Taylor Swift will never stop writing confessional songs, and she encourages more male artists to follow Sombr’s lead in being emotionally complex in their lyrics.
While breaking down the art of songwriting in a new interview with The New York Times published April 29, the pop megastar opened up about the criticism that female artists face for creating confessional songs, i.e., expressing their innermost thoughts and feelings through music.
Acknowledging that there’s a difference between ranting on an Instagram Live versus the “skill” and “expertise” to put those thoughts into a song, Swift name-dropped an emerging male artist who is embracing the confessional genre.
“I’m a massive Sombr fan — of his songwriting — and his lyrics are so intensely confessional,” she said.
The Grammy-winner then quoted a lyric from the Sombr song Undressed from his 2025 debut album, I Barely Know Her: “I don’t want the children of another man to have the eyes of the girl I can’t forget.”
“Are you kidding me?!” exclaimed Swift. “Having a male artist say stuff like that is really good for the cause of women to be able to say stuff.”
Reacting to the shout-out Sombr, 20, posted the specific clip to his Instagram Stories along with a simple red-heart emoji.
In her NYT interview, Swift also pointed out that rap beefs could be considered confessionals, but they don’t have the same “messy” connotation that female artists as a whole have to deal with.
“Let’s make this a music conversation instead of just ganging up on the female artist,” said Swift. “And I think the more male artists that are messy or emotionally complex, or confessional, or upset, the happier I am,” she concluded.
