Before Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his wife, Taylor Swift, tied the knot, the pop star shut down rumors that she would stray from her career after getting married.
“It’s not why people get married — so that they can quit their job,” Swift said during an appearance on The Scott Mills Breakfast Show in October.
“Oh, I know they [fans] love to panic sometimes, but it’s like I love the person that I am with because he [Kelce] loves what I do and he loves how much I am fulfilled by making art and making music.”
The encouragement goes both ways. Swift supported Kelce’s return to play for a 14th season in the NFL. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid even credited Swift for helping him get into such great shape.
Before the Chiefs take on the Miami Dolphins in Week 3, Swift dropped new music for the first time since their star-studded wedding, a four-song EP, “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore.” Included in the mix, “Cleveland!” a beloved tribute to the 11-time Pro Bowler and his hometown. However, the song received quite a cold reception from critics.
Taylor Swift’s New Song About Travis Kelce Was Largely Panned By Critics
Swift sings on “Cleveland!” — “He already took me to Cleveland/Now I’m wearing white/so hate all you like/This is the love of my life.”
This isn’t the first song she’s written about Kelce: “So High School” from “The Tortured Poets Department” and “Wood” from “The Life of a Showgirl” nod to the veteran tight end. And while many fans love the new bop, numerous reviews were quite scathing.
The Telegraph’s Poppie Platt wrote a review entitled, “I’m a Swiftie and I even think these new songs are terrible.”
Pitchfork’s Hattie Lindert wrote of “Cleveland!” specifically, “Yet now, bigger than ever, Swift has never sounded more bogged down in criticism and less assured in her strengths… She wants us to know she wants for nothing. But it’s tough to see the bar this low.”
The Guardian’s review described the track as “appalling” and “sung with such oozing self-satisfaction it’s like being repeatedly poked and asked if it hurts.”
Slant Magazine’s Michael Savio called “Cleveland!” the expanded album’s “most egregious blunder.” Paste Magazine’s Grace Robbins-Sommerville panned the entire EP and described “Cleveland!” as “another in Showgirl’s shallow and synthetic puddle of love songs.”
USA Today’s Maggie Ruggieri, however, enjoyed the campy track. She wrote, “Swift bursts into a chorus worthy of a 1980s TV theme (this is not a bad thing), complete with ‘whoa oh ohs’….If you can’t be happy for Swift, regardless of your level of fandom, then it might be time to turn that mirror on yourself.”
Taylor Swift’s New Music Is Breaking Records Despite the Criticism
Despite the negative reviews, the 14-time Grammy winner is still crushing the charts with her new music. Spotify announced that she became the most-streamed female artist in a single day this year following the EP’s release.
Buzzing Pop posted, “Taylor Swift becomes the first artist to simultaneously occupy the entire Top 4 across major global and US streaming/sales platforms this year (Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music).”
While speaking at the GRAMMYs Museum Icon Sessions last month, Swift spoke about how she responds to critics. “Sometimes when people are mocking me it’s really fun to mock them back,” Swift told Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr.
“Sometimes I like to just use words that they have to look up in order to talk [expletive] about.” She also spoke about letting negative comments being part of the gig and using them to fuel her work. “Everything that comes with this is worth it as long as I still get to make music,” she said.
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