Itâs been a sea of summers, folks. First we had the #hotgirlsummer. Of course we had the #whiteclawsummer. Even notorious not #hotgirls Vampire Weekend tried their hand at the #songofthesummer. But today I must be the bearer of bad news. #hotgirlsemester is hereby postponed. The only thing that matters now is #cruelsummer.
You may have heard that last week Taylor Swift released her seventh album. Lover is an eighteen-track, full bear-hug embrace of pop music. Track 2, âCruel Summerâ, is the best pure pop song sheâs written in a career that has already included 81 Billboard Top 100 hits, including 24 Top 10 hits, including 5 #1 hits⊠I could go on.
When your debut album includes âTim McGrawâ and âOur Song,â and your sophomore album has âWhite Horse,â its hard to believe thereâs any room to grow. But somehow there was. Whatâs more mind blowing than the longevity of Taylorâs historic run is that she continues to switch her style up, bending the space-time continuum of the pop music landscape around what now must be considered the centuryâs best song catalog.
Look at her competition. Modern country has fully embraced the EDM/pop synthesis that she perfected on Red. And from the other side, hip-hop is inching every closer to country. But Taylorâs already two steps ahead, effortlessly dominating the Charli XCX/Carley Rae Jepsen/Robyn space. Watch out Iron Maiden â Taylor just might release a thrash metal double album opus. (Most importantly, this song achieves a major breakthrough for fans of âAtlantic City,â âWith A Little Help From My Friends,â âParanoid Android,â and the entire Track 2 Partisan community. We may be few but we are growing.)
Finally, a word on the title. In 2012, Kanye Westâs record label G.O.O.D. Music released a compilation album entitled Cruel Summer. Is this song a dig at Kanye? I donât know. But itâs simply impossible that Taylor, whose intentionality as a pop star is surpassed only by Beyonceâs, accidentally swiped Yeâs title.
âAm I shooting from the hip?,â Taylor Swift asked GQ magazine in 2015.âWould any of this have happened if I was⊠You can be accidentally successful for three or four years. Accidents happen. But careers take hard work.â Youâre officially on notice, Mr. West. Jesus is King better be hot.







