The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Casper Libero chapter.
Swift released her new album The Tortured Poets Department on April 19th, 2024, containing sixteen tracks. Two hours after release, Swift released fifteen more tracks as a double album titled The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.
“thanK you aIMee” is a song by Taylor Swift, from her new album: The Tortured Poets Department: the Anthology. The lyrics talk about dealing with a bully/hater. Due to the lyrical content and the stylization of the title – which focus on the K,I and M letters- the media interpreted “Thank You Aimee” as a track about Kim Kardashian.
“thanK you aIMee”
“Thank You Aimee” is on the track list of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. Its lyrics are directed to Aimee, a character described as an old high-school bully. During the song, Swift’s character thanks Aimee, telling her that “I wrote a thousand songs that you find uncool, I built a legacy that you can’t undo, but when I count the scars, there’s a moment of truth, that there wouldn’t be this, if there hadn’t been you”, explaining that besides all the hate she received, that made Taylor stronger and she thanks “Aimee” for it.
But what did Kim Kardashian do to Taylor Swift?
The background story
Taylor had a beef with the rapper Kanye West, which began when West walked onstage and interrupted Swift’s speech after winning the category “Best Female Video” at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. In 2016, West released the single “Famous”. Taylor considered the lyrics of the song offensive, since in the song West took credit for her success saying that he “made that b*tch famous”. Later, the influencer Kim Kardashian (Kanye’s wife), recorded a phone call between Kanye and edited it so it would seem that Taylor approved the lyrics.
I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, why?
I made that b*tch famous (goddamn)
I made that b*tch famousKanye West in Famous
After Taylor denied the lyrics’ approval, Kim posted the phone call and that made the social media turn against Swift, calling her a “liar” and “snake”. The full version of the call was released in 2020, proving that Swift didn’t approve Kanye West’s lyrics.
Taylor Swift told TIME how hard it was to deal with all the hate she received from the media due to Kim Kardashian:
“You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar,” she said. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”
Taylor Swift for TIMES Magazine
REPUTATION
The disagreement with West and media hating inspired Taylor to make what would be her sixth album, Reputation, with the main figure of the album being a snake.
Released in 2017, the “Reputation” album definitely was the most polemic of all Taylor Swift’s albums. It was a response to all the hate she was receiving from the media, that affected her public image so much that she secluded herself from public appearances, which inspired on making “Reputation”.
Reputation songs are about feelings like revenge and anger, slowly turning into some love-songs. The album was a huge success, it was Swift’s fourth album to sell one million copies in a week, it also spent four weeks atop the Billboard 200 and received multi-platinum certifications.
At “thanK you aIMee”, Swift said “All the time you were throwing punches I was building something” and Reputation proved that it couldn’t be more true.
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The article above was edited by Malu Alcântara.
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