Taylor Swift’s admiration for hip-hop has been evident throughout her career. Whether it’s through collaborations or showing support for other rappers, the singer has proven that she’s a fan of the rhyme project. Some hip-hop rappers have even expressed the same sentiment towards the 14-time Grammy-winning artist, especially in their music.
Love for Taylor Swift comes from all sides. In August 2024, A$AP Rocky released a music video trailer for his new song “Tailor Swif”. Although Swifty’s name is misspelled, it shows her influence outside of genres such as pop, indie folk and country.
Back in March, Ice Spice even told Billboard about some music advice she received from T Swift.
“I’ll never forget when I was in the studio with Taylor,” Ace said. “She told me, ‘No matter what, just keep making music and everything will be fine.'”
Another sign of Taylor’s love for rap is her 31-track album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. While Taylor does most of the heavy lifting on her latest project, one of the only cameos on the LP is Post Malone. He opened the album with the song “Fortnight.” Although Posti has shifted toward more country-oriented music in recent months, his appearance on Taylor’s latest album is a reminder of just how beloved (or feared) the pop star is in hip-hop circles.
“Fear” simply means that her talent and massive fan base have led to incredible sales numbers, something that many rappers recognize. Drake admitted on her 2023 song “Red Button” that she was the only artist who would have told T-Swift to delay the project if he was planning to drop it on the same day.
“Taylor Swift’s the only woman I ever judge / Only one person I can drop this album later on / All of you, I treat you like you never made it,” Drizzy raps.
Taylor Swift expresses love for rapper
During Taylor’s acceptance speech for the Shorty Award for Best Vocal Performance in 2015, the Swifties leader rapped a few bars of Young Buck’s “Shorty Wanna Ride” to accept the award. Buck later expressed interest in recording with the singer. In 2017, Swift did the same thing with Drake and Future’s hit “Jumpman,” tapping out the song’s melody while running on a treadmill in an Apple Music ad.
Taylor Swift has collaborated with many rappers
The acclaimed singer’s love for hip-hop goes beyond mutual respect and the occasional shout-out. In the past year, Taylor Swift has been most eye-catching for her strong protection of Ice Spice. She collaborated with her on the song “Karma (Remix)” in 2023 and invited her to the Grammy Awards, the 2024 Super Bowl and other events. Ice Spice called Taylor her “sister” in an interview with Variety.
Taylor even dished out some bars of her own. As early as 2009, Taylor Swift transformed into T-Swizzle and made a splash with T-Pain in “Thug Story”. Ironically, the clip premiered during the CMT Awards, apparently because of Taylor’s love of rap.
“I’m a gangsta, you can find me baking cookies at night/You go out clubbing, okay, I just baked caramel goodness on the same song/T-Swift and T-Pain rap/It’s a gangster story/ Tell me can you get it like that,” she raps.
T-Pain later clarified in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that Taylor’s respect for the genre was genuine and that he didn’t even help her write any lyrics.
“She wrote all of this…I wasn’t helping at all,” T-Pain said in 2015. “She wrote my part, too. She did all of that. She was ready.”
In recent years, Taylor Swift has received more attention from famous rappers. In 2015, Kendrick Lamar performed a remix of “Bad Blood,” which appeared on the singer’s 1989 album. Kendrick Lamar spoke highly of the feeling of working with T-Swift.
“I don’t want to get too crazy into her head,” Kendrick told veteran radio host Howard Stern in 2017. “I just want to get my own inspiration and see where it goes.” Multiple takes, we really focused on the chemistry and we really felt what was going on when I was in the booth.
Last year, Taylor reiterated her love for Kendrick on Instagram when she released “Tyler Version 1989.”
“Watching @kendricklamar write and record his verses on the Bad Blood remix was one of the most inspiring experiences of my life,” Taylor wrote on Instagram at the time. “I still look back on this collaboration with great pride and gratitude for the way Kendrick elevated the song and the way he treated everyone around him.”
By 2024, many other rappers had also come out in support of Taylor. Flavor Flav has dubbed himself the “King of Swift” after joining one of Taylor’s Eras tours and collaborating with the singer at the 2024 Grammy Awards. With so many rappers vocally supporting Taylor, it begs the question: How many people are closing their doors to belt out her songs? Probably more than anyone imagined.
