Image Source: Getty / Kevin Mazur [1]
Taylor Swift's sixth studio album [2], Reputation, is finally here, and boy, are there a ton of Kim Kardashian [3] and Kanye West [4] references. From the fiery lyrics in "Look What You Made Me Do [5]" to the "shots fired" track [6] that is "This Why We Can't Have Nice Things," Taylor not only took over the narrative, but she came back swinging. Here are all the Kim and Kanye references in Reputation.
"I Did Something Bad"
- "I never trust a narcissist." — Kanye has been known to display some narcissistic qualities in the past and has even gone as far as to refer to himself as God [8].
- "They say I did something bad." — This is clearly a reference to when Kim exposed Taylor on Snapchat [9] and the media came after her and called her a snake [10].
- "They're burning all the witches even if you aren't one / They got their pitchforks and proof / Their receipts and reasons." — Here Taylor takes another shot at Kim and Kanye, making a reference to Kim's infamous Snapchat video.
"Look What You Made Me Do"
- "I don't like your little games / Don't like your tilted stage." — During his Saint Pablo Tour [11] in 2016, Kanye famously performed on a stage that floated above the audience and sometimes even tilted around.
- "I don't like your perfect crime / How you laugh when you lie / You said the gun was mine / Isn't cool, no, I don't like you." — It's no secret that Kanye isn't a big fan of smiling in public [12], but he was in such a good mood when he attended the 2016 MTV VMAs [13] that he cracked not one but several smiles. During his speech, the rapper addressed that infamous phone call with Taylor and was adamant that he only called Taylor to get her consent about the lyrics in "Famous."
- "Maybe I got mine, but you'll all get yours." — This is basically a warning to Kim and Kanye. Because Kim outed her on Snapchat and Kanye lied about having her consent to call her a b*tch on "Famous," Taylor is pretty much saying that karma will soon get them.
- "I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams." — Kanye has a song called "See You in My Nightmares."
"Call It What You Want"
- "My castle crumbled overnight / I brought a knife to a gunfight / They took the crown, but it's alright." — Taylor seemingly addresses their ongoing feud [14] and the Twitter hashtag #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty that emerged after Kim posted that Snapchat video.
"This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things"
- "So why'd you have to rain on my parade? / I'm shaking my head, I'm locking the gates." — Before Taylor's feud with Kim and Kanye, Taylor was at the height of her career; she released 1989, she went on tour, and she was also known for throwing her famous Fourth of July parties [15], but all that came to an end when Kim and Kanye exposed her and Taylor went into hiding [16].
- "This is why we can't have nice things, darling / Because you break them / I had to take them away / This is why we can't have nice things, honey." — Here Taylor seems to reference her on-again, off-again friendship [17] with Kanye.
- "It was so nice to be friends again / There I was, giving you a second chance / But then you stabbed my back while shaking my hand / And therein lies the issue / Friends don't try to trick you / Get you on the phone and mind-twist you / And so I took an axe to a mended fence." These are perhaps the most striking lyrics on the song. Taylor references the infamous phone call between her and Kanye and how he and Kim later twisted the truth [18] about what their conversation was about.
- "But I'm not the only friend you've lost lately / If only you weren't so shady." — Even though Kanye and JAY-Z started off as close friends, they had a falling out in 2016 after Kanye called out JAY-Z and Beyoncé [19] for not visiting him and Kim after her Paris robbery. JAY-Z later opened up about the feud, saying, "It's a real, real problem."
- "Here's a toast to my real friends / They don't care about that he-said-she-said." — This is a nod to Kanye's 2016 song [20] "Real Friends."