The New Taylor Swift: Are You “… Ready for It?”

By Jordan Norkus

Arts & Entertainment Editor

“I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ‘cause she’s dead,” said American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift in one of her latest singles, “Look What You Made Me Do.”

On Friday, Aug. 18, Swift deleted everything from her official website and social media accounts. The Associated Press (AP) reported that it was three years to the date from when she dropped her single “Shake It Off” and announced her fifth studio album “1989,” and just a few days after her courtroom assault trial victory against a former radio DJ in Denver.

“I was actually shocked when she decided to delete all her social media and start all over to tell everyone she’s going ‘dark,’” said senior Emily Shea. “I never saw it coming, especially from her since she’s like the queen of social media.”

The next week, Swift released a series of teaser videos showing different parts of a black snake—which many fans believed was related to the feud Swift had last year with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West.

“I actually love the new Taylor,” said senior Marissa Gallante. “She’s getting her revenge on the people who did her wrong.”

However, other people weren’t as impressed.

“I think she knows she’s losing fame so she deleted her social media just to get attention,” said sophomore Andrew Peloquin.

Swift released the song “Look What You Made Me Do” on Thursday, Aug. 24—which is the first single from her upcoming studio album, “reputation.” The song received mixed reviews, with some believing that Swift has strayed too far from her original country pop roots.

“I love Taylor Swift. Artists switch up their style and grow all the time and she is doing just that,” said freshman Samantha O’Donnell. “All of the negative media attention from the past year is making it hard for her to grow as an artist and make music she wants to make, and no one deserves that.”

The AP also reported that Swift received her fifth Billboard Hot 100 No.1 for “Look What You Made Me Do” and it received the highest weekly streaming and sales sums for a track in 2017.

“Her first single from this new album is really catchy and it’s such a jam,” said Shea. “I loved it when I first heard it.”

The world premiere of the music video for “Look What You Made Me Do” aired on Sunday, Aug. 27 during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards and later became the most watched music video within 24 hours.

“I love how in her ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ video she makes fun of herself more than anyone else, which just proves how strong she is,” said O’Donnell.

After giving a sneak peek during the Florida State and Alabama college football game on Saturday, Sept. 2, Swift released her second single from “reputation,” titled “…Ready For It?”

With select United Parcel Service (UPS) delivery trucks in Atlanta, Nashville and New York advertising the album cover on the side of the trucks, “reputation” is set to release on Friday, Nov. 10 and is available to pre-order now on iTunes.

“I think her new album is going to be really good, especially because she’s building up so much hype about it with everything she’s doing to say she’s starting over,” said Shea. “I do miss her old music though and hope someday she’ll go back to writing music like that again.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

About the author

Comments

Leave a Reply