Tayonce Is My Roman Empire

Call me delulu, but I believe in Tayonce — the notion that Beyonce and Taylor Swift will collaborate on a song. 

Ifell down a social media rabbit hole a few months ago, which reached a fever pitch right before the release of Beyonce’s eagerly anticipated Cowboy Carter. Looking through the promotional pictures for the album, I was intrigued by one in particular – a picture of Beyonce Knowles Carter, her golden honey-colored hair swept back, and the image of a coiled white snake emblazoned upon her cheek.

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The snake looked familiar. Was this an Easter Egg? As I tried to solve the puzzle, I found a possible solution – it resembled the snakes that appear on Taylor Swift’s Reputation album.

The snake image Taylor used has a back story. There was a feud between Kim Kardashian and Taylor. Kim urged her fans to send Taylor a message. The fans took the bait and flooded Taylor’s social media with snake emojis to “shame” her. Taylor turned the tables and added snake imagery to her album cover and used it to promote songs such as “Look What You Made Me Do”,  purportedly about Kim and Kanye West.

More evidence of the bond between the two megastars showed up in October 2023. An online battle was brewing between the Beyhive and the Swifties. The fandoms were squabbling over which artist was the bigger superstar. Apparently, you had to pick a side. If you liked both artists, you would suffer wrath from both sides.

So, I made the biggest blunder of all – I commented on a post that it would be a great idea if the two women collaborated on a song.  I was chased down with virtual pitchforks and torches for bringing up the subject. Tensions were boiling over, and here I come, thinking a collaboration between two of the most talented and hard-working women in the music industry would be a good thing.  Random strangers reading me for filth at the mere suggestion of such a thing made me curious.

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♬ Run the World (Girls) – Beyoncé

Beyonce unexpectedly showed up at the premiere of Taylor’s Eras Tour film in Los Angeles. A short time later, Taylor attended the premiere of Beyonce’s tour film in London.

Whenever Tayonce is brought up online, Beyoncé fans in particular bristle at the mere mention of a collaboration. I found this reaction curious. What if the Beyhive felt there was a hint of racism — that Beyoncé needed Taylor to bolster her career.

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That’s not what fuels my desire to see Tayonce happen. Neither star needs rescue.  However, that wasn’t always the case.

In 2009, Beyonce rescued Taylor.

During the 2009 MTV Video Awards, Kanye West hijacked Taylor’s acceptance speech for Best Female Artist. He grabbed the mike from her, uttering:  “Taylor, I’ma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best albums of all time!” He then hands the mic back to Taylor, who stands there, stunned, devastated. and speechless while the show cuts to commercial.

The producers scrambled to make things right. They knew Beyoncé would be winning an award later in the show and asked if she’d consider allowing Taylor a chance to say a few words. Beyoncé graciously agreed.

Back to the photo of Beyonce in Cowboy Carter. I, along with many other fans, was convinced this photo was an Easter egg–a sign she and Taylor were collaborating, and it would be on the album. I listened to each track hoping to confirm my hunch.  After my first listen, it seemed the snake Easter egg was a false alarm. A few days later I saw a few posts on X from fans who believe Taylor is singing backup on “Bodyguard”. I listened to the song again, and now I believe the “aaah” after the chorus does sound a lot like Taylor.  In fact, the entire song sounds like something from Taylor’s catalog. If this suspicion is correct, might the song be a thank you to the person who came to her rescue?

However, this theory was debunked by Beyonce’s camp, saying  the background vocal was done by Beyonce and “run through a filter.” I don’t know – it sure sounds like Taylor to me. It also makes sense that if it is indeed Taylor, it would be uncredited. As further “evidence” it was recently revealed Taylor wrote “This Is What You Came For”, a big hit for Rihanna. Previously uncredited, Taylor is now the sole songwriter on the song, and Taylor’s vocals can be heard on the chorus.

So Tayonce stans continue to search for signs. Two current theories:  (1) A Tayonce  collaboration will appear on Reputaton: Taylor’s Version which could be announced soon. (2) Tayonce will join forces to support the Kamala Harris campaign. Beyoncé has already allowed her song “Freedom” to be used by the Kamala Harris campaign. Taylor Swift recently posted a photo on IG with a silhouette of Kamala Harris next to her. Kamala gives her acceptance speech at the DNC on Thursday night, August 22, 2024. If Tayonce manifests to support Kamala, it will show Who Runs The World – and we’ll be Ready For It.

– Bonita Alford, Guest Contributor

Other guest posts by Bonita Alford 🔻:

• The Rebirth of Bishop Briggs (2023)
• Beyoncé, Jolene | Song Review 🎵 (2024)

Tayonce Is My Roman Empire [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Columbia, Parkwood Entertainment, LLC, Taylor Swift]