Bowen Yang describes Taylor Swift's Tortured Poets Department album as "really phenomenal" and "intentionally superfluous"

Taylor Swift's album The Tortured Poets Department features 31 tracks and Bowen Yang has addressed his views on the length of the project. The latest album has received a positive response from the public and has broken a lot of records on streaming platforms such as Spotify.

In his latest interview with Us Weekly on April 23, 2024, the comedian said that the song The Alchemy is his favorite. He further stated:

"Tortured Poets is really phenomenal. It has some of her best songwriting. It is also, I think, intentionally superfluous. I think she needed to get to 31, and that's what the anthology is about, right?"

The Tortured Poets Department came out on April 19 and Swift later released an extended version with 15 extra songs. The album additionally gained recognition for featuring artists and bands such as Post Malone and Florence and the Machine.

---

Bowen Yang shares his theory on the length of Taylor Swift's new album

Bowen Yang is known as the host of the podcast, Las Culturistas, alongside Matt Rogers. While he does not share a close friendship with Taylor Swift, the singer made a cameo appearance in an episode of Saturday Night Live in October last year. Swift was also accompanied by her partner Travis Kelce at the time.

As mentioned, Yang has shared his response towards the length of Swift's latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. While he praised the album in his conversation with Us Weekly, he also addressed the criticism towards the project's length, saying that it is the "design of Taylor." He added:

"She has to invert this thing that we are familiar with in terms of the lore of Taylor Swift. She wants to subvert that literally by making it 31 songs and not 13 or anything to do with 13, and I think she succeeded in doing that."

Apart from calling The Alchemy, which refers to Travis Kelce, as his favorite track from the album, Bowen Yang also said:

"The internet doesn't seem to love it as much as I do, but I love 'When I touch down/Call the amateurs/Cut 'em from the team/Ditch the clowns, get the crown.' I'm like, I love that. It's so cute. It's about Travis. It's so sweet."

Meanwhile, Bowen also told Us Weekly that he would be speaking again about Swift's new album in his podcast on April 24.

---

Bowen Yang was surprised to see Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in Saturday Night Live in 2023

While Swift and Kelce made cameo appearances on SNL last year, it also featured Bowen Yang as one of the cast members. He spoke up on the cameos when he appeared on Las Culturistas, saying that no one was informed about Swift and Kelce's surprise arrival. He recalled the moment by saying:

"It was dress rehearsal, like great, that was fun. I walk outside to go to my makeup chair, I see two people talking to two tall people. Tallest people in the world."

Kelce later addressed his appearance on SNL as he appeared for an interview on the New Heights podcast. He said that he had no idea about the skit and went to the show with Swift to support Ice Spice. He added:

"I'm pretty sure it was just ironic they were doing a skit on Swiftmania. I thought it was hilarious when they asked me to be a part of it. I was like, 'Man I'd be honored.'"

Bowen Yang has three films in his upcoming lineup, including The Garfield Movie, where he would voice for Nolan. This will be followed by the musical fantasy Wicked and a remake of the comedy film, The Wedding Banquet.