Hip-hop has always been home to the hidden slight—from Biggie and Tupac, to Jay Z and Nas, rappers have spent much of their careers mastering the art of shade. And while Drake might be the current king of subliminals, pop star Taylor Swift is surely the unsuspecting queen.
Swift’s disses are indirect but biting—she knows exactly what to say, when to say it, and how to remain coy under questioning. Her carefully composed slights prove that the diss track is not exclusive to hip-hop.
We’ve sorted through Swift’s discography/blacklist to pick out her best subliminals.
Suspected Target: Jordan Alford
There’s nothing like the sting of your first bad breakup—the emotions are new and unfamiliar, and the pain is raw and unbridled. In 2014, years after the release of “Picture To Burn,” it was revealed that the song was written about Swift’s high school sweetheart, Jordan Alford. According to Jordan’s wife, Chelsea, Jordan cheated on Swift with her. “‘Picture To Burn’ is about him,’ Chelsea said. “Because he’s always had big old trucks and stuff.”
Suspected Target: Joe Jonas
Inspired by a recent breakup with the middle Jonas brother, Swift recorded “Forever & Always” at the last minute for inclusion on her 2008 LP, Fearless. On the album’s track-by-track breakdown, Swift wrote about the song, saying, “I was in a relationship with someone, and I was just watching him slowly slip away. I didn’t know why, because I wasn’t doing anything different. I didn’t do anything wrong. He was just fading. It’s about the confusion and frustration of wondering why.”
Suspected Target: Kanye West
Swift has openly admitted that she wrote “Innocent” about Kanye West and that fateful night at the 2009 VMAs. “I think a lot of people expected me to write a song about [West],” Swift said. “But, for me, it was important to write a song to him.”
Suspected Target: Camilla Belle
After the middle Jonas broke up with Swift in a 27-second phone call, Joe went on to pursue actress Camilla Belle. “Better Than Revenge” appears to be Camilla’s very own diss track. In a 2014 interview, Swift had some regrets about writing the song: “I was 18 when I wrote that,” she said. “That’s the age you are when you think someone can actually take your boyfriend. Then you grow up and realize no one can take someone from you if they don’t want to leave.”
Suspected Target: Bob Lefsetz
After Swift’s semi-disastrous performance alongside Stevie Nicks at the 2010 Grammys, music blogger Bob Lefsetz wrote an article titled, “I Told You Taylor Swift Can’t Sing.” Swift retaliated with “Mean,” a straightforward song about a person who’s cruel for the sake of being cruel. “There’s constructive criticism, there’s professional criticism, and then there’s just being mean,” Swift said. “And there’s a line that you cross when you start to attack everything about a person.”
Suspected Target: John Mayer
Well, this one isn’t so subliminal. Back in 2009, Taylor Swift, 19 at the time, dated 31-year-old John Mayer. While it’s unclear how exactly the relationship ended, Mayer was quick to defend himself. In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone Mayer spoke about the song, saying, “I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do.”
Suspected Target: Jake Gyllenhaal
There are many signs that point to actor Jake Gyllenhaal as the subject of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” For starters, the actor in the music video bears a striking resemblance to Gyllenhaal. At one point in the clip, he wraps his scarf around Swift—possibly a reference to a scarf of Gyllenhaal’s that Swift was pictured wearing while the two were dating. Then there’s her reference to his indie record collection. In an interview with The New York Times Swift said, “This guy was just, so, so cool. It kind of gave me a bit of a complex for this album, because he was always going on and on about this new band that was so cool because they were so underground.” Swift went on to say that the ex in question was not a musician, but he “just had very eclectic, sophisticated taste.”
Suspected Target: Katy Perry
Between 2009 and 2011, superstar Katy Perry seemed to have a pretty friendly rapport with Swift—they even exchanged some complimentary tweets. Things took a turn when Perry started dating Swift’s ex, John Mayer. To make matters worse, Perry poached Swift’s backup dancers from her Red tour so that they could come on Perry’s Prism tour. During an interview with Rolling Stone, Swift confirmed that “Bad Blood” was about a failed friendship with a female artist: “She did something so horrible. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just straight-up enemies’. And it wasn’t even about a guy! It had to do with business.”
