Brother, I wasn't born in Kentucky but 90 percent of my immediate family is or was from there and Ive spent a good potion of my life in the state. That wasn't a joke knocking my favorite state in the country it's a point about how your narrow view of the world doesn't necessarily align with what the rest of the world sees. By the way, we all have narrow viewpoints of the world, that wasn't a knock either.
I'm 40. Old enough to remember peak MJ, Madonna and all the craziness that was the wild music scene of the 90s. Taylor Swift is easily as popular as those stars were then. That doesn't make them any less popular, it just means she is dominating her era.
Do you have a daughter or a wife who insists on torturing you with music? If you do, I'm surprised you don't hear her more.