As Miss Swift perfectly put herself, “there will be no further explanation, there will just be reputation.”
In 2017, Taylor broke her silence since 2016 by clearing her social media platform and uploading a glitchy video of a snake writhing and hissing. This video was news-shattering as Kim Kardashian, prior to Taylor’s disappearance, posted a cryptic tweet alluding to Taylor being a snake. (We will save the details of that next week)
The Reputation Era of Taylor Swift broke the internet as she finally stood up, and spoke out, on the negative media attention and feuds erupting over social media in the summer of 2016. However, as much as this was her soapbox to speak about the events of last summer, Taylor only addressed the drama through the album itself and stayed away from any media promotion of the work.
Following the snake video, Taylor released her lead single “Look What You Made Me Do,” which targeted every famous celebrity feud she has encountered, every stereotype she has been said to portray, and every ex she has been recorded with, all in within 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
After the single, it became clear to the media and listeners everywhere that the “Sweetheart” Swift we previously knew had been killed off and replaced with a leather, savage version who had no remorse for those who had crossed her.
In this era, the singer creates a dark, tougher “bad ass” aesthetic through her references to the death of 1989 (previous era) Taylor, symbolism of snakes, bank robberies, and how she’s “carrying the (Big Machine) music industry.”
Besides the shocking release of the single, the album itself (released in November 2017) continued to purvey Swift’s dislike of the media and her opinions on the controversy involving Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. Songs such as “…Ready for it?,” “I Did Something Bad,” and “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” all allude to this hardcore Taylor Swift who is through with caring how the world portrays her. She has decided with this era, instead, to fully embrace the names the media calls her (Hence the new obsession with becoming the queen of snakes).
This album marked the last album she would ever release with Big Machine Records, a label in which Scooter Braun was able to exploit Taylor and prevent her from owning her own records.
The Rep Era has become one of Taylor’s most iconic, exemplifying her ability to stand up to her biggest critics and come back at everyone who doubted and turned on her in her darkest times. Furthermore, she proved to the entirety of the world not only how she could take away her presence from the music scene with the snap of a finger but also, how spontaneously she can “rise up from the dead” like she never left. Ultimately exemplifying that, like children, the industry, celebrities, media are “why we can’t have nice things.”
Summer ‘16: It was the best of times, the worst of crimes…
…join us next week to find out what really happened to Taylor Swift to kickoff the Reputation Era.
