The floodgates are opened, and there is no turning back. The social media mob is out in full force. Someone wrongly criticized Taylor Swift. On Tuesday, it was revealed that as part of an interview with The LA Times, British musician Damon Albarn stated that he doesn’t believe that Taylor Swift writes her own songs. 

Some background. Damon Albarn was the lead singer for Nineties alt-rock band Blur, and since the new millennium is primarily known for being the lead creative force in the virtual hip-hop band Gorillaz. He’s also been part of supergroup The Good, The Bad & the Queen with The Clash’s Paul Simonon, The Verve’s Simon Tong, and Tony Allen, who played with Fela Kuti. He also put out The Rocket Juice & The Moon, a collaboration with Flea and Tony Allen, as well as a string of collaborations with various African musicians. On top of all that, Albarn sporadically releases music under his own name. Needless to say, he has had a varied, influential, and in all regards successful career in the music industry for about 30 years.

Taylor Swift needs no introduction. If you have followed anything about music or popular culture at all over the past 15 years, you know who she is. The country-turned-all-around-pop star has amassed an amazing amount of commercial and critical success on the back of her personal songwriting and stylistic evolution. She’s also just as notable for the control she exerts over her image and career compared to many other female stars, as well as several high-profile relationships and celebrity feuds. I can confidently say, with no reservation, that Swift is one of the biggest celebrities in the world, by any measure.

If there is one thing Swift’s massive army of fans, dubbed “Swifties,” will tell you, it’s that she writes her own songs. This has been foundational to her narrative and persona from the beginning, and a big reason why her success is so lauded in the mainstream. It’s truly perplexing, then, why Albarn would so confidently state otherwise.

Continue reading I Digress: An Unvarnished Take on the Taylor Swift v. Damon Albarn Songwriting Controversy →