Kanye West and Taylor Swift: a Hollywood feud reinforced through Spotify rankings

The vocal altercations between Kanye West and Taylor Swift began in 2009. This was the year West interrupted Swift's acceptance speech at the VMA's Best Female Video Awards for "You Belong with Me." From then on, West consistently targeted Swift, notably in his controversial song "Famous".

Taylor Swift's journey to success began in earnest in 2006, following the release of her debut album "Taylor Swift". Her 2009 VMA award marked a significant milestone for her, as she was the first country artist to ever receive such a distinction. This ceremony was one of the first instances where Swift received recognition for her work. However, her triumphant moment was marred by Kanye West, who famously interrupted her by saying, "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you. Ima let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!". He was referring to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" music video, which was also a nominee in the same category.

In an interview with reporters, Swift recollected: "I was on stage, thrilled to have just won the award, and then excited to see Kanye West coming on stage. But then the excitement soon evaporated." After West’s interruption, Swift could not complete her speech. The situation was recovered by Beyoncé, who invited Swift back onto the stage to "have her moment" during Beyonce's acceptance speech for the Best Video award.

West later apologized to Swift only to quickly retract his apology in a blog post. A multitude of individuals from the entertainment industry criticized his actions, including then-president Barack Obama. West personally apologized to Swift two days later, following her appearance on "The View".

Despite a seeming resolution and a burying of the hatchet between Taylor Swift and Kanye West, the situation changed again in 2016 following West's release of the song "Famous," wherein he raps, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that b*tch famous". Swift allegedly agreed to the original draft of the lyrics, which did not include the contentious phrase "I made that b*tch famous". However, West went a step further in the controversial video that involved a nude figurine of Swift. Kim Kardashian was among those who came to West's defense.

In retaliation to "Famous", Taylor Swift released the song "This is why we can't have nice things", which appears on her album, "Reputation". In 2023, Swift confessed that her feud with Kanye had negatively impacted her mental health.

Kanye West is claiming victory by boasting about how well his tracks are performing compared to Taylor Swift's on Spotify. West's claim is based on global streaming numbers, fluctuating minute by minute. On February 13, Taylor Swift found herself in second place on Spotify's chart, just below The Weeknd. West landed first place in the category of most streamed albums for his "Vultures 1". In third place, was Taylor Swift's "Lover". That being said, Swift also had albums in the fifth and sixth positions of the global list – "Midnights", and "1989 Taylor's Version" respectively.