![\"Taylor](\"https:\/\/www.cheatsheet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Taylor-Swift-Jay-Z-1.webp\")
\nTaylor Swift and Jay-Z are now peers. Before Swift was famous, though, she had the opportunity to sing in front of Jay-Z.<\/p>\n
\nTaylor Swift and Jay-Z are now peers. Before Swift was famous, though, she had the opportunity to sing in front of Jay-Z.<\/p>\n
Before fame, Taylor Swift had the opportunity to sing in front of Jay-Z. Now, the two are among the biggest names in the music industry, but when they first crossed paths, Swift was still a child. She said he offered her a brief form of congratulations for singing, which she bragged about constantly afterward.<\/p>\n
Jay-Z congratulated a young Taylor Swift on a performance<\/strong><\/p>\n After Swift released her debut album to widespread acclaim, people began to wonder if she\u2019d collaborate with other artists. While she didn\u2019t have plans at that point, she hoped to work with Jay-Z someday. She\u2019d even already met him.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not planning anything like that right now, but I think the coolest thing in the world would be to do something with Jay-Z,\u201d she told CMT in 2007. \u201cWhen I was 11, I sang the national anthem at a 76ers game in Philly. Jay-Z was sitting courtside and gave me a high-five after I sang. I bragged about that for like a year straight.\u201d<\/p>\n She thought a collaboration between the two of them would be unexpected.<\/p>\n \u201cI love doing cover songs that nobody expects,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I went to live shows, I always loved stuff like that. I like it when something you wouldn\u2019t expect to happen onstage happens \u2014 musically or visually. I think Sugarland does a great job of incorporating different surprises into their shows.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she hardly got stage fright, even at that age<\/strong><\/p>\n As Swift began performing in front of large audiences as a child, she had to learn to work through stage fright early.<\/p>\n \u201cI think everyone has that problem when they first start singing,\u201d she said. \u201cIn my opinion, the only way to conquer stage fright is to get up on stage and play. Every time you play another show, it gets better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n She admitted it wasn\u2019t easy, but she worked through her nerves. Swift said she didn\u2019t follow the typical advice for avoiding stage fright, though.<\/p>\n \u201cI started singing in front of crowds when I was 10, and it was a little scary at first,\u201d she said. \u201cAnything you\u2019ve just started doing is going to be scary. Once, somebody told me to picture the audience in their underpants. Do\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0picture the audience in their underpants. That does not work. At all.\u201d<\/p>\n Jay-Z defended Kanye West after he interrupted Taylor Swift<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2009, Kanye West infamously interrupted Swift\u2019s acceptance speech at the VMAs in defense of Beyonc\u00e9. He drew widespread condemnation, getting booed by the crowd and even being called a \u201cjack***\u201d by Barack Obama. Jay-Z, however, came to West\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just a super-passionate person,\u201d he said, per the BBC. \u201cOf course it was rude because it was her moment but that\u2019s the way he really felt.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that he thought the coverage was overblown.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was rude but the way they\u2019re treating him\u2026 He\u2019s on the cover of every paper,\u201d Jay-Z said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t kill anybody. No one got harmed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before fame, Taylor Swift had the opportunity to sing in front of Jay-Z. Now, the two are among the biggest names in the music industry, but when they first<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":50182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taylor-swifts"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Taylor](\"https:\/\/www.cheatsheet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Taylor-Swift.webp?strip=all&quality=80\")
Taylor Swift | Jason Squires\/WireImage<\/p>\n![\"Taylor](\"https:\/\/www.cheatsheet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Jay-Z-Kanye-West.webp?strip=all&quality=80\")
Jay-Z and Kanye West | Frank Micelotta\/Getty Images<\/p>\n