Were Beyoncé and Taylor Swift playing the long game when they showed up to one another’s respective concert film premieres last year? (I mean yes, they were also just two women supporting each other, but both are known for an Easter egg or two.) Seeing two of the most powerful women in the world joining forces on the red carpet was a delight; seeing them join forces on a track for Beyoncé’s upcoming album Renaissance: Act II would be almost too much talent to handle.
Bey announced during the Super Bowl—during which Swift was very much also in the news—that her next album would drop March 29; two tracks from the record, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” confirm that it’s country-inspired and infused. Lest we forget, before she was one of the biggest pop stars of our time, Swift was bona fide country.
One of Beyoncé's producers, Grammy-nominated Killah B—who cowrote “Texas Hold ‘Em”—hinted at a possible Bey/Tay collab, Entertainment Tonight reports. While he didn’t explicitly mention Swift by name, when asked about featured artists on the album—including Swift herself—he said, “Let’s just say she’s [Beyoncé's] on the approach of shocking the world. I’ll let your imagination decide what that means.”
After the world went crazy at the thought of music with these two dynamos, Killah B cleared it up on Instagram, responding to TMZ, who initially reported out his comments. “Now @tmz_tv I never mention Taylor yall did!” he wrote alongside three laughing emojis. “but it definitely will be an amazing album!” He signed off with three fire emojis. That said, Entertainment Tonight was quick to point out that “he did not outright deny Swift’s presence on any potential songs.”
So, yeah, the answer to the question of a Beyoncé collaboration with Swift is a hearty who knows? “For now, it’s still on the table, as his vague caption could hint at Beyoncé trying to shut down speculation and keep any surprises…well, surprises,” Entertainment Tonight reports.
We do know this for sure, though: Swift is a fan. “I’m so glad I’ll never know what my life would’ve been like without @beyonce’s influence,” Swift wrote on Instagram back in October, when her Eras Tour concert film premiered. (Swift’s still ongoing Eras Tour and Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, which wrapped last fall, are two of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time; Beyoncé’s own concert film, Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, debuted in December.) “The way she’s taught me and every artist out here to break rules and defy industry norms. Her generosity of spirit. Her resilience and versatility. She’s been a guiding light throughout my career and the fact that she showed up tonight was like an actual fairytale.”
In an interview with Time, Swift continued to heap on the praise, telling the outlet of Beyoncé “She’s the most precious gem of a person—warm and open and funny,” Swift said. “And she’s such a great disrupter of music industry norms. She taught every artist how to flip the table and challenge archaic business practices.”
Swift has a new record of her own coming out this spring; The Tortured Poet’s Department hits shelves April 19, three weeks after Renaissance: Act II.
Beyond the Swift collaboration theories, fans are convinced that Bey and Lady Gaga could reunite 15 years after the release of their single “Telephone.” In a teaser video for Renaissance: Act II, Beyoncé took to Instagram to share the video, which showed her driving a yellow taxi through dusty, rural Texas, set to a snippet of “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
“Some individuals with keen eyes immediately pointed out that the visual for her new song looked eerily similar to the ending of her ‘Telephone’ music video with Lady Gaga, which ends on a cliffhanger with a title card reading ‘To Be Continued,’” Entertainment Tonight reports.
Hey, they never said when it would be continued, and 15 years later seems like the right time to tie it all up with a bow. Right?
