All is not well in Pop Girl World, I hate to say. I was just starting to recover from the Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo cold war and now I have to deal with brand new beef: Taylor seems to have some fresh Bad Blood (I’m sorry, I’m sorry) with Billie Eilish. Sigh. Like Taylor and Olivia, Taylor and Billie started out as good pals — Billie’s complimented Taylor in a number of interviews, and Taylor praised Billie during her Billboard Woman of the Decade acceptance speech back in 2019. Since their brands couldn’t be more different, these girlies have been chilling in their own lanes and keeping the peace for years.
Unfortunately, they both decided to release albums around the same time this spring, and now, the intense competition to top the charts is getting kinda messy. (Taylor released The Tortured Poets Department on April 19 and Billie released HIT ME HARD AND SOFT on May 17.) There was a pointed business move by Taylor, subtle shade from Billie, and now a full-blown chart war. As a dedicated pop stan, I shall break down the Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish drama in detail.
Okay, “sabotage” is a strong word, but it’s the word Billie stans used after Taylor ~just so happened~ to drop three new editions of The Tortured Poets Department one day before Billie released HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. Yeahh, Blondie’s not really one for coincidences and she’ll do almost anything to stay on top of the charts. Was releasing these new TTPD versions on that day the nicest move in the world? No… but we all know Taylor’s a businesswoman first. You don’t become a billionaire by accident, I fear.
Billie Eilish seemingly shares her thoughts on Stationhead about ‘The Eras Tour’ and ‘The Renaissance Tour’ earlier today, the only recent high-profile tours to span 3 or more hours:
“Doing a 3 hour show.. That’s literally psychotic. Nobody wants that. You guys don’t want that.… pic.twitter.com/X9GQlgXBvf
— Taylor Swift Updates 🩶 (@swifferupdates) May 24, 2024
These rumors aren’t exactly coming from nowhere. If you recall, people thought that Billie shaded Taylor back in March during an interview with Billboard. She called out “some of the biggest artists in the world” for being wasteful with their excessive vinyl packaging used to boost album sales and climb the charts. Billie called that kind of marketing “so wasteful.” Hmmm. IDK, I can’t think of anyone who releases five million vinyl versions of albums to break records and stay in the No. 1 slot…. oh wait.
When Swifties lost their minds over that seemingly obvious shade, Billie posted an Instagram Story clarifying who she was talking about. She explained that she was referring to “industry-wide systemic issues” and noted that many artists, including herself, are part of the problem. Sooo, she was calling out Taylor and other artists.
After Billie released HMHAS, she seemed to shade Taylor again during a Stationhead session when she went on a rant about three-hour concerts. (Taylor performs for three and a half hours at the Eras Tour.) “Doing a three-hour show… That’s literally psychotic,” Billie said. “Nobody wants that. You guys don’t want that. I don’t want that. I don’t even want that as a fan. Even my favorite artists I’m not trying to hear them for three hours. That’s far too long.” I guess that’s why we haven’t seen any videos of Billie at the Eras Tour??
Warning: This might might make you dizzy, but follow along as best you can. After Taylor released her new TTPD limited editions ahead of Billie’s album, Billie released a new version of Hit Me Hard and Soft as the Billboard tracking week approached. Then, Taylor dropped a “Fortnight” remix, Billie dropped a “L’Amour De Ma Vie” remix, and Taylor released another three limited edition TTPD versions. Taylor ultimately won, taking the No. 1 Billboard slot with 378,000 U.S. album sales, so Billie’s album debuted at No. 2.
Siri, play “The Great War” by Taylor Swift.
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