In her first-ever shoot for GQ, pop music’s reigning superstar, Taylor Swift, poses beachside in California for photographer Michael Thompson. (Click through to see the photos, then read on for her cover story by writer Chuck Klosterman, where Swift talks about Kanye West, “Bad Blood,” going rogue against the wishes of her record label, and binge-watching Friends.)

“There is no Svengali directing her career,” GQ’s Chuck Klosterman writes in Swift’s cover story. “There is no stage mother pushing her toward the spotlight.”

“I know how to write a song,“ Swift says. “I’m not confident about a lot of other aspects of my life, but I know how to write a song.”

“I went through a few years where I never went online and never looked at blogs,” Swift tells Klosterman. “But now I check in and see what’s happening.”

Swift poses for photographer Michael Thompson beachside in Malibu.

“Am I shooting from the hip?” Swift asks. “Would any of this have happened if I was?”

Of the newfound respect that she and Kanye West have found for each other, Swift tells GQ, “That’s one of my favorite things that has happened in my career.”

Taylor’s first-ever GQ cover, the November issue, is on stands Tuesday, October 20. Click here to read Chuck Klosterman’s interview with the pop star.