Underground artist T Swizzle gains traction
Keep this between you and me, but I’m about to put you on to the most secret, underground, up-and-coming indie artist of the 2020s. Born and raised in Reading, PA, this artist has been writing and creating music for over fifteen years, but has struggled to become a household name, selling less than 115 million albums over the course of her career. Yesterday, I walked around campus playing her music through my boombox, and had several students stop me on the street, wanting to hear more and making comments like, “Wow, this is so alternative,” “Oh my gosh—who is this voice I’ve never heard before,” and “Now, THIS is the kind of music I wish they’d play in T.J. Maxx, but it’s just too underground and avant garde.”
T Swizzle (known by close friends as Taylor Swift) has never quite been able to get her career off the ground, but it’s possible that her time in the spotlight may be coming soon. Recently, Swizzle has worked with the well-known indie project Big Red Machine, alongside Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner, on her breakthrough song “Renegade.”
I asked a few of Swizzle’s fans—members of the measly 1.5 billion person group who call themselves “Swifties”—what they thought of this up and coming moment, and got some mixed reviews. T’s self-proclaimed “biggest fan,” Kansas McSwiftyson (yes, she legally changed her name!) said that while she wants the best for T’s career, she also wishes she could keep the singer-songwriter to herself, stating, “I love the exclusivity of being a T fan. No one knows who she is except us, and that makes her music feel even more personal. It makes me happy when people hear me playing her music and say ‘You have such different music taste; I love that you don’t listen to mainstream songs.’ It makes me feel like I’m better than other people, which is a feeling I can’t get enough of.”
Other fans, though, were more supportive. Marlene Davidson, another “Swiftie,” said that she “wants the best” for Swizzle. With tears in her eyes, she stated, “T has been through so much as a struggling artist. I just don’t want her to have to work so hard to put dinner on the table.” Fully breaking down into sobs, Marlene wailed, “I’m sure you don’t know this, but T has three cats, and you just know how expensive that Purina can get.” Marlene shared with me that she has set up a GoFundMe to help the undiscovered artist stay on her feet. If interested, reach out to The Normal, and we would be happy to donate in your name.
So, next time you’re in your car, unsure of what to listen to, open up Soundcloud and try out a song or two of hers. It may not be easy at first, but there is nothing like being a fan of an undiscovered artist, and you’ll find so much gratification in finally achieving the pretentious taste you always envied in people who were fans of Tame Impala “before it was cool.” All I ask is that next time you help someone else discover Swizzle, you remember me, you remember The Normal, and you remember people like Kansas and Marly, who have been here for her from the beginning. And maybe, just maybe, someday you’ll hear a song of hers on the radio.