Taylor Swift Tops the 2015
Maxim Hot 100
Dazzling, self-assured, and
ferociously talented, Taylor Swift is the world’s most relevant and intriguing
woman. Now what will she do for an encore?
Taylor
Swift is the quintessential American success story: Armed with little more than
a guitar, a boatload of ambition, and an uncanny knack for creating a
proliferation of perfect pop songs, Swift has spent a decade engineering her
own perfectly executed rise from that storied Pennsylvania Christmas-tree farm
to the covers of magazines like this one. (So many magazines...) The past 12
months mark Swift’s best year ever, she says: She became tourism ambassador for
her adopted hometown of New York, playfully satirized tabloid perceptions of
her, and pivoted from her country roots to debut her first-ever pop album,
earning the Billboard Woman
of the Year award for the second time and assuming her rightful role among a
small circle of international superstars. Swift breaks album sales records
like lesser pop stars break hearts, all while somehow retaining the same
wide-eyed charm that made her so likable in the first place. She is also
deeply unconcerned with whether or not you consider her attractive, which of
course only makes her more so. We spoke with Swift, as she wrapped up the last
day of her 1989 tour rehearsals, about life on the road, feminism, and what it
feels like to be named by Maxim the
most talented woman alive.
How does it feel being named No. 1?
It’s really
nice and such an incredible compliment. This year has been my favorite year of
my life so far. I got to make an album exactly the way I wanted to make it. I
got to put it out exactly the way that I dreamed of putting it out. Every one
of these kinds of whims and ideas came to fruition. The videos—I’m proud of
those, I’m proud of the tour, I’m proud of the way this has all happened. In
the midst of all that, this is really nice. It really feels like a wonderful
celebration of my favorite year.
You’re getting ready to go on tour for
"1989." What are you doing to prepare?
We’ve been in
rehearsals for months, trying to get the live instrumental versions of these
songs to as close to the album sounds as possible. And also you’re lengthening things,
creating mash- ups with things. It was fun to play around and get everything
sonically right before we got on the actual stage and started doing the
choreography. But before all that—probably close to a year ago—we started
setting the stage, so that was when the drawing started. Now all we have to do
is actually…do the tour.
Given all
that, how do you make time for all your friendships? It seems like everyone is
your best friend. Can I be your best friend?
[Laughs]
Thankfully, 10 years into my career now, I’ve learned how to work in a smarter
way. You have to have time to breathe and have a happy life, and friendships
are so important to me. Thankfully—thanks to the fans—now we get to play
stadiums, so we do two or three stadium shows a week. I’ll see my friends in
whichever city I’m closer to.
You’ve become more vocal about
feminism recently. What changed?
Honestly, I
didn’t have an accurate definition of feminism when I was younger. I didn’t
quite see all the ways that feminism is vital to growing up in the world we
live in. I think that when I used to say, “Oh, feminism’s not really on my
radar,” it was because when I was just seen as a kid, I wasn’t as threatening.
I didn’t see myself being held back until I was a woman. Or the double
standards in headlines, the double standards in the way stories are told, the
double standards in the way things are perceived. A man writing about his
feelings from a vulnerable place is brave; a woman writing about her feelings
from a vulnerable place is oversharing or whining. Misogyny is ingrained in
people from the time they are born. So to me, feminism is probably the most
important movement that you could embrace, because it’s just basically another
word for equality.
