NFL playoffs.

[Uncle Rico]

LOL she's a child of rich parents who had all the tools to be successful.  She writes good songs, but is only an okay singer.  I find her to be completely contrived by a PR firm and as inauthentic as they come.  I totally agree with JWags here.

So you agree she's a psyop created to alter the will of the American people this fall!

[Pakuni]

LOL she's a child of rich parents ...

Didn't know this was disqualifying.

[Hards Alumni]

Didn't know this was disqualifying.

Well having rich ass parents usually doesn't mean you've come up organically.

Just sayin'.

[The Sultan]

Culture wars always need new battlegrounds.

For the life of me I can't really figure out how this has become that though. Is it because Kelce is pro-vax? Is it simply because she's a woman? That they simply find it annoying? I mean, I do too but the intersection between sports and celebrity is as old as dirt.

At least I have a understanding of why Madonna and the Dixie Chicks caused outrage. But this?? She is a popular, and pretty much a non-controversial figure who sings blandish pop songs.

BTW, I have no idea if she is authentic or not. But I have a friend whose daughter is in the Masters program at USC and got to do some behind the scenes work on her Eras movie. She interacted with Swift a few times and found her to be delightful.

[Pakuni]

Well having rich ass parents usually doesn't mean you've come up organically.

It doesn't? Why?
By come up organically, I mean she followed a traditional path to her success. She learned how to play an instrument. She started writing her own songs. She recorded demos and sent them around to labels. She started performing her own songs. Her first gigs were in a coffee shop in New Jersey.
Unlike some of her peers, she wasn't created in a record company lab or by a Svengali character. She wasn't a child actor. She wasn't given a Disney or Nick show as a platform from which to launch her music career.
But her parents had money, so grumble, grumble, grumble.

[wadesworld]

Well having rich ass parents usually doesn't mean you've come up organically.

Just sayin'.

I could win the biggest lottery in the world and I'm not selling out football stadiums multiple times a week to listen to me play music, no matter how much help I get.

[JWags85]

It doesn't? Why?
By come up organically, I mean she followed a traditional path to her success. She learned how to play an instrument. She started writing her own songs. She recorded demos and sent them around to labels. She started performing her own songs. Her first gigs were in a coffee shop in New Jersey.
Unlike some of her peers, she wasn't created in a record company lab or by a Svengali character. She wasn't a child actor. She wasn't given a Disney or Nick show as a platform from which to launch her music career.
But her parents had money, so grumble, grumble, grumble.

Ehhh kind of.  Her parents were taking to her to NYC for acting and singing lessons before she was even a teen and signed her a hot shot talent manager before she ever recorded a demo. She modeled for Abercrombie before she had a record deal.  There was a plan for her fame before she was ever a budding songwriter.

And then when she had a preliminary record deal, they moved to Nashville.  People always tell the story about her being "discovered" at Bluebird Cafe like it was a cozy open mic, but it was actually an industry showcase.  And her father was a minority investor in her first real label, Big Machine Records.

Now I don't think she is some industry plant or a nepo baby, but she didn't have some super organic hustler come up where she was plucked from obscurity on pure talent.

Despite all that, I actually think the earlier country form of her music was pretty authentic, with heavy input from her own songwriting, etc... but pop superstar Taylor Swift from the last few albums is just as contrived and inauthentic as any manufactured pop star and looking at her liner notes, the songs are written by an army of elite pop  songwriters and producers, not the brilliant T Swift pen.  And she lip syncs plenty in her live shows. It's not like she's only up there with a guitar and a mic.

[Hards Alumni]

I could win the biggest lottery in the world and I'm not selling out football stadiums multiple times a week to listen to me play music, no matter how much help I get.

Well, that's a bit of a stretch.

Imagine your parents won the lotto and you wanted to be a musician.  You were afforded every opportunity from lessons, to equipment, to having the means to meet the 'right people'.  If you failed, you'd still have very wealthy parents and be set for life.

That'd be the comparison.  I'm not trying to diminish her accomplishments, but she's certainly started with a LOT more of a chance than your average busker in Nashville.

[Lennys Tap]

Well having rich ass parents usually doesn't mean you've come up organically.

Just sayin'.

???

Her music may not be in your lane (it's certainly not in mine) but she's the biggest pop star in the frickin' world! Her accomplishments have everything to do with hard work and talent and nothing to do with her parents having some money. Belittling them due to some accident of birth is an odd, mean spirited take.

She and Kelce is a nice story and relevant because America worships celebrity. Nothing new there, and nothing to get up in arms about.

[Uncle Rico]

For the life of me I can't really figure out how this has become that though. Is it because Kelce is pro-vax? Is it simply because she's a woman? That they simply find it annoying? I mean, I do too but the intersection between sports and celebrity is as old as dirt.

At least I have a understanding of why Madonna and the Dixie Chicks caused outrage. But this?? She is a popular, and pretty much a non-controversial figure who sings blandish pop songs.

BTW, I have no idea if she is authentic or not. But I have a friend whose daughter is in the Masters program at USC and got to do some behind the scenes work on her Eras movie. She interacted with Swift a few times and found her to be delightful.

A. The pro-vax part

B. She might support Biden.  She was already on the radar for promoting voter registration

[Pakuni]

Ehhh kind of.  Her parents were taking to her to NYC for acting and singing lessons before she was even a teen and signed her a hot shot talent manager before she ever recorded a demo.

I don't believe this is correct.
According to this, she recorded her first demo in 2002:
https://www.nydailynews.com/2015/01/10/exclusive-the-real-story-behind-taylor-swifts-guitar-legend-meet-the-computer-repairman-who-taught-the-pop-superstar-how-to-play/

And according to this, she wasn't connected with Dymtrow until a year later:
https://web.archive.org/web/20121011190303/http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/Forums/entsports/PublicDocuments/oppositionbrief.authcheckdam.PDF

As for her parents taking her for singing lessons ... so? Earl Woods was taking Tiger for golf lessons pretty much from the time he could stand. Walt Gretzky had Wayne playing hockey when he was 2.
Is their success somehow less deserved or earned?

And then when she had a preliminary record deal, they moved to Nashville.  People always tell the story about her being "discovered" at Bluebird Cafe like it was a cozy open mic, but it was actually an industry showcase. 

That's a totally common and normal way for musicians to get noticed. These events are, in fact, created for that purpose, especially in the Nashville scene. I mean, SXSW basically started as a showcase and in some ways still is today. Would you say all the acts that have launched from there were somehow less legitimate?

[jesmu84]

A. The pro-vax part

B. She might support Biden.  She was already on the radar for promoting voter registration

She endorsed Biden in 2020, believe

[jesmu84]

???

Her music may not be in your lane (it's certainly not in mine) but she's the biggest pop star in the frickin' world! Her accomplishments have everything to do with hard work and talent and nothing to do with her parents having some money. Belittling them due to some accident of birth is an odd, mean spirited take.

She and Kelce is a nice story and relevant because America worships celebrity. Nothing new there, and nothing to get up in arms about.

Talent + hard work has a FAR FAR FAR lower chance of success than talent + hard work + super wealthy.

[tower912]

I think KC wins.   I think the combination of Reid, Mahomes, and two weeks prep is too much for the 49ers.

[MU82]

I think KC wins.   I think the combination of Reid, Mahomes, and two weeks prep is too much for the 49ers.

How dare you talk about a football game, sir!

[Pakuni]

I think KC wins.   I think the combination of Reid, Mahomes, and two weeks prep is too much for the 49ers.

There you go again, trying to steer the conversation back on topic.

[tower912]

What can I say?  I'm a rebel.

[Hards Alumni]

Talent + hard work has a FAR FAR FAR lower chance of success than talent + hard work + super wealthy.

Exactly.  That's my take as well.

[Uncle Rico]

What can I say?  I'm a rebel.

Chiefs defense is pretty solid.  Better than SF and GB

[tower912]

I really admire how quickly Brock Purdy has gone from MR. Irrelevant to starting QB in a Super Bowl.   What an amazing story.   Which could start a lengthy discussion about how the hive mind can be so high on the Trubisky's, Pickett's, Darnold's of the world and so low on him.   What did everyone miss?

[Jockey]

???

Her music may not be in your lane (it's certainly not in mine) but she's the biggest pop star in the frickin' world! Her accomplishments have everything to do with hard work and talent and nothing to do with her parents having some money. Belittling them due to some accident of birth is an odd, mean spirited take.

She and Kelce is a nice story and relevant because America worships celebrity. Nothing new there, and nothing to get up in arms about.

Good post, Lenny. And I can't name even one of her songs.


I have noticed the respect she gets from other songwriters and performers. I'm guessing they didn't praise her because she has rich parents.


The damnation by the right is utterly predictable, though. A democrat who has a pro-vax boyfriend? Everything a MAGAt looks for when attacking somebody.

[tower912]

Same question with Jake Browning.  How does he get missed?

[Uncle Rico]

Same question with Jake Browning.  How does he get missed?

They both had weird senior seasons

[Jockey]

Here is what the MAGAts say about Taylor. Please read skowly and try to grasp what they say. Try not to choke in laughter or disgust while reading. And remember - people actually choose to listen to this every day.

Here's One America News Network nutter Alison Steinberg accusing professional football and major league sports in general of being one big psy-ops program designed to brainwash your kids:


STEINBERG: America's pop star celebrity sweetheart joins forces with the top dog in the NFL playing for the team that's going to the Super Bowl. I mean, let's be real here. This is bread and circuses on steroids. Major league sports in and of itself is nothing but a psy-op. Get kids plugged into the cycle of going to public indoctrination camps, playing sports for their school, and going to games. Many end up devoting their entire childhood to competing in various sports only to be cut from the team, at which point they become brainwashed into supporting professional teams because they know their dreams of becoming a pro athlete will probably never happen.

So then they become obsessed with some grown man who gets paid millions of dollars every year to throw a ball around while promoting poison death shots and child slave labor through various brand deals and endorsements. So sad. ...

Just imagine for a moment if people were as dedicated to Jesus as they are professional sports. I think the country might look pretty different if that were the case. But sadly, as we know, it's not.

And perhaps that's why we're witnessing the crumbling and degradation of our once great nation. Instead, all we seem to care about are the celebrities and athletes propped up by the Hollywood elites in this ongoing theater. This fake, carefully crafted show that the masses have been hypnotized by and can't seem to turn off.

The question is, with the wide open border and millions of illegals pouring in daily, the stealing at the ballot boxes and censoring conservative news, and Republican incumbents being removed from the ballot and financing Nikki Haley and so on, why do the powers that be need this dynamic duo to sway the vote? Don't they have enough dirty tricks up their sleeves as it is? Think about it. If Taylor Swift is really owned by [George] Soros, we might actually have a rare chance to unite against him. Using Taylor Swift as the Trojan horse instead of pushing the Alphabet Mafia and murdering of babies to her fans, she should be warning about the dangers of the corrupt elites.

[MU82]

I really admire how quickly Brock Purdy has gone from MR. Irrelevant to starting QB in a Super Bowl.   What an amazing story.   Which could start a lengthy discussion about how the hive mind can be so high on the Trubisky's, Pickett's, Darnold's of the world and so low on him.   What did everyone miss?

Purdy's only 6-1, which is an immediate disqualifier for a lot of GMs and scouts. His arm strength, speed, etc, weren't overly impressive. Scouts often get set in their minds all the things a player can't do.

I was gonna say I sure wish the Panthers had taken him in the 7th round in the 2022 draft, but they wouldn't have known what to do with him anyway.