Let’s put it this way: “Beyoncé v. Taylor Swift” feud must rest 

Nyria Mustiful 

Allons Editor 

Though Taylor Swift is commonly thought of as a pop icon, her roots began in country music with her first self-titled album, “Taylor Swift.” The top three songs from this album, in my opinion, are “Picture to Burn,” “Tim McGraw” and “Teardrops on My Guitar.” I think all Swifties would agree with my choices, though they would also include “Our Song.” 

“Picture to Burn” is the essence of teenage angst and heartbreak. Without even realising it, this song was my intro to narcissistic behavior from a guy. “Tim McGraw” is my favorite song from the album. “Teardrops on My Guitar” always made me emotional, as it was about unrequited love. 

“Fearless,” Swift’s first venture into pop, was one heck of a crossover album, if I do say so myself. My favorite song from this album is “Fifteen.” 

For my 15th birthday, my aunt brought me to school and she played this song in the car. 

“Speak Now” was Swift’s first fully pop record and it showed that she was fully committed to the genre. “Enchanted” still makes me cry to this day, so it will forever be my favorite from the album. “Back to December” and “Sparks Fly” are my next two favorites. 

I feel like my favorite song from “Red” is a cop-out, only because it’s not really from the album. 

The song is called “Safe and Sound,” and it’s from the first “Hunger Games” film. Nonetheless, it’s still the best song from that era, in my opinion. 

“1989,” my favorite album from Swift, has endless bops and little skips. 

My favorites are “Clean,” “New Romantics” and “You Are In Love.” This album needs no explanation. 

“reputation” gave “good girl gone bad” energy and I loved every minute of it. “Call It What You Want”, “Getaway Car” and “End Game” are the songs that just did it for me. 

I’m not the biggest fan of “Lover,” but I can admit that it had some really good songs. 

I think I was just somewhat thrown off by how we went from a super badass album to floating in la-la land. 

My favorites from the album are “The Man,” “Cornelia Street” and “Cruel Summer.” 

I can’t think of “folklore” and “evermore” without thinking of them both, and I didn’t really fancy them much, so they’ll be talked about together here. 

I will say that “evermore” was my preferred album of the two. My favorites from “folklore” are “exile” and “invisible string,” and my favorites from “evermore” are “willow,” “cowboy like me” and “champagne problems.” 

“Midnights” was mid at best and I truly have no favorite songs from that album. 

I apologize in advance to all my fellow Swifties who love this album. 

Though “The Tortured Poets Department” had two separate releases, I’m going to just talk about it altogether. 

I know many were iffy about this album, but the penmanship alone made this one of my all-time favorites. 

My top songs were “The Albatross,” “So Long, London,” “So High School,” “I Hate It Here” and “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys.” 

Kayla Woods-Crane 

Allons Writer

Beyonce’s first solo album, “Dangerously in Love,” was proof that she would survive as a solo artist. This album had popular songs like “Baby Boy” and “Naughty Girl,” so choosing my top three was hard. 

In the end I went with “Crazy in Love,” “Me, Myself, and I” and, the severely underrated, “Signs.” 

Beyoncé and Jay Z are electric on songs together, so naturally I chose “Crazy In Love.” “Me, Myself, and I” is one of her best empowerment songs. 

I enjoyed “Signs” because it is catchy and provides a crash course in Zodiac signs at the same time. 

Her next album, “B’day” was another solid entry. Again, Beyoncé and Jay Z know how to make great music, so “Deja Vu” made my top three. 

My next favorite is “Listen,” a song written for the film adaptation of the Broadway play, “Dreamgirls.” 

Beyoncé’s acting is not as good as her music, but this song gave life to her performance. 

My best song on this album was “Irreplaceable.” Her storytelling was so engaging that I felt like I kicked out my cheating boyfriend too. 

I have a soft spot in my heart for Beyoncé’s third album, “I am… Sasha Fierce,” because my mom played it repeatedly. My favorites were “If I Were a Boy,” “Halo” and “Disappear.” I really enjoyed her ballads because of her ability to build up emotion. She is able to create intense highs and lows, which make for an emotional experience. 

In 2011, Beyoncé released her fourth album, creatively titled, “4.” 

My favorites were “Dance for you,” “Love on Top” and “Countdown.” The beats on “Dance for you” and “Countdown” were different but equally enjoyable. I picked “Love on Top” because of how difficult it is to sing. 

“Beyoncé” was inescapable when it came out, and for good reason because it’s really good. “Partition” was instantly my favorite since the French theme is so chic. 

My other favorites were “Drunk in Love,” because of the cultural impact, and “Pretty Hurts” because of its message. 

It was not as hard to choose favorites from my favorite album, “Lemonade.” “Daddy’s Lessons,” “Love Drought” and “All Night” immediately stood out to me. 

In 2024 the rest of the world got introduced to country Beyoncé, but I met her on “Daddy’s Lessons” and I loved what I heard. “Love Drought” and “All Night.” allowed me to embody Beyoncé’s emotions. 

“Renaissance” is a dance album and “Virgos Groove,” “Plastic off the Sofa” and “Heated” made me want to get up and dance. Those songs got tens across the board from me. 

Finally, I listened to Beyoncé’s most needlessly debated album, “Cowboy Carter.” My favorite songs from this album were “2 Hands 2 Heaven,” “2 Most Wanted” and “16 Carriages.” When I heard “2 Most Wanted,” Miley Cyrus and Beyoncé sang beautifully together. 

Listening to “2 Hands to Heaven” managed to transport me to the desert where I spontaneously started dancing. In “16 Carriages,” Beyoncé delivered a classic ballad about growing up that deeply resonated with me.