The last time a white girl was this maligned for acting as some sort of “spokesperson” for city life was just three months ago when Catey Shaw released an abominable track called “Brooklyn Girls.” In addition to whitewashing the entire Brooklyn experience, the song was also just very bad. Now, Taylor Swift has arrived to compound the apparently pervasive issue of basics from the South infiltrating New York and feeling the need to adopt it as “their own”–and then singing about it.
The oft hated on, wispy songstress recently released another single from her album, 1989, titled “Welcome to New York,” which essentially just repeats that phrase over and over again. The reaction that’s been elicited from Brooklynites and Manhattanites alike (because the other three boroughs tend to get drowned out by the powerful presence of the aforementioned) has been so beautifully and unitedly vitriolic that it immediately makes one think that there’s no better friend suited to Taylor Swift right now than Catey Shaw, who has essentially been in hiding ever since “Brooklyn Girls” came out.
Perhaps Shaw could counsel Swift on how to continue showing her face in public after making such a catastrophic faux pas that’s likely to remain in the annals of New York’s pop culture history for eternity. But then, Swift is no stranger to harsh judgment–maybe it’s, in fact, she who can help Shaw return to music again. Or better yet, the two can perform a duet together, something along the lines of a title like “Manhattan’s Where I Live, Brooklyn’s Where I Party.” Though it’s unlikely that Shaw has a publicist or manager to help make the proper introduction.
