The Old Taylor Is Dead, So How About The New?

It’s out with the old, and in with new for Taylor Swift. She’s packed up all of her pastel sundresses and traded them in for diamond studded hoodies and leather pants. Some are calling her new ways absurdly overrated, while die hard fans are eating them up. Utilizing her social media to promote her new image, she’s revealing to the world that the old Taylor is dead and gone, and the new Taylor means business.

On her new album Reputation, Swift no longer sings about innocent childhood love, but rather avenging her exes – and anyone else who has done her wrong for that matter. She’s heavily pushed a new personal brand to hype up the more adult and risque theme of Reputation’s songs especially seen in songs like Dress. Since Taylor is so close in age so most of us, it’s nice to have been able to evolve with her. When we were in high school, songs like You Belong With Me made sense for the relationships we were in at that age, but now songs like End Game and Delicate hit us closer to home.  

Swift has paired with AT&T to create a catalog of videos called “Taylor Swift NOW,” to give fans a firsthand glimpse at the intimate moments of her everyday life. Her Instagram account is now solely comprised of photos and videos providing followers with sneak peeks of her new album. Swift even traveled to London, Los Angeles, Nashville and Rhode Island to give 500 of her fans the chance to sing and dance along to Reputation with her before its official release date. She debuted two of her newest singles on Saturday Night Live in her first appearance on the show since 2009, where she embodied her new style. In both performances she sported all black and sang into a blinged-out microphone.

Although she’s more grunge now than her fans have grown accustomed to, Swift’s talent remains. Her videos sharing her songwriting process demonstrates her transparency and allow her fans to see her dedication to perfecting her work. She shows her commitment to writing about current experiences and sharing her true emotions.

Some call her dramatic, or even crazy, but she is honest in her lyrics and is an acclaimed performer who’s having fun, which I think is commendable. Swift is undeniably a hard working musician who is simply adjusting her self expression to remain authentic. Love it or hate it, seems like the new Taylor is unapologetically here to stay.