Look What He Made Her Do (Again): Kanye West May Have Just Triggered ‘Reputation (Taylor’s Version)’

(April 13, 2025).  In this Trump 2.0 political climate where all things liberal are seen as persona non grata, Taylor Swift — who famously endorsed losing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris — was having a relatively “down” 2025.  Her endorsement of Harris — seen as crucial at the time by some, including the new/old president himself (based on his reaction to it) — backfired.  And, let’s face it, there haven’t been many victories for Swift since.  

At this year’s Grammys, the “Bad Blood” singer lost her bid for a fifth Album of the Year trophy (albeit to fellow Kamala supporter Beyoncé).  A week later, she was roundly booed at the Super Bowl where her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his Chiefs team laid an egg against the Philly Eagles.  And April 19th will mark a year since she released her last album — the record-shattering The Tortured Poets Department.  That represents the longest Swift has gone without releasing an album of newly recorded material — including her four re-recordings of earlier LPs — since the 21-month gap between 2017’s Reputation and 2019’s Lover.

Furthermore, Swift — who is between albums — has been absent from the Hot 100 singles chart since November 2024, a five-month drought she hadn’t previously experienced this decade.  While five months isn’t a long time, for an artist of Miss Swift’s caliber who just a year ago occupied more than 30% of the Hot 100, a five-month absence feels like an eternity.

Kanye West to the Rescue

Swift did make news, however, as one of the latest targets of vulgar social media posts by Kanye West (a/k/a Ye), in which the unhinged rapper reportedly defamed Swift by alleging that she had been in a tryst with fellow pop stars Harry Styles and Justin Bieber.

And just like that, Swift, who had been on top of the pop world ever since overcoming her last “down” period as reflected in 2017’s Reputation (itself partially inspired by a Kanye West dust-up), has once again become the underdog.

Now Swift is suddenly positioned to reclaim the power that propelled her to the most prolific and successful era of her career — the past seven years — which came in the immediate wake of her last West entanglement (no, not that kind).

For those who need reminding, the Swift-West saga began back in 2009 with that MTV VMA mic grab, escalated with his vulgar “Famous” lyric in 2016, and reached a fever pitch when Taylor publicly called out Ye and his then-wife Kim Kardashian for manipulating the narrative about how “Famous” came to be.  That feud didn’t just spark headlines — it lit the creative fuse behind Reputation.

In fact, conspiracy theorists and Swiftie sleuths alike might be inclined to believe that the latest Swift-West conflict was part of some cleverly concocted promotional stunt to generate excitement for Reputation (Taylor’s Version) as the next installment.

By definition, Swifties are far better equipped than this blogger to identify any Easter eggs Taylor might drop in the coming weeks towards that end… assuming she is even thinking along these lines.  But Taylor is nothing if she isn’t savvy, especially when it comes to Ye, whose previous attempts to rewrite the “Shake It Off” singer’s storylines have been transformed into full-blown eras. After all, what better way to set up the album that was largely inspired by the pop singer’s reaction to West’s first Swift-related vulgarity than by leveraging her response to the latest one?

Maybe she will, maybe she won’t…

Of course, this is all just speculation, but Swifties must be salivating over the notion that a “Taylor’s Version” of the original album’s lead single — “Look What You Made Me Do” — could serve as the backdrop to the “Cruel Summer” singer’s possible legal action against her 16-year nemesis, which “sources” have been reported to say she is considering.

And, at a time when MAGA has bigger things to concern themselves with (like the chaos involving Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again foreign trade tariffs) than the latest offering from a so-called “elitist celebrity” like Swift, now would be the best time for Taylor — as victim to Ye’s vicious online bullying attack — to fly under the radar and pounce with a new release to end her current drought.

Except, we all know that the pop superstar could never really fly under the radar.  Still, Swift hasn’t had many victories in the court of public opinion lately (outside of her diehard Swiftie fan base).  The reportedly pending lawsuit and a resurrected Reputation to go along with it would have her aggressor — the spiraling “Bully” rapper — on the ropes.

Releasing Reputation (Taylor’s Version) now (or in the next month or so) would make perfect sense — kind of like the album’s full-circle moment given its history-repeating-itself backdrop.  It would also place Swift right back at the top of the charts where she’s taken up residence so many times before, while making her victorious over Ye once again — at a time when he is now the least sympathetic character.

If Taylor Swift has taught us anything, it’s that she doesn’t just survive controversy — she weaponizes it.  Every time someone’s tried to knock her down, she’s flipped the narrative and climbed even higher.  The original Reputation was her darkest, most defiant era — and now, with the world arguably darker and more divided than it was in 2017, the timing for its Taylor’s Version rebirth couldn’t be more poetic.

So whether by fate, feud, or masterfully orchestrated timing, Taylor Swift may have just been handed her next comeback moment — even if she never truly left — and some free marketing to go along with it.  And if Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is truly on the horizon, there may be no better moment than now for the pop world’s most meticulous planner to remind everyone exactly what he made her do.

DJRob

DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff!  You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.

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