As the lyrics suggest, “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Because she’s dead,” Taylor Swift gave a new meaning to her “reputation” to her name on the opening night of The Reputation Tour in Glendale, Arizo
During her acoustic set, Swift sat on her piano and talked about the past years about her becoming a “snake” on social media, an indirect talk about the KimYe feud, and the death of her reputation. But as she often claims, “In the death of her reputation, she felt truly alive.”
The Timeline of Taylor Swift’s Reputation
Before we get into the details of her first tour night for Reputation, let’s discuss a rundown on how things went for Swift in her 10-year-old career. Swift started in 2006, with her self-titled debut album under Big Machine Records. At that time, she opened up for country artists such as Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, George Paisley, and even Keith Urban.
In 2008, she released her top-grossing second album, “Fearless.” The album had a total of 500 thousand physical album sales. The album went on the next year and was in the category with Beyonce for Video Music Awards’ Video of the Year for Love Story. This is where the Swift and Kanye West feud starts. West, who’s drunk at that moment, went up on stage and snagged the microphone from Swift. West told the crowd that he will let Taylor Swift finish her speech, but Beyonce’s video for Single Ladies is better.
Swift vs. West: ‘Imma Let You Finish’
On the next year, West apologized on Twitter to Swift for his actions in the awards show. But in the same year, Swift released her third studio album “Speak Now.” The album is a response to critics saying that Swift’s album “Fearless” is only good because of the number of co-writers Swift worked with. In the album, Swift wrote a ballad called “Innocent.” It is an indirect message addressed to West for the mishap from the past year. According to an article from The Rolling Stones, the song “walked a fine line between forgiving and condescending.”
A few years passed and the two continued to work on improving their careers. But in 2015, at the hype of Swift’s fifth studio album “1989,” she came up on stage to surprise everyone and award West MTV’s Video Vanguard award – ending the 7-year-feud with West. When everyone thought the feud was over, West wrote a song called “Famous.” In the song were lyrics like, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex,” and “Why? I made that bitch famous.”
KimYe, Snakes, and Taylor Swift’s ‘Death’
Of course, Swift’s family, friends, and fans attacked West for his misogynistic remark on his song. But he replied and said that Swift knew what was about to come out, and approved it. But in another statement, Swift’s publicist claimed that Swift never approved the lyric and in fact, warned West of the possible effect on this to their fans. But West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, fired back and said that Swift is only pretending to not know anything about the issue. Then came Grammy’s 2016, when Swift won her second Album of the Year award. In her speech, she talked about people who undercut people’s success which is a clear slap against KimYe.
At that time, Swift’s love affair with Swedish DJ Calvin Harris was on the rocks. When they broke up, Swift went and dated “Thor” star Tom Hiddleston in the summer of 2016. People went back to the time when they called Swift a serial dater for dating many men from time to time. This is also the time people sent her snake emojis on her social media after the mishap vs. KimYe.
Right there, she vanished.
‘Reputation,’ and What It Means
In August of 2017, Swift wiped out her social media accounts. When her slate was clean, she started uploading cryptic videos of snakes. When she was ready, she released her first single from “Reputation” called “Look What You Made Me Do.” The video was a compilation of all the issues Swift encountered from the time she started in the business, up to the time where she is right now.
It included West, Kardashian, Katy Perry, and even Nils Sjoberg, a fake name she used to co-write Calvin Harris and Rihanna’s hit song “This Is What You Came For.” Although the release lacked campaigns on TV and other platforms possible, Swift still managed to swipe YouTube’s video counter. She earned the record for most views in a day.
Swift’s tactic this era includes a no-show policy to the media, which played a major role in the death of her reputation. She stopped being on late night shows, morning shows, even music shows and festivals. She even skipped the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show where she performed twice from 2013-2014. Despite a no-show policy, Swift’s sixth album “Reputation” still managed to be her fourth album to sell a million copies to sell in a week, making her the only artist to achieve the milestone.
The ‘Reputation’ Tour
On May 08, she opened her sold-out Reputation Tour in Glendale, Arizona. The fans filled up a stadium, all 60,000 of them. But in her acoustic set, she addressed an issue that bugged her in the past years. She opens by saying, “You might be wondering why there are so many snakes.” She proceeded and added, “Well a few years ago, someone called me on social media a snake.”
Many speculated that this is about the KimYe feud. She then continued to address that by using the snake as her branding, she used a weakness to her advantage. She said that what people say to you should not be a defeat.
Katy Perry Apologizes to Taylor Swift
Meanwhile, long-time love-hate rival Katy Perry apologized to Swift. On her Instagram account, Swift posted in her stories that Perry sent her Olive branches along with a letter calling her an “old friend.” Olive branches symbolize peace. Swift thanked Perry for her gesture.
In 2012, Perry and Swift fought over dancers that they both signed for their tours. Perry “stole” Swift’s dancers from her then “Red” Tour. But in an interview with OK! Magazine, one of the dancers from Swift’s tour said that they were not dancing in Swift’s show anyway. So they transferred to Perry during her “California Dreams” and “Prismatic” World Tour.
In 2014, Swift wrote a diss track aimed at Perry. “Bad Blood” is a song from Swift’s “1989” album, and the third single track. The lyrics all point out to Swift’s friendship with Perry, and their “Bad Blood.”
In her 2017 album “Witness,” Perry promoted her album with a 72-hour live stream. In the live stream, an interviewer brought up the issue between her and Swift. She said that she only wants the best for Swift. But in a single, Perry dissed Swift and even asked Nicki Minaj to be in the song. “Swish Swish” is a dig at Swift for its lyrics. It is also a fact that Minaj and Swift were in a beef for an award show. Again, it is with VMA. Minaj’s “Anaconda” was not nominated for Video of the Year which Swift’s “Bad Blood” was. Swift’s song went and won the award.
Other ‘Killers’ of Taylor Swift’s Reputation
Calvin Harris, whom Swift dated for more than a year, contributed to her “death.” He exposed that Swift wrote, “This Is What You Came For.” Swift never wanted for Harris to expose her for writing the song. Harris, upon breaking up with Swift, also wrote a song with Perry. “Feels” is an EDM song they sang with Pharell Williams.
Nicki Minaj accused Swift of using her privilege as a white woman to her advantage. She also said that Swift is using her skinny body to win the awards that she’s winning. This is all after her songs “Feeling Myself” and “Anaconda” is all snubbed in the 2015 Video Music Awards. Swift, quick to her feet, replied and said it’s unlikely for Minaj to pit women against each other. Minaj countered and said that it isn’t about her pitting women, but pointing out the struggles she’s been through to get where she is. After 48 hours, Swift apologized to Minaj for her tweets and claimed she “misspoke.”
Taylor Swift’s Silence
After she vanished, Swift continued and made music. Then when the time is right, she went on a new world tour. But her silence paid off. Today, West is under fire for claiming that the struggles that Black people experienced were all a choice. Even a TMZ correspondent called him out and said West’s sentiments offended him.
He is also hated for taking sides with Donald Trump. People are starting to realize that he is the real Trump supporter and not Swift. Before, the fans called Swift out for not being open about who she voted for in the US elections. People think it’s Trump and not Hillary Clinton. But the tables have turned and now they are realizing it’s West who voted and not Swift.
Meanwhile, Perry went on and did her Witness Tour. She is also a judge on the current season of American Idol. She also attended the MET Gala on May 07.
Everything worked out to Swift’s favour. When she died, everything around her continued to develop. Things might not have worked for her in the past, but now she’s reaping the fruits of her silence. Because in the death of her reputation, she felt truly alive.
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