TAYLOR GONNA HATE, HATE,HATE KANYE
New single spills her bad blood with West
SHAKE it off ? Not this time, sweetie.
Taylor Swift is back with her first new solo material in three years, and it sounds like a clear dig at her old enemy/ friend/enemy Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian.
“Look What You Made Me Do” dropped on streaming services, as promised, late Thursday. From the very first lines, it’s clear that Swift is in no mood to make nice.
“I don’t like your little games/ Don’t like your tilted stage,” she says, in what is most likely a reference to the innovative tilted stage that West showcased on his Saint Pablo world tour.
But there’s more — much more. Without mentioning Kimye specifically, T-Swizzle talks about having a “list of names,” contemplates karma and even hints at retribution (“I got mine, but you’ll all get yours”).
Really, the vengeful subject matter is no surprise. It’s been in the cards since Kanye released “The Life of Pablo” in 2016. The album included the track “Famous,” which featured the line “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous.”
Swift slammed the lyrics shortly after the song’s release, but in July 2016, Kardashian released Snapchat videos of West in the studio during the recording of the track, reading the “sex” lyrics to Swift over the phone. Swift apparently gave her blessing, although the reference to her as a “bitch” was not discussed in the clips.
Even that incident gets a nod in the song, with a spoken-word sequence that features Swift coldly stating into a phone, “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now . . . ’ cause she’s dead.”
Musically, it’s a change of direction for Swift. “Look What You Made Me Do” pairs simmering anger with dark electrobeats, and its minimal chorus bizarrely mirrors the melody to Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.” (The members of Right Said Fred are credited on the track, alongside Swift’s old writing partner Jack Antonoff from Bleachers.)
It doesn’t scream hit single as so much of “1989” did, but you have to give her credit for changing up the blueprint. “Look What You Made Me Do” is the most intriguingly odd music Swift has put out to date, and it’s a fascinating trailer for her new album, “Reputation,” due out Nov. 10.
Although loyal Swifties have been fawning over the song, the wider reaction has been underwhelming. “3 years . . . and that?” said one Twitter user. Team Kanye also showed up in force; “I need new Kanye music just to blast over this trash,” wrote another user, complete with a GIF of West grinning.
Wherever the beef goes from here, we can safely assume one thing: Kanye and Taylor won’t be having sex anytime soon.