Taylor Swift breaks record for most views in one day with new album Midnights But success isn’t the only thing she strives for. It is also revenge that drives her.
Since October 21, 2022 at the latest, everyone has been talking about YOU: Taylor Swift, 32. The American singer-songwriter is at the peak of her career, which has lasted more than 16 years. Last weekend she released her tenth studio album “Midnights” – her fifth album in almost two years. Of course, according to Taylor’s meaningful taste, she published it at midnight, briefly paralyzing the music streaming service Spotify. With 185 million streams in 24 hours, she overtakes rapper Drake, 36, who previously wore that crown with 153 million views. All 13 (Taylor’s lucky number) songs on the album climbed to places 1 to 13 in the charts worldwide – unique.
Taylor Swift: Everything she does is meaningful
What the former country singer particularly likes are “Easter Eggs”, i.e. hidden clues to give. These can indicate anything: a new song, album, upcoming projects, collaborations, or general references to the past and future. Taylor Swift hides Easter eggs in her outfits, postings, but of course also in her lyrics. Her fans, the Swifties, couldn’t enjoy making more crazy theories about alleged and actual hints from Taylor to predict her next moves. The singer knows it and enjoys it, so her official performances and music videos are full of “Easter Eggs” just waiting to be decoded – Swift leaves nothing to chance. So it was no coincidence that her new album “Midnights” was released exactly on Kim Kardashian’s 41st birthday, October 21st. It’s all part of their carefully planned vendetta. Or, to use Taylor’s words, “Karma is a relaxing thought.”
That’s why Kim Kardashian is on her revenge list
A long time ago, more precisely at the VMAs (MTV Video Music Awards) in 2009, something happened that still accompanies Taylor Swift to this day. For her music video for “You Belong With Me”, the still relatively unknown blonde curly hair won one of the coveted awards – a huge success for the then 19-year-old. But when she came on stage to accept the trophy, rapper Kanye West, 45, ran onto the stage, interrupted her acceptance speech, grabbed her microphone and told the whole world that “Beyoncé had one of the best videos ever,” and implied with the fact that Taylor didn’t actually deserve the award.
While Kanye wasn’t particularly polite, the two cleared up the incident and there was no bad blood. But that all changed in 2016, when Kanye — then husband of Kim Kardashian — called Taylor and asked for permission to credit her in his song “Famous.” She agreed, but didn’t know what wording the rapper would use. Kim Kardashian, who sat next to her husband during the call, recorded the call without Taylor’s permission. Upon hearing the song and her name in the context of “I have a feeling that me and Taylor could still have sex. And why? I made that bitch famous,” Swift spoke out publicly, speaking out against Kanye. Kim Kardashian then released the call, but an abridged, edited version that concealed the fact that Taylor never approved of that song line — which the West Kardashians deliberately hid.
Because Taylor Swift could not convince the public of the actual circumstances and countless celebrities and fans turned against her because of Taylor’s falsely contradictory statements, a wave of hate arose on the internet, which started Kim Kardashian. The snake symbol was omnipresent and Taylor Swift disappeared from the scene. The singer later said in her documentary “Miss Americana”: “No one saw me for a year and I thought that was what they wanted”. With her album “Reputation” she celebrated her comeback in 2019 and played with the clichés and rumors that were spread about her. The symbol of the “reputation” era? The snake! She broke the silence with her single “Look what you made me do” – with 1.3 billion YouTube views, it is one of the most clicked videos on the platform. The whole album is a big revenge campaign against all “friends” who turned away from her during this phase. Of particular note: A special look from the singer in the music video – which is of course full of “Easter Eggs” – while lying in a bathtub filled with diamonds and wearing heavy eye make-up with red lips (timestamp 00:35). It wasn’t until 2020 that the full, unedited conversation she and Kanye had in 2016 was released, proving Taylor Swift didn’t agree with West’s line.
Revenge Dress: Taylor Swift’s Favorite Way to Communicate
But what does all this have to do with “Midnights”? It’s simple: Taylor Swift’s performance at the 2022 VMAs was a very clear message to Kim Kardashian.
- The timing: It all started at the 2009 VMA Awards. Of course, it’s the Video Music Awards again where Taylor hides “Easter Eggs” of revenge so no one will forget what Kanye West and Kim Kardashian did to her back then.
- Her dress pays homage to the Look What You Made Me Do music video, the entirety of which was dedicated to the scandal. The crystal-encrusted dress directly references the look she wears in the bath in the video, as does her heavy eye make-up and red lipstick.
- As she accepts the award for Music Video of the Year (as she did in 2009), she makes the announcement: “If you would be so generous and give us this award, I thought it would be a fun moment to tell you that my brand new album comes out on October 21.”
- October 21, the day the new album is due to be released, is Kim Kardashian’s birthday.
Taylor Swift’s dress at the 2022 VMAs pays homage to her music video for Look What You Made Me Do.
© Catherine Powell/Getty Images
But the VMAs weren’t the only opportunity Taylor used to exact revenge with a dress. As she writes in her new song “Vigilante Shit,” “Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge.” And she announced that plan loud and clear when she wore a black dress heavily reminiscent of Lady Diana, † 36,’s iconic “Revenge Dress” during an appearance on the talk show “Late Night with Seth Meyers” – also a hidden clue for the song “Vigilante Shit”.
Scooter Braun: That’s why Justin Bieber’s manager is at the top of Taylor’s revenge list
At 15, Taylor Swift signed her first contract with the music label Big Machine Records, under which she recorded her first five albums (Taylor Swift, Fearless, Red, 1989, Reputation). The rights to the recordings, i.e. to the version that is played on the radio, are called “master rights” and belong to the record company. The rights to the text and the melody, the so-called “publishing rights”, lie with the songwriter. In July 2019, music manager Scooter Braun, 41, bought the music label and thus the “master rights” to Taylor’s first five albums. Swift and Braun are enemies, which is why he refused to buy her “Masters”. Instead, the manager of Justin Bieber, 28, Demi Lovato, 30, and Ariana Grande, 29, sold Swift’s songs to other parties without her consent — an act the singer will likely never forgive him. Since then, she has been pursuing her revenge campaign against Scooter Braun discreetly but clearly:
- In her music video for “The Man” you can see a sign on which a scooter is crossed out (“Scooters forbidden”). Because the English translation of “Roller” is “Scooter”, this is a direct reference to Scooter Braun.
- Her speech after accepting the “Billboard Woman Of The Decade” award was clearly directed at Scooter Braun. Taylor addressed the importance of owning his music and how unjust his actions were.
- Taylor announced re-recording of her old albums to own her music. This is perceived as an act of self-empowerment and receives a lot of encouragement from their fans and other musicians. So far, the singer released her second album “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” in April 2021, with which she celebrated her breakthrough in 2008. On Scooter Braun’s birthday, June 18, she then announced the release of “Red (Taylor’s Version)”, which was released on November 13, 2021.
- At the 2022 VMAs after-party, Taylor Swift wore an outfit that clearly references two outfits worn by Scooter Braun’s wife, Yael Cohen Braun, 35, from whom he is now separated. She could also refer to his divorce in her new song “Vigiliante Shit”: “Now she gets the house, the children, the pride / Imagine me with your ex-wife / And she looks so pretty / Drives in yours Benz / Lately she’s been dressing to get revenge.” The two have three children together and their divorce dispute also became public: Yael gets the house and car and the children live with her, for whom Scooter pays maintenance.
Taylor Swift’s dress at the VMAs after-party was not only thematically related to her album Midnights, which was announced that night, but was also suspiciously similar to Yael Cohen Braun’s outfit at the 2019 Met Gala. The white plush too -Taylor deliberately copied her cape: Yael wore the white fur accessory at the Met Gala 2022.
© Gotham/Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images
Taylor Swift: “Karma is a God”
Of course, Swift’s revenge campaign continues in her new album “Midnights”. Who could she possibly mean by “My coins made your crown, trick me once, trick me twice. Don’t you know that money isn’t the only prize? It always comes back. Karma is a god”? The answer “Scooter Braun” is obvious. Also in her song “Karma” she sings about “Spider Boy”, which has the same initials as “Scooter Braun” (SB). So fans can expect many more “Easter Eggs” aimed at Kim Kardashian and Scooter Braun in the future.
But her revenge campaign is not the reason why she is currently celebrating the greatest successes of her career. Rather, it’s Taylor Swift’s ability to reclaim an advantage after a downturn, as was the case with “Reputation” and also with the re-recordings of her old albums. Aside from her songs, whose lyrics come across as particularly relatable and authentic, fans are also enthralled by her ability to reinvent herself and experiment with new moods for each of her “eras”.
Sources used: Spotify.com, Youtube.com, vanityfair.com