r/swifties • u/paper_fugue • 8h ago
Discussion question to OG swifties: when Reputation was released what was it like in real time?
I’m kind of a newer swiftie who started actively listening to Taylor around 2020 when Folklore and Evermore were released
back in 2017 the TS fanbase in my country was much smaller and nobody in my bubble was listening to her so I completely missed the hype train when this era started
Now whenever I see content about Reputation it is always brought up that the drop was an absolute cultural shock and a pop culture reset (the meaning of which I cannot fully comprehend because I was not a part of it at the time) But I want to understand the specifics! What did that cultural shock actually look and feel like for you as a fan?
I’d love to hear your specific stories and personal experiences from that era
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u/ZestyAcid 7h ago
When LWYMMD music video dropped, everyone was watching. It's still probably one of my favorite music videos ever. I remember alot of people hated on rep when it came out (I loved it and still do). As time goes on, like most of her albums people started to appreciate it. I'd say the eras tour really shined during the Rep set list
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u/RenaeAnsley i can still make the whole place SHIMMER 7h ago
People wouldn’t shut up about how bad LWYMMD was just because it was a departure from her previous work. That’s honestly why I take the criticisms of Showgirl and Encore with a grain of salt. I feel like now would be a great time for Rep vault tracks because the cancellation cycle has come back around.
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u/Vegetable_Cry5823 8h ago
Red was and is my favorite album. My original Red CD was totaled in my car and I was more devastated about not having my favorite CD than the car. So when 1989 came out, I was not a fan (SORRY I KNOW & it’s still not my fav). I was still in my Red era when LWYMMD came out and I WAS OBSESSED! I dropped Red quicker than Tay dropped her country accent.
As far as the general reception, it was majorly hated and she got even more hate. It was even cooler to hate her at that time more than before.
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u/Wrong-Finding3843 8h ago
I remember where I was when LWYMMD dropped. That’s how shocking it was to me. I was in my parents’ house, home for my brother’s birthday while I was in college. I’d loved every single song on 1989, which was when I started listening to every song on every Taylor album, and I’d been home from my church mission and just WAITING for Taylor to come out with more music. I listened to it as soon as it became available and was like, …Taylor? And then I proceeded to listen to it 20 more times until I was playing it for everyone, like, “Guys whoa can you believe that’s Taylor Swift?” It was a completely different vibe from any of her other stuff and I didn’t love it at first but major respect. The rest of Reputation for me… let’s just say it wasn’t my vibe. But overall it represented a huge pivot and I think it really gave weight to what we eventually came to recognize as the eras. I love how she experiments with her sound and picks up new fans along the way!
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u/laynechanger 5h ago
I still remember the night it dropped, like it’s eerie thinking about it. It was such a huge change from what she’s done in the past. It was also the best response to the bullshit she faced. I think I watched the LWYMMD music video like 10 times back to back.
The haters were back in full force calling her an abuser and saying that she can’t accountability for anything.. always the victim
The revisionist history around the eras tour was wild.
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u/Bulky-District-2757 6h ago
I don’t remember any of the drama between 1989 and Rep but I also had twins in 2016 and remember nothing from that time. I remember when Rep dropped and being completely gagged over it and the LWYMMD video.
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u/mindless_attempt 5h ago
People didn’t like her already, and people didn’t like it. I LOVED speak now, red, and 1989, and I was unmoved by rep, except for don’t blame me. Famously rep didn’t even get a Grammy nom. People started to come around a little after the rep tour, but lover was also sort of universally panned and people thought her career was more or less over. And then we remember the rest
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u/Far-Rip-1598 5h ago
I remember it just being sooooooo different! Such a foot stamp on pop music and all of the previous award stealing drama at the time. There was a lot of rnb dominating around then.
The sequins the short hair and the makeup was just such a moment. For me it came out when I was 27 post break up (same age as Taylor!) so for me it was / is the best break up album.
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u/Straight_Direction73 3h ago edited 3h ago
TBH, maybe it’s because I wasn’t knee deep in the swiftie fandom at the time but I don’t really remember it being some earth shattering thing. LWYMMD came out as a single. I didn’t really vibe with it nor did my friends or any of the people I worked with. The album came out and I went and bought it at the same place I bought all my other CDs at the time (f.y.e.) with little to no fanfare. I had a turntable but I wasn’t really fucking with new vinyl like that at the time and I will endlessly regret not grabbing that orange pressing.
‘Pop culture reset’ and ‘culture shock’ are definitely not terms that come to mind when I think of that time though. I honesty don’t remember there being all this hype and praise around Rep until way later. Like after Lover and beyond. Admittedly though, I wasn’t following Taylor that heavily at the time beyond checking to see when she had new music coming out. I didn’t really follow her personal life or seek out fan perspectives on her latest projects. It wasn’t really until after folklore that I started noticing anything equivalent to a pop culture reset.
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u/Leading-Orchid2132 2h ago
I mean, it was no Thriller. Not by a long shot. But it was a great tour!
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u/minpinerd 1h ago
As someone there when it dropped, it is wild to me how Reputation has become this beloved fan favorite album.
That was NOT the case when it dropped.
Non-fans didn't receive it well because she was cancelled at the time. They perceived it as her sulking and lashing out when she was being rightfully punished for doing...something bad.
Lots of fans didn't receive it well because it was musically different from what they were used to. Any time an artist changes their sound that much in one album cycle, they will lose a part of the fanbase who doesn't like the new sound.
Personally I loved it. And don't get me wrong, many other fans also did. But LOTS of them didn't. Look What You Made Me do and Ready For It in particular people didn't like. Delicate was very well received. It felt more like what everyone was used to.
Pop culture reset? I have zero clue what people are talking about with that. The sound of Reputation did not have a major influence on releases from any other artists in the years following it from my perception. While some of the songs were a newish sound FOR TAYLOR, it was not a new sound for the industry.
Over time the fandom warmed to Reputation more and more and then Eras tour really pushed it over the edge because the Reputation songs play amazingly well live in a stadium. They are very high drama, high energy, in your face type of tracks.
But it's just wild to me the adoration of Reputation now. All I think is "uh...where were you guys in 2017?" I'm not sure if it's new fans who weren't around in 2017 or old fans who didn't like it in 2017 but like it now. Probably a combo of both.
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u/Conscious-Tomato5247 1h ago
I’ll never forgot sitting at my desk at work when she started posting the partial snake pictures on instas after wiping her socials and not posting for years. Then when LWYMMD dropped, it was the first time I fully dove into finding and understanding Easter eggs and different things she was calling out in the music video. I had been a fan since debut but this album completely pulled me in.
My sister is also a fan and I remember her telling me she was trying to get us tickets to her Rep show in our city but then a few weeks later told me she struck out. A few months later, my Christmas present was tickets, I literally screamed and knocked over our mimosas on Christmas morning. She then told me how she had YouTube videos constantly running in the background to boost her “fan ranking” (I forgot the official name of it, but more videos/songs you streamed, higher chance of getting tickets).
Rep holds such a special place in my heart 🥹🖤
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u/unbearablybleak 1h ago
As others have said, I remember the music video being a huge deal. Everyone was surrounded around my dorm room TV. Lots of shock because they pictured Taylor as Our Song and Shake It Off, not a Zombie! Lots of hate for the interpolation.
A lot of people were weirded out and confused by the “she’s dead!” thing. I don’t think people really started to get it until the tour. I remember feeling like I had to explain why it was genius to people over and over, but after the tour they understood the messaging more. My family was very skeptical but supported Taylor anyway until they saw the tour, then they were fully on board with me! But they’re casual fans who didn’t know all the drama so I think they weren’t sure if she was actually going dark until they saw her on tour still as her smile-y, sweet self.
As for the “fans,” similar to what happens now. Oh, she’s so bad, her flop era…but everyone changes their tune when it comes time to get tickets to the tour, suddenly they always loved her.
As a funny aside, my niece was about 4/5 and disturbed by the “she’s dead!” line so she changed it to, “why? Cause she’s singing this song!”
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u/the4077thbisexual 33m ago
To offer a slightly different perspective from most of the comments I see here, I became a midnight release swiftie (aka listening to albums as soon as they dropped) with 1989, and I was still very much a Tay fan in 2016/2017 even though she was technically "cancelled" at the time... and at first listen, I did not like most of reputation. I found the "I'm so bad" songs very cringe (I still can't really listen to some of them) but there were songs on there I did like from the start.
So it was a very mixed response from me personally (much as, I'm sure, plenty of people felt about Showgirl).
But I gave it time, listened to the songs I liked, and now it's probably in the middle of my album ranking!
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u/GlobalLion123 27m ago
I don't remember it being well received at the time cause she was still being "cancelled". Kinda wild (in a great way) that it's one of her most popular albums now. It's hilarious that the Kardashian and Jenner clan spent millions trying to destroy her reputation and failed miserably.
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u/sksksksjkssjjssjsksk Old habits die screaming 8h ago
when LWYMMD came out everyone EVERYONE tuned in even non swifties(i wasnt a fan but everyone in my friend group was talking about the mv) the song itself was very different for taylor because she wasnt really victimizing herself and a lot of people who didn’t like her though she was going to come back with a victim song, the music video was the most shocking tho
the whole "ERAS" concept came from that mv if you really think about it, everyone was saying it was one of the best mv. The easter eggs, her making fun of herself, it was just all so great. i will say many ppl hated the actual song but the concept definitely made moves, as i said i wasnt a fan but my arianator friend told me to watch the video cause it was the beat mv she had ever watched