You need to calm down, Damon Albarn! Pop star Taylor Swift is clapping back at the Blur front man after he claimed in a recent Los Angeles Times interview that she didn’t write her own music. “I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this,” Taylor, who is credited with writing or co-writing all her songs, began in her tweet addressing the musician. “I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really f–ked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW.”
She then quipped in another tweet in the thread, “PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering.”
@DamonAlbarn I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW. https://t.co/t6GyXBU2Jd
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) January 24, 2022
After the Times reported noted that Taylor was a talented songwriter, Damon said she didn’t write her music and also said that co-writing “doesn’t count” as actual authorship. “I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing” Damon went on in the interview. “I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great.”
He then went on, “A really interesting songwriter is Billie Eilish and her brother [FINNEAS]. I’m more attracted to that than to Taylor Swift. It’s just darker — less endlessly upbeat. Way more minor and odd. I think she’s exceptional.”
Then, hopping on board to defend his friend was musician Jack Antonoff, who frequently collaborates with Taylor and produces her music. “”[I]’ve never met damon albarn and he’s never been to my studio but apparently he knows more than the rest of us about all those songs taylor writes and brings in. herb,” the Bleachers lead singer wrote on Twitter.
i’ve never met damon albarn and he’s never been to my studio but apparently he knows more than the rest of us about all those songs taylor writes and brings in. herb.
— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) January 24, 2022
The plot thickened, however, less than one hour later when Damon provided a response to the clapback. “I totally agree with you. i had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait,” he tweeted at the singer. “I apologise [sic] unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand. – Damon”
The tweets come after Taylor just re-released Red, a new recording of her 2012 album. Red (Taylor’s Version) continues the artist’s campaign of re-recording her first six albums — Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation. The project began when Scooter Braun‘s media company, Ithaca Holdings acquired her original recordings (“masters”) when purchasing Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group for a reported $300 million. Taylor blasted the transaction, accusing Scooter of being a bully and claimed that he “has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”