By Bailey Woodard
Taylor Swift’s first single off her sixth album, Reputation, has already broken records. (Courtesy of Flickr)
After weeks of anticipation and cryptic social media messages, Taylor Swift has proven her complete domination, again, over the pop music charts.
After weeks of anticipation and cryptic social media messages, Taylor Swift has proven her complete domination, again, over the pop music charts. Swift’s clapback to her critics and social media haters, the single “Look What You Made Me Do,” dropped Aug. 24 with the music video dropped shortly thereafter on Aug. 27. This response came almost one year after Kim Kardashian-West released video footage of Swift giving permission for Kanye West to use her name in his song “Famous” despite her negative response to her inclusion in the lyrics, thus creating the #KimExposeTaylor party on Twitter.
This hashtag grew across all social media platforms, evoking fans to leave snakes on all of Swift’s accounts and bringing light to Swift’s feuds with other celebrities. However, on Swift’s new single off of her Reputation album, she not only addresses these social media outbursts, but mocks them in her own triumphs. Now once again, we are at the will of the Queen of Revenge, Taylor Swift.
Despite the success of her new single, Swift is still receiving backlash from fans and critics for her overtly obvious intentions of revenge in her new song. However, it is this aspect of calling out her haters that fuels Taylor’s success and brings fans back album after album.
It doesn’t come as a shock that Taylor would base her new album on revenge or getting even, as most of her work from her past albums follow that path to a T (no pun intended). And by looking at this formula Swift uses to create hit after hit, it comes as no surprise that her new single is not only rising on the charts, but breaking internet records as well.
The new single began to break record after record to its track list, and according to Billboard, it not only quickly rose to the top of the charts, but broke also streaming and sales numbers as well.
Fans, since the beginning of Swift’s career, have followed her as she sets her life to music, portraying all of her relationships, breakups, feuds and emotions in song. This long history of Swift’s candidness in her music hits its peak in “Look What You Made Me Do,” as the song recalls noteworthy pop culture scandals from her career. It is the noting of such events that makes her new work more popular than it has ever been before.
In the rising age of social media, fans more than ever want to access the inner monologue of their favorite celebrities, and Taylor’s “LWYMMD” lets them do exactly that. After keeping quiet on most of her social media backlash, Swift gives fans a reaction overload in her new single that more than meets Swifties’ expectations.
From the hidden references to her haters to the mocking of her “former self,” Swift uses her new work as a social media overload, indulging in exactly what fans want. In short, it is the shade-throwing equivalent of her 1989 album times 10.
Regardless of people’s opinions n her new music, the fac that they have an opinion at all is what keeps Swift so popular and relevant.
Despite what people’s personal opinion on her new work may be, the fact they have an opinion at all means they have seen her new work, and as the phrase goes, “any publicity is good publicity.” It is this balance of infamy and praise that keeps Swift relevant, and frankly what makes her work so successful. As long as Swift keeps receiving the same recognition for her work, even if the reaction is negative, she will continue to be the uber-successful pop sensation she is today. And if the rest of her album is as widely-received, she will continue to be what was best described by Charlie Sheen: #WINNING.
