As a musician, she’s made some of the biggest hits in pop music history. She’s a five-time Grammy winner, a two-time Oscar nominee, and a global pop icon. But she’s also an accomplished actress, a social activist, and an ambassador for many humanitarian causes.
Swift’s career really took off after the release of her first album, Fearless. The record shattered sales records, selling over one million copies in its first week. It went on to be certified double Platinum by the RIAA and is considered to be one of the best-selling albums of all time. In addition, Taylor’s popularity skyrocketed after she became a fixture on the music scene with tours such as her Red Tour and 1989 World Tour.
On October 9, 2018, she surprised fans with the release of her seventh studio album, Reputation. This album took a more experimental direction, featuring a hybrid of electropop, hip hop, and R&B influences. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the fastest album to reach a million copies sold in US history. It also topped the charts in over 40 countries. In addition, Reputation is the most streamed album of all time with over 3.3 billion streams on Spotify.
In addition to the album, Reputation also gave Taylor a chance to prove her acting chops. She starred in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats, earning a Golden Globe nod and a Grammy nomination for her performance as Bombalurina.
The first single from Reputation, Look What You Made Me Do, was a slick bop that proved once again that Swift’s songwriting is incredibly versatile. The track combines a modern, catchy pop melody with an R&B electric guitar groove that will have you singing along in no time. The inclusion of a slinky saxophone is an unexpected but welcome touch, and Swift’s delivery is pitch-perfect.
While this may not be one of Swift’s most emotionally touching songs, it is a defining moment in her musical career. On this track, she breaks up not with a guy but with the center-right assumptions that had her growing up believing America would always stay on the right path. It’s an epic power move that resonated with her audience at the time.
It’s rare that a song about imposter syndrome and clinical or unclinical depression ends up being a hilarious, feel-good pop bop, but that’s exactly what this track is. Max Martin and Shellback set the computer programming aside to create a catchy anthem with an infectious hook, making it easy to forget that this is a serious topic being addressed.
