Ms. Swift is something of an antithesis of celebrity? ? ?the anti-celebrity, if you will. This is not to say that Swift has not earned bona-fide celebrity status; her 2014 release, 1989 , was the year's best-selling album, and she released a string of hits from it. Her concerts sell out, her fashion choices fly off the racks; she's even popular with fellow celebrities , apparently as the one others seek out for home décor and gift-giving advice. She is truly a pop-culture phenomenon. What makes her the anti-celebrity, then? To begin with, consider how she got where she is: from her earliest beginnings, Swift has written the lyrics and melodies to most of her own music. Her songs, while hardly of a depth that endures (no one wonders whether her canon of work will take its place alongside the Beatles or Elvis? ? ?but who could be surprised at this? They have all of the complexity that one might expect from a 21st century early-20s musician), are nevertheless sincere, heartfelt, and honest. She sings, plays multiple instruments, she dances? ? ?she is anything but the canned, over-produced found faces that are typically foisted upon the world as the next pop sensation.
