“Karma” (Remix) by Taylor Swift ft. Ice Spice, Wednesday, June 7, 2023

I would argue that since reputation, Taylor Swift has made a career based on revenge. The singer-songwriter is extremely intentional and calculated when releasing new singles and albums. Most recently, Swift released yet another deluxe edition of Midnights, this time calling it The Til Dawn Edition, featuring a new song and two remixes. When she first released Midnights in October of last year, many listeners were wondering what was different about the album. It felt like reputation but the singer was in a steady relationship with English actor Joe Alwyn, and everything was going great, right? right?

KARMA IS A CAT PURRING ON MY LAP. When tabloids started reporting that Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn had split in early April this year, the pointed lyrics of Midnights started to make a little more sense. Was Swift reacting to the expectations--from others or even Alwyn-- that their relationship should end in marriage? Could the singer stay in a "1950s shit" "Lavender Haze" forever? The commentary about the end of the relationship is endless online right now. Swift reportedly moved on and began dating Matthew "Matty" Healy, the lead singer of English rock band The 1975. Healy and Swift had been friends for a while and worked on music together, and some have speculated that this collaboration was a wedge in the Swift-Alwyn relationship. I think of Taylor Swift as a master collaborator, even creating a universe around the artists she's worked with and kind of force field blocking other artists, usually those who support her enemies like Scooter Braun. Usually when the "Taylorverse" expands, there are some awesome crossovers between Swifties and other fandoms. We can see this with Swift inviting guests on stage at her shows from classic rockers like Mick Jagger to LGBTQ+ icons like Tegan and Sara and MUNA. The Taylorverse has expanded into dad rock with Aaron Desnner and The National, to indie rock with the Phoebe Bridgers, to sad girl pop with Lorde and recently Lana Del Rey, to pop punk with Paramore, Panic at the Disco and an announced collaboration with Fall Out Boy--and of course her maintained relationships in the country music community. 

SPIDERBOY, KING OF THIEVES. Taylor Swift's relationship with The 1975's Matty Healy divided fans. Healy's list of controversies, especially for racism came to light again just as Swift and Healy were seen at each others' shows. One particularly damning comment was Healy's comment about up-and-coming rapper Ice Spice. Just as the public was reminded of Healy's comments and starting to realize who the Gen-Z rapper was, Taylor Swift announced 1) a new edition of Midnights 2) a special guest performance during her New Jersey leg of the tour and 3) that guest would also be on the remix of the track "Karma." Of course the guest was Ice Spice, and of course we didn't hear about the conversations between Swift, Healy, and Ice Spice. Midnights continues to break sales and streaming records, "Karma" (remix) debuts at number 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and Matty and Taylor live happily ever--like the Russel Brand to former rival Katy Perry, like the romanticized problematic bad boys in Lana Del Rey songs. Nope. In the true fashion of a Taylor Swift album cycle, the musicians broke up, reportedly amicably. This whirlwind romance isn't anything new to Swift, and maybe it feels a little old. But what's new is the "living album" cycle. I just hope that Swift is happy. No shade intended. 

Read the lyrics on Genius.