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SBU | Culture > Entertainment

When Taylor Swift Isn’t Enough… The Male Artists Take Over My Playlist

Ella McIntyre Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

I have always been a huge fan of Taylor Swift, ever since my oldest cousin and I stayed up jamming out to the album RED. I went into the deep dive, listening to all of her albums and becoming a real Swiftie. I listened to her music so much that I found it became the best background music for me. I would get ready to start a paper for a class and shuffle Taylor Swift’s entire discography at the same time. 

I’ve never been someone who can listen to just instrumental music when studying. I need something with lyrics while writing a paper or reading a book that’s on the more boring side. I need to write a paragraph or two and take a dance break of enjoying a song and its lyrics. Taylor Swift’s twelfth album, The Life Of A Showgirl, it was the first album I listened to that I automatically just straight up did not like songs on first listen through. 

It is an album that is getting warranted criticism from die-hard Swifties and die-hard Taylor Swift haters alike. The album was marketed to listeners as if it was going to be about her life as she was touring for arguably one of the biggest tours that had a huge economic impact on the cities she toured in, bringing forward many feminist ideas of girlhood and supporting a variety of different female artists. Taylor Swift equated this album to the pop album of 1989 and RED with lyrical genius of folklore and evermore. You’ll have to forgive me if I think “I pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain” in “Father Figure” is not equivalent to “Where’s that man who’d throw blankets over my barbed wire?/ I made you my temple, mural, my sky/ Now I’m begging for footnotes on the story of your life” from “Tolerate it”.

That being said, I have noticed that there is a male musical artist taking over my music. Mon RovĂ®a is an artist who has amazingly calm vocals mixed with peaceful musical elements. The recently released song, “Heavy Foot” has taken over my life. Many of the songs seem to promote love and peace despite hateful and devastating moments. With lyrics like, “Love me now/ Hold me down/ And the government’s staying on heavy foot/And they try to keep us all down/No they’re never gonna keep us all down” in “Heavy Foot”. 

Another male artist is ROLE MODEL. The amount of male yearning and devastation in Kansas Anymore is pure honesty and raw emotion that I have not heard recently from male artists. Songs like “Compromise” and “Something, Somehow, Someday” have lyrics that showcase a deep love for someone you are no longer with but still wish the best for.  I truly love this album and love ROLE MODEL or Tucker Pillsbury as a musical artist and as a fellow type one diabetic (which can be a whole other article). 

In a world of amazing female artists, it is also important to me to diversify and include some good male musical artists. Don’t get me wrong my playlist is littered and overwhelmingly female but I am grateful for the few male artists that are good enough for my playlists both studying and in general.

Ella McIntyre

SBU '27

Ella is a member of the St. Bonaventure Her Campus Chapter. She plans on writing pieces that cover music, literature, TV and Movies, and the happenings of her life here at SBU.

Ella is a junior Inclusive Adolescent Education and English double Major. She enjoyed doing New Visions Education during her senior year of high school, which gave her a small experience of observing middle and high school classrooms. She has enjoyed exploring all of the clubs and opportunities SBU has to offer, and continues to do so by joining Her Campus, volunteering at the SPCA, as a member of the Bonaventure Education Association (BEA, and SGA representative for SBU for Equality and SBU College Democrats.

Outside of classes and Her Campus, Ella can be found studying, reading, or outside soaking up the sun (whenever it’s an option to “photosynthesize”). Ella also loves chatting with friends as a part of her not-so-quick study breaks.