In 2016, it seemed the world had turned against Taylor Swift. If you were online, you likely witnessed the wave of negativity directed at the pop star, particularly following renewed drama with Kanye West. Despite the narrative pushed by media outlets and figures like Kim Kardashian, Swift wasn’t the villain she was portrayed to be. However, she brilliantly capitalized on this manufactured “reputation,” giving rise to one of her most iconic and transformative albums.
To understand the genesis of reputation, we need to revisit the tumultuous events of 2016. Kanye West released “Famous,” a song containing the provocative lyric: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.” Swift publicly denied approving this lyric. Adding fuel to the fire, Kim Kardashian subsequently released a Snapchat video purporting to show Swift consenting to the lyric during a phone call with West. This video was later revealed to be edited, painting a misleading picture of the conversation and further damaging Swift’s image. Compounding the controversy, the “Famous” music video featured a wax figure resembling Swift lying naked in bed alongside other celebrities.
For years, tabloids and late-night shows had relentlessly scrutinized Swift’s dating life, casting her as an overly emotional serial dater – a harmful stereotype rarely applied to male artists. But the West-Kardashian feud amplified this negative perception, transforming her into a new kind of antagonist: a liar and a fake. This drastic shift was jarring, as Swift had long been perceived as “America’s sweetheart,” embodying an innocent and wholesome image. While her songwriting often touched upon past relationships, her music remained largely apolitical and devoid of explicit content. The “Famous” controversy, however, triggered a swift and intense wave of public condemnation, marked by the viral hashtag #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty.
This period also saw the rise of the snake imagery associated with Swift. This association stemmed from Calvin Harris’s public criticism of Swift and her team for taking songwriting credit on his hit song “This Is What You Came For.” The hashtag #TaylorSwiftIsASnake gained traction, and her social media was inundated with snake emojis. The online shaming intensified after Kardashian’s tweet coinciding with National Snake Day, further solidifying the snake as a symbol of Swift in the public eye. Snakes are often associated with being calculating, cunning, and deceitful – exactly the qualities Swift was being accused of embodying.
However, Swift, in a masterful move of artistic reclamation, seized the snake symbol and transformed it into a representation of her resilience and reinvention. After a year of relative silence following the 2016 storm, and in anticipation of her sixth album, reputation, Swift strategically deleted all her Instagram posts. Days later, she returned with cryptic, glitchy videos of slithering snakes, building anticipation without providing explicit explanation. This calculated move set the stage for the release of reputation‘s lead single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” and its accompanying music video.
The “Look What You Made Me Do” music video served as a powerful visual manifesto for the reputation era. It opens in a graveyard, focusing on a tombstone inscribed with “Here Lies Taylor Swift’s Reputation.” Swift emerges as a zombie, symbolically burying her past persona. Throughout the video, she embraces snake imagery, appearing adorned with snake jewelry and even served tea by snakes. As various past “eras” of Taylor Swift (like the innocent “You Belong With Me” Taylor) crumble, a bold, red-lipped Swift declares into a phone, “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ‘cause she’s dead.” The video culminates with a gathering of past Taylors, engaging in self-deprecating and critical remarks, such as “There she goes, playing the victim again,” and “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.”
“Look What You Made Me Do” offered a glimpse into the core themes of reputation. Significantly, unlike her previous five albums, Swift opted to forgo press interviews for reputation‘s release. This decision reflected her year-long retreat from the public eye after the intense scrutiny of 2016. It’s crucial to understand the immense pressure and public bullying Swift endured, with her authenticity constantly questioned. Yet, reputation became her way of rising above the negativity and reclaiming her narrative on her own terms. In a Rolling Stone interview, Swift explained that reputation functioned as a metaphor. She approached the album by embodying the persona the public had projected onto her, similar to how she adopted the role of an emotionally intense ex-lover in “Blank Space.”
reputation is characterized by its profound self-awareness. However, the album transcends mere vengeance or bitterness. While tracks like “Look What You Made Me Do” and “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” might be perceived as “revenge” songs, they are arguably less overtly aggressive than earlier tracks like “Picture to Burn,” “Better Than Revenge,” and “Bad Blood.” Instead, reputation delves into themes of vulnerability and love. The album’s closing tracks, “Call It What You Want” and “New Year’s Day,” showcase Swift’s journey towards self-acceptance and finding solace in a new relationship amidst personal turmoil.
For many who grew up with Swift’s music, the reputation era, despite the surrounding social media storm, remained deeply resonant. While some may express fatigue with defenses of Taylor Swift, her ability to transform widespread hate, backlash, and misogyny into art is undeniably admirable. Reputation stands as a testament to her artistic resilience and a powerful answer to the question: Why Did Taylor Swift Make Her Reputation Album? It was born from adversity, fueled by a desire to reclaim her story, and ultimately blossomed into a complex and compelling body of work that redefined her career.
