Note: This review is number six in a series looking back at Taylor Swift’s first 10 albums.

By the sixth album, Swift’s career has been full of twists and turns away from what was deemed normal for her.

On her album “reputation,” Swift takes another turn, this time away from her typical innocent young girl image.

A quick look into the context that inspired this album is required to fully understand why Swift adopted a new role.

In 2016, a year before the release of “reputation,” Kim Kardashian leaked a video of Taylor Swift and Kanye West talking about his then-new song “Famous,” and how he could reference Swift in the song.

According to Swift, she approved most of what West wanted to do, but he did not tell her everything he planned.

When the song dropped, Swift was upset with what was included. The recording Kardashian posted had been edited to make it sound as though Swift was comfortable with the entirety of the song, when in fact West left out crucial parts she found objectionable.

Following the release of “Famous,” the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty was trending number one on Twitter worldwide. This was the biggest public backlash Swift had faced in her career.

In response, Swift dropped from the public eye for nearly a year.

In her 2020 documentary, Swift said, “When people decided I was wicked and evil and conniving and not a good person, that was the one I couldn’t really bounce back from cause my whole life was centered around it.”

Finally, on November 10, 2017, Swift dropped the album “reputation.”

In songs like “ I Did Something Bad,” “Look What You Made Me Do,” and “…Ready For It?” Swift expresses anger at the world for turning their back on her. This album embraces the image the public placed on her in a powerful way, helping her reclaim her own narrative.

The album’s imagery is covered in newspaper writing and snakes, leaning into the persona she felt the world forced on her.

Hidden beneath the snakes and sneering, some of the songs on “reputation” reflect Swift’s life away from the cameras too, like when she fell in love with her (now ex-) boyfriend Joe Alwyn. In her lyrics, the healing and recovery she found in the relationship can be heard.

In “Call it What You Want,” Swift sings, “All the liars are calling me one/ Nobody’s heard from me for months/ I’m doing better than I ever was.” And on the track “Delicate,” she sings “My reputation’s never been worse,/ so you must like me for me.”

Swift found solitude and happiness away from the cheer of the crowds.

She was now ready to share it with her fans.

Previous Album “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” (2023) | Next Album “Lover ” (2019)