On 8:29 p.m. Nov. 9, I eagerly waited with my eyes glued to the iTunes app on my laptop. In one minute, Taylor Swift would release “Reputation, ” her much anticipated sixth studio album.
“Reputation” takes listeners on a musical journey different from all of Swift’s previous musical triumphs: The singer embraces a darker side of her personality, writing about her damaged portrayal in the media and her newfound happiness with her boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn, while living out of the public eye.
“Reputation” features 15 tracks: half about heartbreak and feuds in her past, and the other half referencing her personal stories of finding true love.
Many add that with the release of this album, Swift is taking the largest leap from her country roots.
Although Swift claims that “the old Taylor is dead,” her music still portrays the same poppy and catchy sound that the singer developed in her previous albums. Overall, the style of music still has maintained its character, while Swift’s lyrics have gotten more sincere and expose more about her true feelings about the people in her life.
For example, in her 13th track, “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” Swift describes her icy relationship with rapper Kanye West. She sings, “Friends don't try to trick you // Get you on the phone and mind-twist you,” a reference to a time when West secretly recorded a phone conversation between the two in 2016. Throughout the song, Swift takes digs at West, and fans immediately recognize the relationship she is portraying.
While many of her tracks express her bitterness with her ex-boyfriends or problematic relationships, Swift also features tracks about her euphoria from the past year. Ever since the West and Swift drama unfolded in 2016, Swift fell out of the view of the media and public; the public didn’t know where she was or what she was doing.
In “Reputation,” fans finally find out what Swift was up to, and also what Swift really thought of the hateful media coverage she received after the drama with West. Swift responds to the twisted perception of her reputation in the media in her fifth track, “Delicate.” Swift starts the song with “My reputation's never been worse, so // You must like me for me,” telling her listeners and her new boyfriend that she has disregarded the media’s words, but now it’s time for the rest of the world to accept her.
Additionally, fans learn that Swift is very happy with her life in “Call It What You Want,” as she describes the revitalizing experience of falling in love with Alwyn and a life out of the spotlight.
Swift also features singer Ed Sheeran and rapper Future on “End Game,” the second track of the album. Fans were especially ecstatic about the pairing with Sheeran.
In the U.S. alone, “Reputation” sold over 700,000 copies in its first day of release. Swift’s album is also predicted to debut at No. 1 on the December Billboard 200 Album Chart.
