TNT Tuesday

Those clues yesterday did actually lead to something for Taylor Swift. But it turns out, August 12 isn’t just about her. Not only did she confirm that she’s releasing her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, on Travis Kelce’s podcast, he covers the September issue of GQ, which just dropped today.

It's not exactly a collab, but these two are weaving their work together in a way that we’ve never seen from her before. This is one of the reasons, after all, that New Heights was able to secure a $100 million deal last year. And 12 months later (there’s that number again), Jason and Travis Kelce have landed their biggest get. 

As one of our Swiftie colleagues said this morning at the ETALK meeting, Taylor’s included her boyfriends in her music before… but never has she professionally elevated a man like this. Because let’s be honest about the fact that Taylor could have announced the album anywhere, with similar hype. She chose, however, to benefit him in the process. And for a woman who has always been about her business, her empire, her first, above all else, this is a choice. I’m not saying I disagree with the choice, but it’s a monumental choice in her legacy. 

If we’re talking about choices though, and specifically publicity choices, podcasting is one of the top options. Everyone either has a pod or is being featured on a pod. Taylor has not only never made an album announcement on a podcast, she has rarely appeared on podcasts, period. There also aren’t that many, if any, podcasts that she can appear on, given her status. Like, can you imagine Taylor Swift on Call Her Daddy? F-ck no. I don’t want to imagine Taylor on Call Her Daddy. Taylor Swift is bigger than that circuit, and it’s better for Celebrity for that hierarchy to be maintained. We need clear boundaries to delineate between those at Beyoncé and Taylor’s fame level and everyone else. 

But also, Beyoncé and Taylor approach their work differently. Beyoncé doesn’t explain her work, she prefers that we engage with what she’s given us and isn’t interested in talking any more than she has to about it. Taylor, on the other hand, can’t stop talking about her work, even though her rank compels her to restrain herself. 

The podcast format, then, is actually perfect for someone like Taylor who is naturally inclined to share (strategically of course). So her boyfriend’s podcast is probably the safest place for her to be able to indulge her thirst for her own music. And, in the process, indulge the public’s thirst for her relationship.

Travis is the biggest fanboy she’s ever dated, he’s not intimidated or diminished or threatened by her stardom, but he also isn’t necessarily exploitative about it either. This is the finest of balances and somehow, over the last two years, he’s been able to maintain it. At least publicly. 

Which brings us back to his GQ cover story. 

It’s a good read, and an insightful one, particularly for people like me who came into Travis Kelce via Taylor Swift and not football. I once described Travis as “a goof, a giant of a man with the personality of a puppy” and it’s pretty much how he describes himself, telling GQ that: 

“I love being the happiest guy in the world all the f-cking time.”

That’s exactly it – he’s a Bernese Mountain Dog doing zoomies in the yard, a guy who just doesn’t overthink it, or maybe a better way to put it is that he doesn’t talk himself out of his own good mood. Which is probably the throughline that connects so many of Taylor’s ex-lovers. It doesn’t mean he can’t be thoughtful, though. And I appreciate that Travis, in this GQ interview, thoughtfully and candidly admits to caring what people think of him, and wanting them to think the best of him. This is where he and Taylor intersect. Because for all their differences (Taylor Swift is as cunning as they come), neither one is an IDGAF person. Both of them give many f-cks, and so much of their f-ck-giving is related to winning, by standard benchmarks. Scoreboards and trophies for him. Streaming, sales, and trophies for her. 

Winning is part of the attraction. Taylor watched Travis win the biggest prize of his profession in the first season of their relationship and lose it in the second. She’s been with him as he has spent the current off-season training to reclaim the championship. My favourite part of this GQ profile is how scientific he is with his trainer about improving in service of his ambition. They’re calibrating exactly how many reps he has to do over a certain period of time so that he can run and stop and run again within a matter of seconds to accelerate to the ball while dodging his opponents on the field. With graphs and calculations. This is some sexy nerd sh-t, this is Show Your Work; I love it and Taylor who shows her work all the time must love it the most. And she must definitely love the part where he relates his hustle back to hers, establishing her once again as the main character, the popstar who can inspire a future Hall of Fame athlete trying to find an extra gear in the twilight of his career: 

“I hadn’t experienced somebody in the same shoes as me, having a partner who understands the scrutiny, understands the ups and downs of being in front of millions. That was very relatable, seeing how exhausted she would get after shows. She may not think of herself as an athlete. She will never tell anyone that she is an athlete. But I’ve seen what she goes through. I’ve seen the amount of work that she puts on her body, and it’s mind-blowing.” 

So, in the orange era, in her Showgirl era, a high-key romance fits the script. A showgirl brings it and leaves it all on the stage, right? 

I do wish that the title was a little less… wordy: The Life of a Showgirl. But then again, that would be asking Taylor Swift to not be Taylor Swift. It’s clunky, though, in the signature way she has never been able to resist expressing herself. “Showgirl”, for me, would have worked better and yet I can see how it is so totally her. 

On my timeline, some of the album artwork (featuring Taylor in various conventional showgirl visuals) was leaked online along with the tracklist. If the leak was real, and it appears to be, “The Life of a Showgirl” is the last song on the album, featuring Sabrina Carpenter, who obviously fits the description. Interesting too, the link between Showgirl and Tortured Poets, because the last song on that album is “Clara Bow”, one of the original showgirls of Hollywood. So Taylor appears to be extending the metaphor and, perhaps, relating it to her own experience as one of this generation’s ultimate showgirls, with all its attendant triumphs and setbacks. 

A showgirl is always here to entertain, though. Taylor Swift, the showgirl, can’t help but entertain and she would not cede her stage. I’m reminded of that iconic line from Showgirls (now a cult favourite) which, interestingly, is marking its 30th anniversary on September. “There's always someone younger and hungrier coming down the stairs after you." But who will ever be hungrier than Taylor Swift?

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