Are the “forced” hits in the room with us?

I really don’t get the fandoms who keep on saying that Taylor has forced number 1 hits. Yeah, she does remixes and cd variants but it just goes to show how powerful Taylor is as a sales force. She has streams and sales to back her up. And besides, she also has a lot of hits that didn’t go to number one so seeing these people saying that she has “forced” hits are really nonsense. Just say you despise her then go!

1. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - her first number one hit, literally a smash hit. It was her first step to pop sounding lead singles, and a really catchy one.

2. Shake It Off - do I need to explain this further?

3. Blank Space - a satire pop perfection. Her most successful 2nd single. Again, no need to explain this further.

4. Bad Blood - Style and Wildest Drams have stood the test of time more than Bad Blood but you can’t deny the cultural impact of this song? A star-studded music video? An unexpected remix with one of the best rappers? This is a certified hit.

5. Look What You Made Me Do - charted for 3 weeks at the top, one of the best comebacks of all time, everyone knows where they are the moment this was released! After a year of silence and public backlash, we thought she was already cancelled but she reclaimed the narrative and through this darker sound, she immediately grabbed everyone’s attention.

6. cardigan - though it has a short run in the Hot 100, this still resonated with the public especially years after its release. It marked a shift in her sound after Lover.

7. willow - admittedly, this was a weak number one single but it still landed at the top spot during the Christmas season and already has more than a billion streams on Spotify, this extended and retained the folk-pop style audiences had embraced.

8. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) - the longest song (in duration) that went number one! An extended ballad of one of her critically acclaimed songs. The “Well, maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much.” line and the whole bridge of the Original Version and the 10 Minute Version is much more iconic than some of artists’ discography.

9. Anti-Hero - her return to pop, taps into self-doubt and insecurity, captured everyone with its mix of humor and darkness. A smash hit running 8 weeks at the top of the Hot 100 and having almost 2 billion streams.

10. Cruel Summer - her biggest hit in the streaming era, a resurgence of the Lover era, became one of her signature hits after being the opening song in the Eras Tour. Everyone screams at the top of their lungs when the bridge of this song comes on!

11. Is It Over Now? (From The Vault) - her weakest number one hit, but this just represents how massive 1989 was the SECOND time around. This literally replaced Cruel Summer during the Eras Tour. It also has a compelling storytelling about the confusion and push-pull of a past relationship (which is clearly about Harry Styles) that hooked the Swifties and the general public.

12. Fortnight - an unexpected collaboration with Post Malone, the lead single of The Tortured Poets Department, gaining a billion streams on Spotify. You can’t fool me saying that people did not tune in for this song. It has this timeless sound that ages like fine wine like cardigan.

13. The Fate of Ophelia - reaching 10 weeks at number one, her longest-running Hot 100 number one hit. It also set the record for the most streams in single day, which was previously held by Fortnight. The song cleverly referenced Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, giving it emotional depth while having an upbeat sound at the same time. Already gained one billion streams in less than five months after its release.

14. Opalite - her latest number one hit, a catchy track that focuses on themes of love and healing, a LITERALLY viral track on Tiktok and different social media sites, a track with 500 million+ streams, many people singing along with it and dancing to it, and people still complaining that it was a “forced” hit? Are these people living under a rock or something? Yeah, the cds and remixes are the main factors that pushed it to the top but this has never left the Top 10 of the Hot 100 since release.

If I would list them based on chart success, relevance, longevity, and over-all popularity, this would be my ranking:

1. Shake It Off

2. Blank Space

3. Cruel Summer

4. Anti-Hero

5. The Fate of Ophelia

6. Look What You Made Me Do

7. Bad Blood

8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

9. cardigan

10. All Too Well

11. Opalite

12. Fortnight

13. willow

14. Is It Over Now?

She also has songs that are well known by the general public that didn’t reach the top like Love Story, You Belong With Me, I Knew You Were Trouble, 22, Style, Wildest Dreams, Ready For It, Delicate, You Need To Calm Down, Lover, Mine, I Don’t Wanna Live Forever, Karma, and streaming hits like august, exile, Don’t Blame Me, and Enchanted.

She’s a certified hitmaker and an excellent album artist at the same time. And they can’t convince us otherwise.