Reputation (album)
A divisive electropop album born from media controversy.
Reputation is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on November 10, 2017, through Big Machine Records. Conceived during a hiatus in 2016–2017 amidst controversies that blemished her once-wholesome public image, the album employs an autobiographical songwriting approach referencing romantic relationships and celebrity disputes. Its songs form a linear narrative of a narrator seeking vengeance but ultimately finding solace in a blossoming love.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Taylor Swift
- Released
- 2017-11-10
- Studio
- Conway Recording (Los Angeles) / MXM (Los Angeles, Stockholm) / Rough Customer (Brooklyn) / Seismic Activities (Portland) / Tree Sound (Atlanta)
- Genre
- Electropop / synth-pop / R&B / trap-pop / EDM
- Length
- 55:45
- Label
- Big Machine
- Producer
- Taylor Swift / Max Martin / Shellback / Jack Antonoff / Ali Payami / Oscar Görres / Oscar Holter
- Prev Title
- 1989
- Prev Year
- 2014
- Next Title
- Lover
- Next Year
- 2019
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Swift conceived Reputation during a period of seclusion in 2016–2017, following a series of controversies that damaged her public image. The culmination was a feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian over West's song 'Famous', which included a phone recording that turned Swift's media image into that of a fake and calculating woman. Swift withdrew from social media and press interviews, believing 'people might need a break from [her]'. She wrote the album as a 'defense mechanism' against media scrutiny, following the songwriting approach of her 2014 single 'Blank Space' by writing from the perspective of the character others believed her to be.
Produced by Swift with two teams—Jack Antonoff and the duo of Max Martin and Shellback—Reputation is primarily an electropop and synth-pop record incorporating R&B, trap-pop, and EDM. The songs feature maximalist, electronic arrangements with abrupt dynamic shifts, programmed drum machines, pulsating synthesizers, and manipulated vocals. Recording sessions with Antonoff mostly took place at his Brooklyn home studio, where he kept his computer offline to prevent leaks. The album's first half, produced mainly by Martin and Shellback, is heavier in sound, with tracks like '...Ready for It?' and 'I Did Something Bad' featuring aggressive industrial and dubstep elements.
Reader's Guide
Reputation marked a pivotal moment in Swift's career, arriving after a period of intense negative publicity that had turned her from 'America's Sweetheart' into a subject of online derision. The album's release was preceded by Swift clearing out her website and social media accounts, generating widespread media attention. Commercially, Reputation was Swift's fourth consecutive album to sell one million first-week copies in the United States, spent four weeks atop the Billboard 200, and has been certified seven-times platinum by the RIAA. The lead single 'Look What You Made Me Do' peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and the Reputation Stadium Tour marked Swift's first all-stadium concert tour.
Upon release, the album was divisive: critics praised its intimate songwriting about love but criticized its production and references to fame and celebrity as harsh and derivative. Some publications deemed it disappointing in the context of Swift's celebrity and the political landscape. Retrospective reviews have reevaluated Reputation as a work of artistic experimentation and evolution, suggesting the initial reception was affected by negative press. The album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards and was listed on Slant Magazine's list of the best albums of the 2010s decade.
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