Has Taylor Swift Entered Her Ragebait Era?

Before I say what I'm about to say, hear this: I am a Swiftie to the core. And when my girl released The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, a four-track extension of her most recent album, I listened immediately.

And like most Taylor Swift fans, I felt...I don't know, surprised? Underwhelmed, maybe? by my first listen, especially when I heard the song "Cleveland!", which has been a major, major topic of conversation online.

I was expecting a deep, beautiful love song about Swift's new husband, Travis Kelce (who, yes, is from Cleveland). Instead we got a song that seemed more about putting the critics in their place.

"Now I'm wearing white/So hate all you like/This is the love of my life," she sings on the track. The other three songs feel a bit more substantial, more adult...but of course, this one is the one that's getting the most attention. Which is...kind of telling? Kind of a sign of where we are and what we pay attention to? Kind of the whole point of what I'm trying to say here?

This song in particular, which seems to be the only one that's overtly about Kelce, is inspiring people on the Internet to speculate that being happy, in love, and in a secure relationship has robbed Swift of her artistry. Personally, I think that take is a little reductive — it's giving a bit of "you can either be a happy woman or a smart woman".

But here's what I will say: Taylor Swift's new music only feels surprisingly shallow because we're stacking her up against...well, herself. And maybe that has less to do with the woman who is, arguably, the best songwriter of our generation losing her magic touch and more to do with what media messaging in general looks like right now (because let's not forget — music is media too).

Swift's new songs, especially "Cleveland!" reminds me a bit of the musical equivalent of ragebait content. It feels quick, reactive, and defensive. My first thought when I heard it was "why does she think so many people are coming for her when in reality she's one of the most beloved, iconic stars in the entire world?"

But at the end of the day, isn't that what we all do? We let the critical hot takes get under our skin. We let them become our inner voice. We, to some degree, are responsible for the ragebait-y world of media because we reward it with our attention. And then the vicious cycle begins, over and over again.