Taylor Swift recently got into a social media spat with Gorillaz singer and songwriter, Damon Albarn, after he claimed in an interview that she does not write her own songs.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Albarn shared his thoughts about current artists in the industry. He praised Billie Eilish for the songs she co-wrote with her brother, Finneas, but then slammed Swift for the songs she's cowritten. He said in his initial statement,
"I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. 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."
Swift, who does write most of her songs, saw the interview and responded via Twitter, saying,
"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 f-----d up to try and discredit my writing. WOW."
Other artists also defended Swift, with music producer and frequent collaborator of Swift, Jack Antonoff, tweeting,
“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.”
It only took an hour for Albarn to respond, with him tweeting back,
“I totally agree with you. I had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait. I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand.”
Albarn claims to have been taken out of context, yet the context doesn't make his statements much better. Add those with the comparison to Eilish, and it seems Albarn may just have a personal dislike of Swift or her music.
And like her or not, no one will ever debate who writes her songs again.