We here at Stereogum haven’t really gotten into the whole tabloid-bait breakup situation from Taylor Swift and her ex, EDM star Calvin Harris, since it hasn’t really been a music story. (Or, in any case, it hasn’t become a music story yet; one imagines that’ll change when the next Swift album comes out.) But this piece of gossip is too good and weird and, yes, music-related to ignore: According to TMZ, Swift wrote Harris’ current hit, the Rihanna collab “This Is What You Came For,” and she did it in secret.
According to TMZ — which, I hasten to point out, is usually right about this sort of thing — Swift recorded the song as a piano demo. Harris liked it, so Swift and Harris recorded another version of the song in the studio. But they agreed to release a version with Rihanna instead of Swift so the relationship-talk stuff wouldn’t overshadow the song itself. Swift is credited under the sort-of-hilarious pseudonym Nils Sjoberg, and she’s got the publishing rights to the song.
TMZ also claims that Swift got pissed off at Harris when, during an interview, Ryan Seacrest asked Harris if he would ever collaborate with Swift, and he responded with this: “You know we haven’t even spoken about it. I can’t see it happening, though.” Swift got sufficiently annoyed about this that it hastened the couple’s breakup, though Swift has not exercised her option to prevent Harris from performing the song, something Harris has done with a song he made for his ex Rita Ora.
In any case, the whole story serves as further evidence of Swift’s hitmaking powers. Even when she’s off the album cycle, she’s quietly dominating top-40 radio playlists with a song that we didn’t even know came from her. Also, it’s sort of cool to think that Rihanna has now sung a Taylor Swift song.
UPDATE: Harris has now confirmed that Swift wrote it and added that she sang back-up on it:
And she sings on a little bit of it too 🙃
Amazing lyric writer and she smashed it as usual //t.co/vW3yGOIJit— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016
He would go on:
I wrote the music, produced the song, arranged it and cut the vocals though. And initially she wanted it kept secret, hence the pseudonym
— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016
Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though
— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016
I figure if you're happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do
— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016
I know you're off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I'm not that guy, sorry. I won't allow it
Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift may be over, but TSwift's influence on his life continues in an unexpected fashion.
By Gil Kaufman
Gil Kaufman
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07/13/2016
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Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris leave the Spotted Pig restaurant on May 28, 2015 in New York City. James Devaney/GC Images
UPDATE: Shortly after the co-writing news broke, Calvin Harris went off on a mini Twitter rant about the “hurtful” way this revelation was made.
Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift may be over, but TSwift’s influence on his life continues in an unexpected fashion. While the jet-setting couple called it quits after almost a year, a rep for Swift confirmed to Billboard that she was the co-writer of Harris’ global smash with Rihanna, “This Is What You Came For,” which she penned under the pseudonym “Nils Sjöberg.”
TMZ reported that Swift wrote the song at a piano and made a demo on her iPhone, which she then sent to Harris, who reportedly “loved it.” An unnamed source close to Swift reportedly told the gossip site that the pair then went into a studio and did a full demo with Swift singing and Harris creating the beats.
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According to TMZ, they felt it would be a smash but were afraid that having both their names on it would distract from the music, so Swift agreed to use the pseudonym, retaining the publishing rights to the track that has risen to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
On Wednesday (July 13), Harris confirmed the news, tweeting that although he wrote the music, produced the track and arranged it, Swift “initially” wanted to keep it a secret, “hence the pseudonym.” He also confirmed that Swift sings on “a little bit” of the finished product.
I wrote the music, produced the song, arranged it and cut the vocals though. And initially she wanted it kept secret, hence the pseudonym
— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016
And she sings on a little bit of it too —
Amazing lyric writer and she smashed it as usual //t.co/vW3yGOIJit— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) July 13, 2016
Nils’ First World Problems blogger Nils Sjöberg, who happens to share the name, posted a comic about the coincidence, writing, “@taylorswift uses my name (Nils Sjöberg) as an alias when she produce pop songs (it’s true, google it!), one of my very own first world problems.”
Swifties have been speculating about the song for weeks, with Seventeen magazine noting that at first fans were convinced Taylor provided the “oooh ooh ooh” backing vocals on it, then going into full “Taylor wrote it” mode.
I think I heard Taylor Swift at some ‘youuuu youuuuu’ of This Is What You Came For —
— nœh areta (@johnxnoeh) June 23, 2016
The other evidence Seventeen noted was that at one point Wikipedia listed Swift as the co-writer, then switched it to the pseudonym.
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Why didn't Taylor Swift sing This Is What You Came For?
According to TMZ, they felt it would be a smash but were afraid that having both their names on it would distract from the music, so Swift agreed to use the pseudonym, retaining the publishing rights to the track that has risen to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.What happened between Tom Hiddleston and Taylor?
However, Taylor wasn't happy with Tom's desire to make their relationship so public and they ended up breaking up in August 2016. A source told Us Weekly: "She was the one to put the brakes on the relationship. Tom wanted the relationship to be more public than she was comfortable with.Can you hear Taylor on This Is What You Came For?
Taylor Swift can be heard singing in Calvin Harris and Rihanna's song "This is What You Came For" and we have the audio of her vocals right here! After the 26-year-old singer revealed that she co-wrote the song with her ex, Calvin confirmed that she also sings "a little bit of it too."What songs did Taylor Swift wrote that she didn't sing?
Taylor Swift wrote "Better Man" and sent it to the band Little Big Town. ... .Miley Cyrus' "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" was written by Swift. ... ."Best Days of Your Life" was cowritten by Kellie Pickler and Swift. ... .Swift also helped to write the song "Babe" for Sugarland..