“Reputation” | A New Side of Taylor Swift

On Nov. 10 Taylor Swift debuted her sixth studio album, “Reputation.” In four days, the album sold 1.05 million copies, making it the top selling album of 2017, knocking out Ed Sheeran’s “Divide.” The album shows a new side to Taylor, and fans and critics alike are digging it – as if the numbers don’t already speak for themselves.

Since Swift’s disappearance from social media, many have been wondering what magic she had been cooking up. The album doesn’t disappoint. With songs like “Call It What You Want,” that elude to a slow, carefree vibe to songs like “I Did Something Bad,” that allow you to reinstate power to yourself after having it taken from you. We all have a Kanye West in our lives, don’t we? Well fuck that guy – and there’s a song about it.

Since her beginnings in the industry, Swift has been known for her poetic and personal lyrics. This album doesn’t veer away from that path. Instead, this album, in many ways, may be one of her most personal yet. Although the album doesn’t revolve around romantic love, it does paint a very moving picture. And worry not, my fellow romantics, there’s plenty of love in the album – selflove, that is. And sometimes you need to walk away to find it.

We may have been expecting an album fueled by the power – both good and bad – of past relationships, and what we actually got was an album fueled by Swift’s relationship with herself. We see more of her imperfections through her own eyes in these lyrics. We see how blunt and overwhelming relationships can be, even when they’re not of the romantic kind. Friendships can hurt too. And Kanye West is still a dick.

But, at the end of the day Taylor Swift is still Taylor Swift, and I love her for that. There’re songs about romantic love, selflove, and love that is just that – love. It needs no prefix, it just is. The album as a whole is a combination of the Swift we know and the Swift that has grown from the death of her reputation, as she calls it. And she’s never felt so alive.

PS: Swift we be at Heinz Field on Aug. 7, 2018 for her Pittsburgh stop on her “Reputation” Tour. Tickets go on sale Dec. 13. Are you ready for it?