Well, this was inevitable. After a mutual admiration fest from Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar over their songs "Shake It Off" and "Backstreet Freestyle" respectively, mash-up masterminds The Hood Internet combined the two tracks for the perfectly Internet-worthy "Backseat Shakeoff."
The track is getting pretty positive reviews on SoundCloud with commenters pointing to how culturally relevant the mash-up is and how it's not half as bad as they thought this combination would be.
Lamar and Swift's mutual admiration has been well documented this year. First the "Shake It Off" songstress danced awkwardly at the 2014 Grammy's to Lamar's "m.A.A.d city"/ "Radioactive" mash-up performance with Imagine Dragons, then she told Rolling Stone in her cover story that Lamar's "Backseat Freestyle" is her preferred method of relieving stress.
Then last week, Lamar sang along to a bit of "Shake It Off" during an interview, and Swift celebrated her record-breaking album sales by lip-syncing a line from "Backseat Freestyle."
Lamar later freestyle rapped over "Shake It Off" during his appearance on Dallas station K104. "K. Dot you know that he's hot I can do rhythm, hip-hop, I can do pop," he spit.
Back when Lamar first heard about Swift's admiration for his music, he told the Associated Press, "Some people always try to lock it down and categorize it for one particular listener," he said. "But it moves all, even people from other genres. ...I appreciate Taylor Swift for supporting not only my music but just the hip-hop culture. There's really no gap. It's music, and it feels good."
With all this hype, maybe the two will collaborate for real. Lamar is at the top of the rap game and with her recent sales numbers, Swift has proven herself at the top of the pop game. Combine the two and BAM! you theoretically have yourself a massive commercial hit (maybe).
Check out "Backseat Shakeoff" below, and let us know what you think in the comments section!
