Why you should appreciate Taylor Swift and my fellow icons, By Rudolf Okonkwo

Again, I pondered if mandatory visits to hospitals and cemeteries every six months would make us better humans

I have always been afraid that when I die, my village graphic designer would paste an old picture of mine on his ubiquitous template of an obituary flyer and declare, “Exit of an Icon.”

During my visit last month, I found many flyers of those icons who had recently passed on trees and walls around my village. I have often wondered if these icons knew they were icons while they were alive. I doubt it.

Putting myself in their shoes, I have said that if I were going to be declared an icon at death, it would be good to know that I was an icon in life.

Thanks to Eleganzworld, I now know that I am an icon.

We all laughed when the former Nigerian First Lady Patience Jonathan pleaded on behalf of her fellow widows. Today, I’m talking about my fellow icons and pleading that you show us a little appreciation. It is the same sentiment, the same sacrament.

I have noticed that the things that trouble me are not the same stuff that bothers other people. I am that weird.

Sometimes, I keep quiet to avoid appearing crazy to everyone, but not today.

So, as Patience Jonathan had her fellow widows, I now have my fellow icons.

My icon-hood is happening the same month Time magazine named Taylor Swift the Person of the Year. I am in good company.

I must confess that I do not know any song by Taylor Swift. I probably heard one or two before but did not realise she sang them. And since Time magazine picked her as the Person of the Year, I have not bothered to check out her songs on YouTube.

I understand she is the first musician to achieve billionaire status “solely based on her songs and performances,” having sold over 137 million albums, guiding her career beyond music to numerous other ventures. Her 2023 – 2024 world tour is the highest–grossing of all time, having sold 4.35 million tickets and brought in over $1.04 billion. Besides being the most streamed artist of 2023, her influence on popular culture is gigantic. I also understand that she was the musician who Kanye West snatched the microphone from to protest that the MTV Video Music Awards given to her in 2009 should have gone to Beyoncé.

The last time I heard about her was that she was dating an American footballer, Travis Kelce of the Chiefs. I do not care about the Chiefs. They beat my team every season.

For good or for bad, Taylor Swift is Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023. And for good or bad, I am Eleganzworld’s Icon of the Week.

When you think of it, just like a broken clock is right once a day, everyone is an icon once in their lifetime. Maybe just within their immediate home, village, town, state, or country, but an icon still. I have never thought about it that way.