Taylor Swift Reps Deny Claims That ‘Reputation’ Was Timed For the 10th Anniversary of Kanye’s Mother’s Death
Taylor Swift's new single "Look What You Made Me Do" has drawn mixed reactions from fans--but the barbed lyrics and dark tone have made it apparent that the song is directed at one of Swift's many haters. The running assumption is that Swift is once again taking jabs at her longtime nemesis Kanye West.
The song never mentions Kanye by name, but lyrics like "I don't like your tilted stage" raised eyebrows (Kanye used a tilted stage on his recent Saint Pablo Tour) and a phone voice that seems to be a direct reference to their longstanding feud. West mentioned Swift in his song "Famous" last year ("I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/ Why? I made that bitch famous.") and in the video, West featured Swift's likeness in a bud with himself and several other naked celebs.
Swift blasted Ye and the song, saying he never told her how he was going to reference her in the song and taking exception to being called "bitch." West's wife Kim Kardashian claimed Swift was lying about not knowing, that Kanye had informed of exactly what the lyrics said she was all for it. Kim then leaked video and audio of West and Swift's phone conversation, seemingly indicating that Swift was fine with things until they became public.
But when it was announced that Swift's new album Reputation is dropping on November 10, some began to speculate that the timing was intentionally set to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the death of Kanye's mother, Donda West.
But Taylor's reps are nipping that rumor immediately. A source at Big Machine Records told Rolling Stone "there is no correlation," and adding that "it is standard practice that releases come out on Fridays and we locked in this release date based on other Universal Music Group releases."
Listen to Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do":