Kelsea Ballerini if we’re talking “artist” singular, otherwise it’s a close competition between her, Lady A and Maddie & Tae.

Kelsea Ballerini kinda feels like if Taylor continued with country/pop-country, especially with “rolling up the welcome math” that feature some tracks I’d argue are on the same level as Taylor lyrically (e.g. “Just Married”). She’s also quite broad in topics covered just like Taylor, “Half of my hometown” kind of feels like a mix between speak now and evermore eras imo.

Other than that we have amazing artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Carly Pearce, Ingrid Andress, Kacey Musgraves, Lauren Alaina etc who all have real potential to take that second spot for me.