“fuck you forever”

November 10, 2017 - Taylor's album, Reputation, was released

On August 18, 2017, Taylor erased all content from her social media accounts and official website. In the following days, she shared a series of cryptic snake videos, alluding to her past conflicts with Kanye West, Katy Perry, Calvin Harris, and Kim Kardashian in the previous year. This led fans to suspect that a new album announcement was imminent. On August 23, Swift confirmed the speculation by unveiling the album's title, cover art, and release date on Instagram.

Reputation was released on November 10, 2017, following the debut of its lead single, "Look What You Made Me Do," on August 25, 2017. The song marked Taylor's highly anticipated return after the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty controversy and her public feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. The album was also accompanied by two exclusive special edition magazines, available only at Target, which included the CD along with Taylor's personal poetry, artwork, and behind-the-scenes content.

Prior to its release, Reputation surpassed 400,000 pre-orders—twice the amount of Taylor's previous album, 1989. On its release day, November 10, first-day sales hit 700,000 units. The album made history by becoming the fastest ever to reach the #1 spot on U.S. iTunes, achieving the milestone just six minutes after launch. Within four days, Reputation was certified platinum, with over 1,050,000 copies sold. It went on to sell 1.28 million copies in its first week in the U.S., making it the best-selling album of 2017.

As a result, Taylor became the only artist since 1991 to debut four consecutive albums with first-week platinum certifications, joining 1989 (1.29 million units), Red (1.21 million), and Speak Now (1.05 million). Reputation debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart for the week of December 2, 2017. Remarkably, its first-week sales surpassed the combined total of the other 199 albums on the chart that week.

Singles on Reputation (2017):

Look What You Made Me Do

...Ready For It?

End Game

New Year's Day

Delicate

October 22, 2012 - Taylor's album, Red, was released

Taylor released her third studio album, Speak Now, through Big Machine Records on October 25, 2010. She wrote the entire album herself and co-produced it with Nathan Chapman, who also worked on her first two albums. Building on the country pop sound of her earlier work, Speak Now features a stronger pop influence—similar to her 2008 album Fearless—while also incorporating elements of pop rock, arena rock, and new wave rock. The album set a Guinness World Record in 2010 as the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist and received a nomination for Best Country Album at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012.

Following Speak Now, Taylor continued collaborating with producer Nathan Chapman on her next album. By October 2011, she had written approximately 25 songs. While Big Machine Records executives were impressed and praised her for completing the material within a year, Taylor felt creatively stagnant, realizing she had fallen into a repetitive songwriting routine. Eager to push herself beyond her comfort zone of writing alone, she decided to work with new producers. Though she saw the entirely self-written Speak Now as a declaration of her songwriting abilities, she envisioned her fourth studio album as a reflection of her "thirst for learning." She continued developing the new project while on the Speak Now World Tour from 2011 to 2012.

Singles on Red (2012):

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Begin Again

22

I Knew Were Trouble

Everything Has Changed

Red

The Last Time

Hidden Messages:

"State Of Grace": I love you doesn't count after goodbye.

"Red": SAG.

"Treacherous": Won't stop till it's over.

"I Knew You Were Trouble.": When you saw me dancing.

"All Too Well": Maple Latte.

"22": Ashley Dianna Claire Selena.

"I Almost Do": Wrote this instead of calling.

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together": When I stopped caring what you thought.

"Stay Stay Stay": Daydreaming about real love.

"The Last Time": LA on your break.

"Holy Ground": When you came to the show in SD.

"Sad Beautiful Tragic": While you were on a train.

"The Lucky One": Wouldn't you like to know?

"Everything Has Changed": Hyannis Port.

"Starlight": For Ethel.

Tonight all these lives converge here The mosaics of laughter and cocktails of tears Where fraternal souls sing identical things And it’s beautiful  It’s rapturous. It is frightening. ____

I can’t tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right. A forever thank you goes out to my mentors and friends Max and Shellback for helping me paint this self portrait.

If you thought the big show was wild, perhaps you should come and take a look behind the curtain… 

The Life of a Showgirl is out now.

https://taylor.lnk.to/TSTheLifeofaShowgirl

Album Producers: Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift