrina Carpenter to open for her “Eras” tour partly as a result of Carpenter and Rodrigo have a longstanding enmity over a messy love triangle. Rodrigo likewise has been teasing an upcoming remix of “Vampire” as a collaboration with Lana Del Rey — who’s allegedly at the moment on the outs with Swift. Different celebrities additionally appear to be taking sides within the dispute. Sza, who by the way is likely one of the artists whose album Swift was beforehand accused of making an attempt to “block,” had beforehand denied there was ever any beef between the 2. She was not too long ago noticed “liking” an Instagram submit dinging Eilish for her excessive live performance costs and quick efficiency instances — an obvious delicate shade on behalf of Swift.
For her half, Swift has but to touch upon the continuing warfare between her fandom and Eilish’s — although her PR group’s Twitter account did make a submit on Could 25 referencing the road “try to come for my job” from Swift’s music “I Can Do It With a Damaged Coronary heart” — a submit that many followers interpreted as a diss in opposition to Eilish for being unable to swipe the No. 1 chart rating from Swift.
Is any of this actual or is all of it only a manufactured face-off? It’s onerous to inform. However the animosity has definitely pushed consideration and renewed power towards each artists. In the midst of the feud, Swift’s album Midnights reportedly grew to become the quickest album by a girl in historical past to achieve a whopping 9 billion streams on Spotify. In the meantime, Eilish’s album lead, the racy bop “Lunch,” reportedly grew to become her quickest single ever to achieve 100 million Spotify streams.
It’s no secret {that a} celeb rivalry like this one drives gross sales. However there’s one thing irritating concerning the ephemeral nature of this one. On the one hand, there’s loads of believable deniability round every of the statements from Eilish that followers are up in arms about. On the opposite, the very fact there are so many statements throughout an lively press tour implies Eilish isn’t taking part in. She additionally hasn’t bothered to make clear that she’s not speaking about Swift. (Vox has reached out to each camps for remark.)
When hip-hop artists create diss tracks, the final sentiment is that the gripes create good music, and the music is what issues. We’ll undoubtedly hear Swift’s facet of this newest dispute in her subsequent album. However the vacuum of actual details about what’s occurring right here has left a niche that followers have chosen to fill with quite a lot of finger-pointing and side-taking. It’s a well-known routine for anybody who’s frolicked round stan tradition, however the drama detracts from the accomplishments of each artists. It’s onerous to really feel served by this struggle the best way, for instance, Kendrick’s beef with Drake doubled as a commentary on authenticity in hip-hop tradition. If Eilish actually does assume Swift’s songs are too literal, her concert events too lengthy, her launch technique too wasteful, and her feuds too petty, there have to be higher methods to air these grievances.
Maybe she ought to write a music about it.