Taylor Swift may not be an NFL player but the pop music megastar has become the most-talked-about person connected to the Kansas City Chiefs’ current playoff run.
Broadcasters constantly showed the 12-time Grammy winner attending her boyfriend Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s games throughout the football season. Taylor Swift even got screen time for dancing to the “Swag Surfin'” single.
The Georgia-bred rap group F.L.Y. (Fast Life Yungstaz) released “Swag Surfin'” featuring Ea$ton in 2009. “Swag Surfin'” became a party anthem at many historically black colleges and universities. Additionally, other sports leagues and teams embraced the record over the years.
I'M SWAG. I'M SURFING.
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 14, 2024
It's a party in KC. pic.twitter.com/iams28jD54
TMZ published a video of F.L.Y. members talking about Taylor Swift now being so closely connected to their classic tune. Mook, McFly, Vee and Ea$ton co-signed Swift and her legions of fans breathing new life into the track.
“My initial reaction to Taylor Swift swag surfin’ was I thought it was dope,” Mook stated. “I automatically knew it was going to be a good look because of who she is, what she’s got going on.”
Mook also said, “Our streams across all platforms [are] up 700%. Our YouTube numbers went up. We gained 20,000 subscribers in like two weeks. So everything is up. It’s just been a dope thing to watch everything unfold so quickly.”
Additionally, Mook suggested that this particular viral moment with Taylor Swift likely created the largest jump in streaming numbers in the song’s lifespan. F.L.Y. even proposed Swift add a rap verse to the “Swag Surfin'” track.
“Swag Surfin'” lives on Fast Life Yungstaz’s 2009 album Jamboree. The single earned gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America in June 2019. Lil Wayne famously did a freestyle to the K.E. on the Track-produced beat for his No Ceilings mixtape.
While F.L.Y. welcomes Taylor Swift swag surfin’ on television, Florida rapper Plies complained that the NFL puts the camera on the singer/songwriter too much. In contrast, former three-time Super Bowl champion Shannon Sharpe argued the league is making the right move because Swift is the biggest needle-moving celebrity since Michael Jackson.