Why would Black people bother with Taylor Swift when we’ve got Beyonce?

When the Brooklyn Nets’ basketball players struggled to name a single song by the world’s most-streamed pop star, they spoke for Black people everywhere, says Ava Vidal

Beyonce and Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards (REUTERS/Gary Hershorn)

Last week, a promotional video clip involving the Brooklyn Nets basketball team went viral. The idea was innocent enough: to mark Taylor Swift’s 34th birthday, the young Black players were each asked in turn to name their favourite song from her back catalogue. It’s fair to say the squad isn’t overburdened with Swifties.

Mikal Bridges mistakenly referred to ‘22’, one of her biggest hits, as ‘23’. Several had trouble naming any track at all, let alone one they’d care to listen to again. Put on the spot, Nick Claxon spoke for many on the team when he said: “I couldn’t give you one.”

Most pointedly of all, Day’Ron Sharpe murmured: “Ain’t nobody listening to Taylor Swift, bruh…”

Despite Swift being the world’s most-streamed artist of the year, according to Spotify, few of those who left a comment below the Brooklyn Nets’ social media post were shocked by the players’ reticence. Instead, they pointed out what many of us out in the real world already know. When it comes to musical taste, there is a very clear divide between Black and white.

One user summed it up succinctly, saying: “White people listen to Taylor Swift, Black people listen to Beyonce.”

And while I’m sure there is some crossover, if the listening public at large were forced to choose between the two performers, 99.999% of the responses would divide along colour lines.

Before you start rolling your eyes and complaining (“Oh my God! Do you have to bring race into absolutely everything…?”), hear me out.

Taylor Swift and Beyonce are two of the most influential and successful women in the music industry. Both have achieved remarkable success – and, in a world that cruelly discards women over 35, they have both managed to achieve enviable longevity in their careers, having been famous since they were teenagers.

Before we go any further, let me explain a few expressions that you will need to have to hand. It is very common for modern day pop stars to have nicknames for their fans. Katy Perry’s are referred to as the KittyKats, Mariah Carey fans are known as the Lambs (it’s a long story…), while Nicki Minaj devotees are called The Barbz. Thus, a Swiftie is a hardcore Taylor Swift fan.

Now, the artist formerly known as a country singer has built up quite an army, who find her down-to-earth lyrics about heartache and personal experiences relatable. Like Carly Simon before her, she is not afraid to use her relationships with famous men as material in her songs. Simon famously sang ‘You’re So Vain’ about Jack Nicholson. Or Warren Beatty. Or was it James Taylor? (Perhaps only Taylor Swift knows for sure: after she covered the song live in 2013, Simon reportedly revealed the true identity of its subject to her in strictest confidence.)

It seems Swift has herself caught Simon’s coy oversharing bug. It was only after much speculation that she admitted her song ‘Trouble’ was written about Harry Styles. And it’s a useful tactic, one that makes her fans believe they have a front-row ticket to the goings-on in her love life. You can spill your secrets to us, Taylor – we won’t tell, promise.

It’s different with Beyonce. Her fans refer to themselves as The Beyhive, and can always be counted on to defend their idol regardless. There is no situation in which she finds herself that they cannot excuse. It doesn’t matter she refuses to elaborate on what exactly happened between her husband and her sister in that lift. And how dare you be thinking about who Becky With the Good Hair might be? That’s just rude.

Unlike Swift, Beyonce gives general information without ever being specific – and I think it sums up how we like our stars. In Black cultures, we like them to have an air of mystery. We are often judged by what the worst of us gets up to, so we don’t want them to do anything that could be constituted as embarrassing – and so we don’t ask questions. Coming from communities where you’re often judged more harshly internally than you are externally, yes, we want to know what’s going on, but we prefer to fill in the blanks ourselves.

When it comes to romance, Swift has had more than a few high-profile suitors – the likes of Calvin Harris, Matt Healey, Tom Hiddleston, Styles… But still she is seen as a sweet, girl-next-door type. And because she is vanilla, both inside and out, she is afforded the type of innocence that Black women never are.

Beyonce can be raunchy and sexy on stage, because she’s only ever been with one man, and she’s married to him. In a world where Black women are often hypersexualised and referred to as ‘babymothers’, this is very important.

Black men sit on podcasts week after week, accusing Black women of emasculating them by being too independent and refusing to see them as head of the household. But Beyonce uses her husband’s surname, and even wears a blazer with ‘Mrs Carter’ emblazoned across the back.

The body of work of these two artists also demonstrates Black people’s positioning in society overall. Swift’s catchy pop songs with lyrics that barely scratch a surface – “We are never, ever, ever getting back together…” – cannot compare to Beyonce’s, which explore themes of empowerment, feminism and social justice. Yet they both seem to occupy the same space within the industry. It really does demonstrate the old adage our parents used to yell at us – that we have to work twice as hard for half as much.

When it comes to Taylor or Bey, I know whose side I’m on.