To understand many of the theories about a possible “REP TV” announcement or release from Taylor Swift, here is some background.
For many years of Swift’s career, she and her record label, Big Machine Records, had creative conflicts. The label did not even want Swift to switch to pop for “1989,” her fifth album released in 2014. Around that time, news got out that Swift only owed Big Machine Records one more album.
When the “1989” World Tour ended in December 2015, Swift announced that she would be taking a break from music, saying, “I think I should take some time off. I think people might need a break from me. I’m going to… I don’t know. Hang out with my friends. Write new music. Maybe not write new music. I don’t know.” This was her first real break in her career at the time. Swift expressed that, during her “1989” era, she felt overexposed and wanted to take time to regroup. Although, at this point, Swift had yet to disappear from the public eye, as for the 2016 Met Gala, she served as a chair of the event.
Swift continued with music even over her break, dueting on “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” with ZAYN and writing a song for Little Big Town called “Better Man.” Swift also performed live at the Austin Grand Prix race in October 2016. Around that time, many thought Swift would release her next album, sticking to releasing something new every other year, and her first album was 10 years old, so many thought that she would recognize that anniversary.
Before “Reputation” was released in 2017, Swift’s feud with Kanye West resurfaced. This feud started in 2009 at the MTV Video Music Awards, when West went on stage during Swift’s first award for Best Female Video for “You Belong with Me,” saying, “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” This situation followed them for years, although in 2015, they were seen being civil with each other at the Grammys, and then that summer, Swift presented West with his Video Vanguard Award and made light of the situation from 2009. At these two events, she was also friendly to Kim Kardashian, who was West’s wife at the time. To further show their friendship, Swift posted a photo on Instagram of the bouquet West sent her and jokingly supported his bit for 2020 presidency.
Although, this friendship came crashing down in 2016, when West released his single “Famous” with part of the first verse saying, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b**ch famous (Goddamn) / I made that b**ch famous.” To make things worse, West’s music video for the single showed several nude figures in bed with him. West claimed that he had acquired approval from Swift on the lyrics, that he did not diss Swift and that she came up with the idea for the song. At the 2016 Grammys, Swift made a jab at West, saying, “As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice, I want to say to all the young women out there, there will be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.”
After that, Kardashian leaked footage of Swift’s and West’s phone call about the single on her Snapchat story. In the video, Swift only gave the okay to say, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex,” saying that it was kind of a compliment after West explained why he wanted to say it. Kardashian then quoted Swift in her tweet saying, “declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message,” to which Kardashian then added, “The lie was never about the word b**ch, it was always whether there was a can or not and the tone of the conversation.” The question then arose if the conversation had been edited, but many people believed the video as proof that Swift was lying. Kardashian then tweeted, “Wait it’s legit National Snake Day?!?!? They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days! 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍.” After people put two and two together, Swift’s social media accounts were filled with snakes in the comments, and #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty trended No. 1. This hashtag trended previously with Swift’s ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris but was much tamer. The hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty also trended but did not gain as much attention. Swift then tweeted her explanation of her side of the story, claiming that West had never played her the song. The damage had been done to Swift’s reputation at this point, and she was deemed by many as a snake. Although, another hashtag trended from her fans, that being #TaylorSwiftIsLovedParty.
After all of that, Swift spent the majority of 2017 under the radar. Although, in August, she won a sexual assault case against David Mueller, a former DJ. Mueller filed a defamation case against Swift for allegedly wrongfully terminating him following an incident from a 2013 meet-and-greet. Swift then counter-sued Mueller for battery and assault for $1. The trial was from Aug. 7-14, 2017. Swift said that she only wanted to win the trial as an example to other women, and not for monetary gain.
In late August 2017, Swift cleared her social media and website. She started posting a snake image, with the first post being on Aug. 21, almost a year after Kardashian’s tweet. A few days later, Swift announced “Reputation” with a November release date. Swift said “Reputation” was inspired by “Game of Thrones,” saying, “My entire outlook on storytelling has been shaped by Thrones – the ability to foreshadow stories, to meticulously craft cryptic story lines. So, I found ways to get more cryptic with information and still be able to share messages with the fans. I aspire to be one one-millionth of the kind of hint dropper the makers of ‘Game of Thrones’ have been.” This, of course, is how Swifties officially knew about the easter eggs planted by Swift.
The album’s first single was “Look What You Made Me Do,” which had many references in the music video to the drama and which also was Swift’s way of saying that if the public wanted her to be a villain, then she will lean into it, but on her terms.
When the album released, it got much attention, selling 1.2 million copies in the first week. Throughout the album, you can see progression with darker songs starting the album and then moving to more variable songs. In songs such as, “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” Swift called out West by, saying, “It was so nice being friends again / There I was giving you a second chance / But you stabbed me in the back while shaking my hand / And therein lies the issue, friends don’t try to trick you / Get you on the phone and mind-twist you / And so I took an axe to a mended fence.” This song is very upbeat, even though it talks about how her character was almost destroyed, with Swift almost making fun of it.
Now to the importance of Taylor’s Version albums, if it does not make sense to many who are not Swifties. Swift wanted to buy the rights to her music when her contract with Big Machine Records expired, but Scott Borchetta sold her music to Scooter Braun without letting her have a say. This was early 2019, but the sale was not finalized until 2020. In 2021, Swift re-released her second album “Fearless” on April 9, with “(Taylor’s Version)” added and “From the Vault” songs, which are songs that never made the original album. This has now allowed Swift to regain the rights to her music. This has been so successful that record labels are now making it part of their contract that you cannot re-record your own music, even if your rights to it get sold.
With that, now you know most of the story behind “Reputation” and some of the Taylor’s Version albums!
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