Karma: The Long Lost Taylor Swift Album
The long-lost album âKarmaâ is potentially one of the biggest Taylor Swift conspiracy theories out there. But what is it? Where did it come from? Could it possibly be true?
It is believed by some that Taylor created an album called âKarmaâ, set to release in 2016 (all images above are fan-made or photo shoots). This album was set to be after 1989, but was scrapped to create reputation after the Kanye West and Kim Kardashian drama.
If youâre unaware of the drama, hereâs a quick summary. In 2009, Kanye interrupted Taylorâs acceptance speech at the VMAâs. But after that, she forgave him and they were friendly up until February of 2016. Thatâs when Kanye released a song called âFamousâ, where he says the lines âI feel like me and Taylor might still have sâŹx/Why?/I made that b*tch famous.â
Taylor spoke out about this lyric and said she did not consent to it. In July of 2016, Kanyeâs wife, Kim Kardashian, released videos on her Snapchat in which Taylor seemed to approve the lyric over the phone. Taylor then stopped making public appearances and deleted all social media for the rest of 2016. This sparked the creation of reputation.
In the âThe Manâ music video, a wall of graffiti is shown. Spray painted on it are the words reputation, Speak Now, 1989, Red, Fearless, and Karma. The first five are albums that are her Taylorâs Version re-recordings, but Karma seems out of place. There is also a picture of a scooter with a cross over it, referencing her leaving Scooter Braun and her old record label. There is also a sign that says âMISSING: IF FOUND, RETURN TO TAYLOR SWIFTâ, referencing her stolen albums that she didnât have the full rights to due to Scooter Braun. This all makes sense, except Karma, which is in the very middle.
Taylor started wearing a lot of orange during 2016-2017, which is believed to be the color that represents the Karma album, similarly to how pink represents Lover, gold represents Fearless, purple represents Speak Now, etc.Â
In the Look What You Made Me Do music video, she wore an orange outfit while swinging in a bird cage, which may have hinted at the âin the vaultâ status of Karma. Also, LWYMMD features the lyric âAll I think about is karma.â
In Taylorâs 73 Questions interview with Vogue, she said âKarma is real.â Many think that this is an Easter egg. For example, in Taylorâs â30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30â essay for Elle, she hid a lyric of her song Daylight, which would be released in the future as part of the Lover album.Â
Taylor had been consistently releasing albums every other year up until 2016.Â
In 2016, she didnât release any music to continue the pattern. This leads people to believe that Karma was meant to be released, but was scrapped to create reputation, which would release in 2017.
Some people believe that Taylor may release Karma (Taylorâs Version) as a part of her Taylorâs Version series.Â
Some people think she will simply release it as an album by itself, perhaps TS12.