Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 2004 to pursue a career in country music. She broke into the country music scene with her eponymous self-titled debut studio album, Taylor Swift in 2006, which included the singles "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Our Song". Swift also released the holiday album, Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, later titled as The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007.
Swift rose to mainstream prominence with her sophomore studio album, Fearless (2008), a country pop record with crossover appeal. Aided by the top-five singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Swift's third studio album, Speak Now (2010), blended country pop with elements of rock and featured the top-ten singles "Mine" and "Back to December".
Drawing inspiration from various pop, rock, and electronic genres, Swift's fourth studio album Red (2012) saw her transcending her country roots. She completely moved to pop with her synth-pop fifth studio album, 1989 (2014), and expanded the electropop sound on her next two studio albums, reputation (2017) and Lover (2019), which respectively embraced urban and retro styles. The four albums spawned a string of international top-five singles, including "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", "Bad Blood", "Look What You Made Me Do", "ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco)", "You Need to Calm Down", and "Lover".
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift experimented with folk and alternative rock on her eighth and ninth studio albums, folklore and evermore (both 2020), whose lead singles "cardigan" and "willow" topped charts around the world. She also released the critically acclaimed documentaries Miss Americana and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions that year. Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights (2022), marked her triumphant return to pop after two folk albums. The album set the record for biggest first day and first week ever on Spotify, spawned the hits Anti-Hero and Lavender Haze, and sold over 1.5 million copies in its first week becoming not only the biggest debut of the decade but also Swift's biggest debut ever. She would make history by becoming the first artist to occupy the entire top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 with tracks from Midnights.
Additionally, Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020 as a result of a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. In April 2021, Swift released a re-recorded issue of her 2008 album Fearless, titled Fearless (Taylor's Version). It debuted at number one in the US. Swift continued releasing re-recorded versions of her back catalog in November, 2021 with the release of Red (Taylor's Version), a 30 track re-issue of her 2012 critical smash. The album debuted at #1 in the US, spawned the #1 hit All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault), and broke the record at the time for biggest first day for a female album on Spotify. Red (Taylor's Version) was a critical and commercial hit, and proved that Swift's ambitious plan to re-record her first 6 albums was well worth it.
Along with the release of Red (Taylor's Version) came All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), Swift's filmmaking debut. The 15 minute romantic drama was based on the lyrical content from Swift's 2012 fan favorite "All Too Well" starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien. It had a limited theatrical release in major cities, and Swift held special screenings of the film throughout 2022 at various film festivals. In December, 2022 Taylor announced that she would be making her feature directorial debut with Oscar-winning studio Searchlight Pictures.
Following the release of Midnights, Swift would embark on her first tour in five years, The Eras Tour.
Swift has released several songs for film soundtracks. She co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack— "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier", and contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. She also contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound - from The Hunger Games Soundtrack", co-written and recorded with The Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack, which received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik, mononymously known as Zayn, released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). She also recorded an original song called "Beautiful Ghosts", which she wrote with Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Cats's soundtrack (2019). In 2020, Swift's documentary Miss Americana featured the song "Only the Young" which was written after the 2018 United States elections. In 2022, she released an original song titled "Carolina" for Where The Crawdads Sing (2022) inspired by the novel written by Delia Owens.
With sales of over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is a best-selling music artist. Her accolades include 12 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), two Brit Awards (including a Global Icon award), an Emmy Award, 28 [https://guinnessworldrecords.com/]Guinness World Records, 32 American Music Awards (the most wins by an artist), and 23 Billboard Music Awards (the most wins by a woman). She ranked eighth on Billboard's Greatest of All Time Artists Chart (2019) and was listed on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015). Swift has been included in various power rankings, such as Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world (2010, 2015 and 2019) and Forbes Celebrity 100 (placing first in 2016 and 2019). She was named Woman of the Decade (2010s) by Billboard and Artist of the Decade (2010s) by the American Music Awards.
Thug Story
Taylor Swift Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You shorties never thought I dreamed about rapping hardcore
No I ain't got a gun
No I never really been in a club
Still live with my parents
But I'm still a thug
You out clubbing, well I just baked Caramel Delights
T Swift and T Pain rappin' on the same track
It's a thug story tell me can you get with that
I had a dream last night I had high-top Nikes
I had diamonds in my mouth, and diamonds on my mic
By the time I woke I was singing "I'm on a boat"
'Cause I'm a singer turned rapper
Shorty I'm a make ya
Straight to the top, yo
Shorty I'ma take ya
You can call me T Sweezy now I'm a rap star
Hey it's a thug story now tell them who you are
Singer turned gangsta
You don't wanna fight me
Straight to the top
In my extra small white tee
T Swift and T Pain all up on the same track
It's a thug story tell now can you get with that
What! what! I knit sweaters yo!
What! what! don't test me
Hey hold on, hold on I didn't even say anything
What? I said "yo"
Yo, you guys bleeped me and I didn't even say anything
I didn't even swear
She didn't even swear
Hello? Ugh!
The opening lines of Taylor Swift's song "Thug Story" introduces the listener to a new side of the sweet innocent pop princess, as she raps about being an "eight foot four" gangster with "blond hair to the floor". She quickly dismisses the typical notions of what it means to be a thug, claiming that she doesn't have a gun, hasn't been to a club, and still lives with her parents. Taylor then goes on to assert that she's "so gangsta", that she's found baking cookies at night, while her peers are out clubbing. She makes it clear that despite being a pop singer, she's not one to shy away from rapping, and she's even "a singer turned rapper." She adopts the moniker "T Sweezy" and asserts her status as a rap star.
Taylor's collaboration with rapper T Pain on this track is somewhat unexpected but has a certain charm to it. While the raunchy thug life might not be the usual subject matter for Taylor, her playful and ironic take on it is what sets this track apart. The 'hello? Ugh!'line at the end is the final punchline to her track, as she complains to the producer about being bleeped even though she didn't swear.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm like eight foot four, blond hair to the floor
I am tall and blonde with very long hair.
You shorties never thought I dreamed about rapping hardcore
Just because I am tall and blonde, doesn't mean I couldn't have dreams about rapping hardcore.
No I ain't got a gun
I do not own a gun.
No I never really been in a club
I have never actually been to a club before.
Still live with my parents
I still live with my parents.
But I'm still a thug
But that doesn't mean I'm not a thug.
I'm so gangsta you can find me baking cookies at night
I am so gangsta that I can be found baking cookies at night.
You out clubbing, well I just baked Caramel Delights
While you are out clubbing, I am baking Caramel Delights.
T Swift and T Pain rappin' on the same track
Taylor Swift and T Pain are rapping on the same track.
It's a thug story tell me can you get with that
This is a thug story, do you like it?
I had a dream last night I had high-top Nikes
Last night in a dream, I had high-top Nikes.
I had diamonds in my mouth, and diamonds on my mic
In the dream, I also had diamonds in my mouth and on my microphone.
By the time I woke I was singing "I'm on a boat"
When I woke up from the dream, I was singing "I'm on a boat".
'Cause I'm a singer turned rapper
I am a singer who has turned into a rapper.
Shorty I'm a make ya
I'm going to make you.
Straight to the top, yo
Straight to the top.
Shorty I'ma take ya
Shorty, I am going to take you.
You can call me T Sweezy now I'm a rap star
You can refer to me as T Sweezy now that I am a rap star.
Hey it's a thug story now tell them who you are
This is a thug story, so tell everyone who you are.
Singer turned gangsta
I have turned from a singer to a gangsta.
You don't wanna fight me
You don't want to fight me.
In my extra small white tee
I am wearing an extra small white t-shirt.
T Swift and T Pain all up on the same track
Taylor Swift and T Pain are both on this track.
It's a thug story tell now can you get with that
This is a thug story, do you like it?
What! what! I knit sweaters yo!
What! What! I enjoy knitting sweaters!
What! what! don't test me
What! What! Don't test me.
Hey hold on, hold on I didn't even say anything
Hold on a minute, I didn't even say anything.
What? I said "yo"
I only said "yo".
Yo, you guys bleeped me and I didn't even say anything
You guys bleeped me, even though I didn't actually say anything bad.
I didn't even swear
I didn't use any swear words.
She didn't even swear
Taylor Swift didn't use any swear words either.
Hello? Ugh!
Hello? Ugh!
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: TAYLOR SWIFT, NASH OVERSTREET, RYAN FOLLESE, T-PAIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Stacey Sholter
taylor please put this on fearless re-recordings i will cry
Adam Ehab
It'll be on rep dw
hfaaamnixo
me too boo
Jun Ronnel Labrador
omG this should be on REP re-recorded album!!!
i am jack so deal with it
@brown ikr </3
i am jack so deal with it
@brown definitely reputation just watch out 👀👀👀👀👀
Flight through courage , not wings
And I'm discovering that this exists after so many years of being a Swiftie !!!!!!! What ?!! 😱🤯🤯
Nandini Shrivas
Same
hfaaamnixo
Fr
i was there
Rap industry shaking