‘This makes no sense’: Billboard incurs the wrath of the Swifties after explaining why she didn’t top their greatest pop stars list

The Great War between the Beyhive and the Swifties continues, following news that Beyoncé has triumphed over Taylor Swift to be named Billboard’s greatest pop star of the 21st century. 

In case you missed it, Swift last week took the runner-up position in the music publication’s list, a move which had already incurred the wrath of her fan base as listeners anticipated Beyoncé’s eventual position in the number one spot. When itt was revealed that the “Single Ladies” singer had nabbed the number one position, it sent the Swifites into a tailspin, to the point where Billboard was forced to explain its choice.

“While Taylor Swift is the century’s biggest pop star by the numbers — from album sales to streams to touring dominance — our editorial staff has chosen Beyoncé as our No. 1 Greatest Pop Star of the Century, based on her full 25 years of influence, evolution and impact,” Billboard’s Andrew Unterberger wrote, perhaps preempting the firestorm that was headed his way. 

Unterberger went on to explain that although Swift “does have a clear statistical lead on Bey in many key categories,” the “Love Story” singer “simply hasn’t been around for long enough” to beat out Beyoncé. Billboard said that beyond metrics like sales, Beyoncé was chosen for her quarter century of industry experience, which has culminated in a state where “few artists this period can match her in any of the most critical basic categories of pop stardom.” 

In particular, Unterberger cited metrics like commercial success, performance abilities, critical acclaim and accolades, industry influence and iconic cultural moments as areas that went in Beyoncé’s favor and declared that “absolutely no one can equal her in all of them.” He nonetheless admitted that Swift was “the lone artist who really challenged Beyoncé for the top spot on these rankings,” but that wasn’t enough to satisfy Swifties who believed their idol had been robbed.

“Taylor had more impact in the last 5 years than Beyoncé in her whole career,” one Swift fan wrote, with another questioning “what influence and impact [Beyonce had in the last 15 years, exactly?”. Others claimed “the [Billboard] staff picked her, not reality,” or that publication was “scared of her” to the point of giving her the number one spot out of fear. “This makes no sense at all lmao,” yet another Swiftie wrote, while a fifth chimed in with “well this is incorrect.” However, for every Swiftie there is an equal and opposite Beyhive member, and fans of Beyoncé came out in droves to praise their idol. 

“They know who mother is,” one fan wrote in reference to Billboard’s choice, while others took it as an example of “quality over quantity.” A third Beyonce fan said she “clears [Swift’s] fraudulent a** any day of the week, period.” For all these extremities, there are those who sit somewhere in the middle in terms of their Swift and Beyonce fandom, with one X user eloquently writing “these women are both extremely and truly talented and we love them both.”  

In any case, Billboard’s decision to appease the Swift fandom might’ve been wise, since it was recently the center of the hashtag #BillboardIsOverParty after it decided to include a Kanye West reference in a career tribute to Swift. If you know any of the lore around Swift and West, you’ll see how that was a misinformed decision, to say the least.