Pop singer Taylor Swift had the internet in a frenzy when she was spotted at the first round of the AFC playoffs partaking in one of Black America’s most beloved moves of celebration — the swag surf.
The blond chart-topper was at Saturday night’s NFL playoff game to support her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs 26-7 wild card victory over the Miami Dolphins.
During the game’s final minutes, Swift, Kelce’s mother, Donna, and Patrick Mahomes’ wife, Brittany, could be seen swaying from side to side in a vanilla version of the song’s signature dance move as the camera cut to their private suite at bitterly cold — -7 degrees — Arrowhead Stadium for a few seconds. The entire section vibed out, but Swift got into it slightly more than everyone else.
Taylor, the first and only act to monopolize the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 and place as the Billboard year-end No. 1 artist in three different decades (2009, 2015, and 2023), mouthed the words, grabbed her head and gave her meanest hip-hop look, seemingly in accompaniment to the hit song, although it was not audible on the only-on-Peacock broadcast of the game.
Many people on social media took note, calling it “the gentrification of the ‘Swag Surf.’”
One social media user on X gave his analysis of how swiftly the gentrification of the dance will spread.
“The Swag Surf is Taylor’s now,” he declared. “By Monday, it’ll be on Good Morning America, by Thursday Gayle [King] will be sitting with her discussing the way she innovated crowd celebrations and by next Sunday she’ll be leading it with 60,000 fans before the game. It’s over.”
The Swag Surf is Taylor’s now. By Monday, it’ll be on Good Morning America, by Thursday Gayle will be sitting with her discussing the way she innovated crowd celebrations and by next Sunday she’ll be leading it with 60,000 fans before the game. It’s over.
— Kazeem Famuyide 🇳🇬 🍎 (@Kazeem) January 14, 2024
Another X user proclaimed, “The least swag a surf has ever surfed.”
A Dolphins fan also chimed in, writing, “Seeing Taylor Swift swag surf after beating my team was not how I wanted to start my MLK weekend.”
“Swag Surfin'” by Fast Life Yungstaz (F.L.Y.) was released in 2009 from their debut album “Jamboree.” The track achieved significant success, reaching No. 62 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and becoming a staple at HBCU sporting and homecoming events. So popular is the phenomenon that it has been incorporated into shows by tons of other artists, including Beyoncé and Lil Wayne.
The Swag Surf made headlines at the turn of the new year when an Atlanta pastor used the song after preaching his watch night service.
Video from Bishop William Murphy III’s The Dream Center Church of Atlanta went viral, showing the worshippers swag surfing back and forth.
Though the crowd was totally committed to surfing with all the swag they could muster, people thought it was inappropriate for the church setting.
In response to his critics, the Gen X pastor said that he tried to be “creative” in how he engages the culture, adding, “It’s not your grandmother’s church.”
