Review

Jaw-dropping fact: reputation sold 700,000 copies on its first day in the U.S.

Statistic: 9 people out of 10 love Taylor Swift’s music. The tenth person is lying.

Instagram: @taylorswift  Twitter: @TaylorSwift13 Facebook: /TaylorSwift

The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now: she’s busy promoting her best album yet

After blanking out her social media and posting cryptic videos of a snake (she’s been called a snake many times throughout her career), Taylor Swift is back with reputation. She returns with more power than ever: she’s rejecting the tabloids, fighting for respect, and trying to let her guard down whilst learning to trust again.

50% hooks, 50% calling everyone out

Taylor Swift’s sonic palette is hands down impressive: from sparkly synth hooks to golden dance choruses, reputation embodies a wide-variety of solid pop tunes. More impressive are the lyrics/verbal acrobatics:

  • “Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere.”
  • “You call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest.”
  • “I bury hatchets, but I keep maps of where I put ’em.”

This girl can land vindictive raps. Overall, reputation innovates with playful lyrics and rhythm driven tracks.

Schoolyard drama, jealousy, lust, and loss

If you ever wondered what happened between Tay and Tom or why her relationship with Calvin Harris didn’t work out, wonder no more. reputation is an intimate and explicit depiction of Taylor’s relationships:

  • “Getaway Car” (Tom Hiddleston): “He was the best of times, the worst of crimes / The ties were black, the lies were white”
  • “I Did Something Bad” (Calvin Harris): “He says, ‘Don't throw away a good thing.’ But if he drops my name, then I owe him nothin', and if he spends my change, then he had it comin'.”
  • “I Did Something Bad” (Kanye West): “I never trust a narcissist / But they love me / So I play 'em like a violin /And I make it look so easy/ 'Cause for every lie I tell them / They tell me three”

As much as I’d love to stray away from all the gossip and drama, this album makes them unavoidable.

Taylor’s album works on two levels:

  1. Her fresh bright beats prove once again she’s one of the strongest pop female artists out there.
  2. Every single lyric clearly references an event from her personal life. All the grudges are here. And, to those concerned, it’s a huge slap in the face. Moral of the story: Stick to Taylor’s good side.

The good girl image is long gone. Instead of laughing in the face of her haters (read: “Shake It Off”), the new Taylor is vulnerable, authentic, and reveling in her past mistakes. 

Cohesive, structured, and relatable

With Taylor stepping up her vocal performance, her lyrics effectively sink in (and they’re deliciously shady.) If there’s anything reputation makes clear over its sprawling 15 tracks, it’s that Taylor’s fire is inextinguishable.

All I must ask you now is: Are you … ready for it?

Fave tracks so far:

  • “Gorgeous” (fun fact: the “baby intro voice” is James Reynolds – the daughter of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds)
  •  “I Did Something Bad”
  • “Dress”
  • “Call It What You Want” (this is such a cute song)
  • “Look What You Made Me Do” (no explanation required)

Let’s Swift, Swifties. Let’s indulge on Stingray Music:   

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