Bad Blood (Taylor Swift song)
"Bad Blood" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The song came from her fifth studio album 1989. The album version of the song only has Swift as the vocalist on verses. The single version has a different instrumental and guest vocals from rapper Kendrick Lamar on verses.
| "Bad Blood" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Song by Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar | ||||
| from 1989" | ||||
| Written | 2012 - 2014 | |||
| Released | May 17, 2015 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:32 (album version) 3:19 (single version featuring Kendrick Lamar) | |||
| Label | Big Machine | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| Taylor Swift singles chronology | ||||
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Writing and composition
Swift wrote "Bad Blood" about an undisclosed female artist. She says that the artist attempted to sabotage one of her concert tours by hiring people that worked for her (Swift).[1] There are rumors from Rolling Stone, Billboard, Time and Washington Post that singer-songwriter Katy Perry is the subject of the song.[2][3][4] The original album version of "Bad Blood" only has Swift singing.
Commercial performance
"Bad Blood" first charted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks in November of 2014. It also charted in January of 2015 as an album cut from 1989. It peaked at #78.[5] After the music video premiere at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, the remixed song with Kendrick Lamar re-entered the chart at #53 and #26 on the Digital Songs Chart. It sold over 47,000 digital copies. The song hit #1 on Billboard Hot 100 on the week ending May 24, 2015.[6] It sold 385,000 copies. It became Taylor's fourth #1 single. It was also her third from 1989 (following "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space"). That made Taylor Swift the first artist since Adele to have three Hot 100 chart-toppers from the same record. It was also her fourth consecutive top-ten single from 1989.
Critical reception
The original album version of "Bad Blood" received mixed reviews from music critics.[7][8][9] But, the remixed version of the song received mostly positive reviews. Much of the praise was for Lamar's guest verses and the reworked instrumental.[10][11] George Seabrook, writing for The Edge in Southampton, England, gave the song four-and-a-half stars out of five. He praised the song for "Lamar’s simple, brutally effective verses". He also said that Swift and Lamar made "not just one more meaningless stunt collaboration, but a powerful new duo".[12]
Music video
The music video was directed by renowned director Joseph Kahn, with Swift producing it. He had also directed the music video for "Blank Space". The video was shot in Los Angeles on April 12, 2015. The setting for the video is the City of London. The music video premiered on May 17, 2015, at the start of the Billboard Music Awards.[13] Several friends of Swift are present in the music video, such as British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding, American entertainer Selena Gomez, and American actresses Lena Dunham and Jessica Alba.[14] All members of the cast chose their own names for their characters.
Bad Blood (Taylor Swift Song) Media
Kendrick Lamar featured and wrote his rap verses on the single release of "Bad Blood", which became his first number-one single in the United States.
Swift performing "Bad Blood" on the 1989 World Tour in 2015
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References
- ↑ "Reinvention of Taylor Swift". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved Jun 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Katy Perry and 'Bad Blood'". Billboard. Retrieved Jun 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Taylor Swift vs Katy Perry". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved Jun 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Is Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' about Katy Perry". Time. Retrieved Jun 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Wiz Khalifa Tops Hot 100". The Billboard. Retrieved Jun 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' Blasts to #1 on Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved Jun 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Single Review: Taylor Swift is bleeding heartache on "Bad Blood"". CedricCed. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
- ↑ "Taylor Swift, 1989: Track-by-track album review". HitFix. Archived from the original on 2015-06-04. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
- ↑ "Track-by-Track Album Review: Taylor Swift - 1989 - CultNoise". CultNoise. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
- ↑ "Kendrick Lamar shines in Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" remix - Consequence of Sound". Consequence of Sound.
- ↑ Los Angeles Times (May 18, 2015). "Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' video has sound, fury and Kendrick Lamar". latimes.com.
- ↑ Seabrook, George (May 20, 2015). "Review: Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – Bad Blood". The Edge. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Taylor Swift to Debut 'Bad Blood' Video during 2015 Billboard Music Awards". Billboard. Retrieved Jun 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Meet the A-List Cast Starring in Taylor Swift's New Music Video". PEOPLE.com.