"Bad Blood" is a song by the American singer-songwriterTaylor Swift from her fifth studio album,1989 (2014). She wrote the song with the Swedish producersMax Martin andShellback. It is apop song usingkeyboards andhip-hop–inspired drum beats, and the lyrics are about betrayal by a close friend. Aremix featuring the American rapperKendrick Lamar, with additional lyrics by Lamar and production by the Swedish musicianIlya, was released to radio as1989's fourthsingle on May 17, 2015, byBig Machine andRepublic Records.
Music critics gave the album version of "Bad Blood" mixed reviews; some described it as catchy and engaging, but others criticized the production as bland and the lyrics repetitive. The remix version received somewhat more positive comments for Lamar's verses, featured among the best songs of 2015 on lists byNME andPopMatters, and received aGrammy nomination forBest Pop Duo/Group Performance. Critics have retrospectively considered "Bad Blood" one of Swift's worst songs. The single reached number one and receivedmulti-platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, and the United States.
Taylor Swift had identified as acountry musician, up until her fourth studio album,Red,[1] which was released on October 22, 2012.[2]Red's eclecticpop androck styles beyond the country stylings of Swift's past albums led to critics questioning her country-music identity.[3][4] Swift began writing songs for her fifth studio album in mid-2013 while touring.[5] She was inspired by 1980ssynth-pop to create her fifth studio album,1989, which she described as her first "official pop album" and named after her birth year.[6][7] The album makes extensive use ofsynthesizers,programmeddrum machines, andelectronic anddance stylings, a stark contrast to the acoustic arrangements of her country-styled albums.[8][9]
"Bad Blood" is a pop song with prominenthip-hop stylings.[12][13] It incorporates prominent keyboard tones,[14] hip-hop beats, and a pulsingbassline.[15] According toJon Caramanica ofThe New York Times, the "booming drums" of the song evoked the "Billy Squier ones often sampled in hip-hop".[16] Jem Aswad ofBillboard described the production as "simplistic" and compared it toGwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" (2005),[17]The Observer'sKitty Empire likened the "stark beats" to the music ofCharli XCX,[18] andNME's Matthew Horton deemed the song a "bitter stomp" that evokesBeastie Boys.[12] The lyrics portray resentment and anger that result from betrayal, through lyrics such as, "These kinda wounds, they last and they last," and "Band-aids don't fix bullet holes/ You say sorry just for show."[15] Therefrain consists of repeated phrases, "Now we got bad blood/ You know it used to be mad love."[14]Jon Pareles described Swift's vocals throughout the refrain as tense,[14] whileConsequence of Sound's Sasha Geffen wrote that she sang "through gritted teeth".[15]
Some critics interpreted "Bad Blood" to be about a lost love.[19][20] In an interview for the September 2014 cover issue forRolling Stone, Swift said that the song was about a fellow female artist whom she had thought of as a close friend; she felt betrayed after this person attempted to "sabotage an entire arena tour" by "[hiring] a bunch of people out from under [her]".[21] She wanted to make it clear that it was about losing a friend and not a lover because she "knew people would immediately be going in one direction", referring to how the audience interpreted her songs in association with her love life.[21] The media speculated the subject to beKaty Perry, who had a publicized fallout with Swift after being friends for several years.[22][23][24] In another interview forGQ in October 2015, Swift reaffirmed the theme of lost friendship and responded to the speculation: "I never said anything that would point a finger in the specific direction of one specific person."[25] According toChuck Klosterman, by clarifying the inspiration behind "Bad Blood" to divert the media from her love life without disclosing the subject, Swift "propagated the existence of a different rumor that offered the added value of making the song more interesting".[25]
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.
After1989 was released on October 27, 2014, "Bad Blood" first charted on theBillboard Hot 100 for two weeks in November 2014 and January 2015, reaching number 78.[26] In May 2015, a remix version featuring the rapperKendrick Lamar was released as the fourth single to promote1989.[27] According to Lamar, Swift reached out to him personally and he agreed because they had been fond of each other's music.[28] On the remix, Lamar raps two verses written by himself, andIlya contributed additional production.[29] Lamar recalled that the collaboration with Swift went smoothly because "the vibe was right"; he finished his verses in a few takes during a studio session in Los Angeles.[30] WhenRolling Stone asked him in 2017 whether he was "taking sides in a pop beef", he responded that he was unaware of it.[31]
Big Machine Records released the remix for digital download on May 17, 2015,[32] the same day that the premiere of its music video took place at theBillboard Music Awards.[33] In the United States, Big Machine andRepublic Records sent "Bad Blood" tocontemporary hit radio on May 19,[34] and torhythmic radio on June 9, 2015.[35]Universal Music Group released the song to Italian radio on June 12, 2015.[36] "Bad Blood" re-entered the Hot 100 at number 53 upon its single release[26] and reached number one the following week, on theBillboard Hot 100 chart dated June 6, 2015.[37] "Bad Blood" was the third single from1989 to reach number one, after "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space"; it was Swift's fourth and Lamar's first career number-one Hot 100 single.[37] After one week at number one, it charted at number two for the next five weeks.[38]
OnBillboard's airplay charts, "Bad Blood" reached number one onPop Songs[39] andAdult Pop Songs.[40] On the Pop Songs chart, after it debuted at number 13 and rose to number 9 the following week, the single tied the record for the quickest timeline to enter the top 10.[41] By reaching number one in five weeks, it registered the shortest duration to top the chart sinceNelly's "Over and Over" (2004) featuringTim McGraw, which spent three weeks before ascending to the top.[39] In the week ending July 12, 2015, the single broke the record for the most single-week plays in the Pop Songs chart's 22-year history, surpassingWiz Khalifa andCharlie Puth's "See You Again" (2015).[40] According toNielsen SoundScan, "Bad Blood" was the 10th-best-selling song of 2015 in the United States, selling 2.584 million digital copies.[42] TheRecording Industry Association of America certified the singlesix-times platinum for surpassing six million units based on sales and on-demand streams,[43] and the track had sold 3.2 million digital copies in the United States by July 2019.[44]
"Bad Blood" topped the charts in Australia,[45] Canada,[46] New Zealand,[47] and Scotland.[48] It peaked within the top five in South Africa,[49] Lebanon,[50] and the United Kingdom;[51] and the top ten in Hungary, Finland, and Ireland. The single wascertified multi-platinum in Australia (nine-times platinum),[52] Brazil (double diamond),[53] Canada (triple platinum),[54] and the United Kingdom (double platinum).[55] It was certified platinum in Austria,[56] Norway,[57] Portugal,[58] and gold in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, and New Zealand.[59] In the United Kingdom, the single had sold 373,000 downloads as of July 2021.[60]
Critics interpreted "Bad Blood" as a diss track from Swift (left) targetingKaty Perry (right).
"Bad Blood" received mixed reviews, with many critics deeming it the weakest song on1989.[27] Mike Diver fromClash described it as "a litany of diary-page break-up clichés set to directionless thumps and fuzzes",[61] while Jay Lustig fromThe Record criticized Swift's delivery as "merely petulant, howling" and the beats as "repetitive".[62] Several critics found the song neither engaging nor distinctive; themusicologist James E. Perone wrote that listeners would not be able to tell if "Bad Blood" was a "Taylor Swift song" because of its composition and vocals.[63] Andrew Unterberger fromSpin said that the lyrics were absent of the specificity that had characterized Swift's previous songs,[64] Mikael Wood from theLos Angeles Times thought that its beat was reminiscent of that on Katy Perry's "Roar" (2013),[65] and Lindsay Zoladz fromVulture considered "Bad Blood" an "ironic" song to be taken as a Perrydiss track because other album tracks had "the faceless mall-pop" that was "no better" than the worst songs on Perry's albumPrism (2013).[66] Retrospective rankings byRolling Stone'sRob Sheffield[67] andPaste's Jane Song both ranked it as the worst song Swift had released.[68]
In more positive reviews, several critics considered "Bad Blood" one of the highlights of1989.The Quietus's Amy Pettifier said that it was one of the album tracks "crammed with merit" and called it "all sass and bile",[8]Entertainment Weekly's Adam Markovitz said that the track was a "potential [hit]" as a "chant-along fight song",[69] and theToronto Star'sBen Rayner praised it as a "proper keeper on delivery" with its "cheerleader-ish shout-along".[70]Consequence of Sound's Sasha Geffen andDrowned in Sound's Robert Leedham found the song to showcase a defiant attitude; the former attributed this to the production elements of hip-hop beats and deep bassline: "they let her slice out her words with real anger, not just passive regret",[15] and the latter wrote that it recalled "iconic hardcore bands you've probably never heard of".[71] Revisiting "Bad Blood" in 2023, Amara Sorosiak ofAmerican Songwriter regarded it as a career-defining single for Swift, writing that it exemplified the "shout-able, catchy pop" of her pop albums and solidified her "bold image" as an artist in the 2010s decade.[72] ForVulture's Nate Jones, the song represented the peak of Swift's "Max Martin era", with its melody being expertly crafted but lyrics absent of "humanity".[73]
Reviewing the remix version featuring Lamar, August Brown of theLos Angeles Times expressed confusion towards the rapper's appearance and contended that it was a move to garner a mainstream audience after his "epic" albumTo Pimp a Butterfly (2015). Brown said that while Lamar's delivery was "not at his most fiery", it proved his artistic versatility "from difficultfree jazz [...] to the tightest, glossiest pop out there".[74]Slate's Chris Molanphy praised Ilya's production for highlighting the refrain's musical highlights and lauded Lamar's "tongue-tripping turns of phrase", but he contended that the rapper was in "accessible, maximum-pop mode" while he was supposed to be held "to a higher standard".[29]Alexis Petridis ofThe Guardian dubbed the single "a masterstroke" with "potent and effective" verses from Lamar and an "even more anthemic" chorus compared to the album version.[75] "Bad Blood" featuring Lamar was listed among the best songs of 2015 byNME (11th)[76] andPopMatters (6th).[77]
Catastrophe's (played by Swift) team in front of an explosion in the music video for "Bad Blood", which was compared to action movies by media publications
The music video of "Bad Blood" was directed byJoseph Kahn and produced by Swift. Filmed in Los Angeles on April 12, 2015, the video premiered on May 17, 2015, at theBillboard Music Awards.[78] The video features Swift and Lamar alongside an ensemble cast consisting of female singers, actresses, and fashion models who were dubbed by the media as Swift's "squad".[79][80] Each member of the cast chose their character's name.[81] The cast include, in order of appearance: Catastrophe (Swift), Arsyn (Selena Gomez), Welvin da Great (Lamar), Lucky Fiori (Lena Dunham), the Trinity (Hailee Steinfeld), Dilemma (Serayah), Slay-Z (Gigi Hadid), Destructa X (Ellie Goulding), Homeslice (Martha Hunt), Mother Chucker (Cara Delevingne), Cut Throat (Zendaya), The Crimson Curse (Hayley Williams), Frostbyte (Lily Aldridge), Knockout (Karlie Kloss), Domino (Jessica Alba), Justice (Mariska Hargitay), Luna (Ellen Pompeo), and Headmistress (Cindy Crawford).[82]
Set in a fictional London, the video starts with Catastrophe and her partner, Arsyn, fighting off a group of men in a corporate office for a mysterious briefcase.[83] When all of the men are defeated, Arsyn steals the briefcase from Catastrophe's hand and kicks her out of a window, making her fall onto a car.[81] The song then begins, and Catastrophe and her female squad train to exact their revenge.[84] The video concludes with Catastrophe's and Arsyn's two teams facing each other, walking in slow motion as an explosion goes off in the background, blotting out the London skyline.[81][84]
"Bad Blood" brokeVevo's 24-hour viewing record by accumulating 20.1 million views in its first day of release.[85] Media publications compared the video's production to that of blockbuster movies[b] and opined that it resembled action and sci-fi films and series such asSin City,RoboCop,Tron,Kill Bill, andMad Max: Fury Road.[c] Erin Strecker ofBillboard commented that there were resemblances to the videos ofBritney Spears's "Toxic" and "Womanizer", which were both directed by Kahn.[93]Esquire's Matt Miller said that the video depicted a "sci-fi Taylor",[94] andRolling Stone described it as "futuristic neo-noir".[81] InConsequence, Mary Siroky deemed it the most memorable music video of the1989 singles and called it "The Avengers of music videos".[95] Spencer Kornhaber ofThe Atlantic thought otherwise that it did not succeed on a cinematic level because "the editing becomes so hectic that even the barest bones story here is indiscernible".[92]
Some journalists analyzed the video with regards to Swift's celebrity. According toTime's Daniel D'Addario, with "Bad Blood" and the music videos for other1989 singles, Swift abandoned the "appropriately lo-fi" videos of her country songs to use videos "as a tool to explore various sides of her personality, and create others", accompanying her artistic reinvention to pop music. D'Addario wrote that Swift followedMadonna by "[paring] visual aesthetics with entirely unrelated songs, giving the viewer a whole new thing to talk about", and thus succeeded in promoting herself as "2015's all-around-perfect pop star".[86] InThe Washington Post, Emily Yahr commented that by enlisting high-profile celebrities for the video, Swift proved that she was "the most powerful women in show business" who had "access, status and power" to mobilize a big number of celebrities to go against her adversaries.[96]
Several critics commented on the video in the context offeminism. Websites likeThe Daily Beast andDeadspin criticized the "supposed hypocrisy", citing the alleged feud with Katy Perry.[80] The "squad" was a point of contention: Kornhaber applauded the video as an imagining of an all-female action movie,[92] but Jennifer Gannon fromThe Irish Times considered Swift's "squad" as a means to build acult of personality rather than embody female empowerment,[97] an idea corroborated by Eve Barlow ofThe Times, who described it as "an exclusive,Mean Girls-style clique of perfect, stalk-limbed and shiny-haired clones".[98] Judy L. Isaksen and Nahed Eltantawy, scholars in popular culture and journalism, and Hannelore Roth, a scholar in literature, argued that Swift's idea of feminism was only applicable to famous and wealthy women. According to Isaksen and Eltantawy, fans of Swift were critical of the supposed "embodiment of privilege" despite her efforts to promote apostfeminist "girlfriend culture".[99] Roth added that by casting Lamar as the ringleader behind the female squad, the video was "just a violent, pre-modern copy of the patriarchal structures at the office".[100]
Onthe 1989 World Tour (2015), Swift performed "Bad Blood" wearing a black leather suit as dancers performed acrobatics behind her.[119] She included the song in the set list of theReputation Stadium Tour (2018), where she performed it in amash-up with "Should've Said No" (2008), which incorporated a country-influenced guitar riff.[120][121] According toThe Ringer's Nora Princiotti, the mash-up improved one of Swift's weakest songs ("Bad Blood") by tweaking its arrangement and using the melody of an "early classic" ("Should've Said No").[122] Onthe Eras Tour (2023–2024), Swift performed "Bad Blood" as the screen showed a house on fire and the venue lit up in red flames.[123][124]
Ryan Adams, an American singer-songwriter, covered "Bad Blood" as part of histrack-by-track interpretation of Swift's1989.[133] Adams said that Swift's1989 helped him cope with emotional hardships and that he wanted to interpret the songs from his perspective "like it wasBruce Springsteen'sNebraska".[134] His version of "Bad Blood" is analt-country andfolk-pop song that uses acoustic guitarstrums and live drums.[135][136][137] Prior to his cover album's release, Adams previewed "Bad Blood" on Apple Music's Beats 1 radio and then released it as a single, on September 17, 2015.[138]
Andrew Unterberger fromSpin preferred Adams's version to Swift's, writing that it "[strips the] overbearing hyperactivity ... [and removes the] sneering obnoxiousness".[139]Annie Zaleski ofThe A.V. Club complimented the "[watercolor]-hued strings and well-placed percussion thumps".[140] In less enthusiastic reviews,Billboard's Chris Payne deemed it the worst cover on Adams's1989 because he thought it failed to highlight Swift's songwriting strengths,[141] andVulture's Jillian Mapes thought that by switching the "sinister beats" with "coffeehouse-singer [...] strumming and a jangly counter-melody in the chorus", Adams turned "Bad Blood" from a sonically distinctive track into an unoriginal song.[142] His cover peaked at number 25 on theUltratop chart of BelgianWallonia[143] and number 36 onBillboard'sRock Airplay chart.[144]
Swift departed from Big Machine and signed a new contract with Republic Records in 2018. She began re-recording her first six studio albums in November 2020.[200] The decision followed a2019 dispute between Swift and the talent managerScooter Braun, who acquired Big Machine Records, over the masters of Swift's albums that the label had released.[201][202] By re-recording the albums, Swift had full ownership of the new masters, which enabled her to encourage licensing of her re-recorded songs forcommercial use in hopes of substituting the Big Machine-owned masters.[203] She denoted the re-recordings with a "Taylor's Version" subtitle.[204]
The re-recording of "Bad Blood" is titled "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)". A snippet of it featured in the 2022 animated filmDC League of Super-Pets.[205] Although Swift had not re-recorded1989, she agreed to re-record "Bad Blood" for the film upon request from Season Kent, its music supervisor.[206] The full re-recorded song is included as part of1989 (Taylor's Version), which was released on October 27, 2023.[207] The remix featuring Lamar was also re-recorded as the bonus track of the deluxe edition of1989 (Taylor's Version). Swift expressed her gratitude towards Lamar on social media, saying that his participation in the re-recording was "surreal and bewildering".[208]
Swift produced "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)" withChristopher Rowe, who had produced her previous re-recordings.[209][210] The track was programmed and edited by Derek Garten at Prime Recording in Nashville, and Swift's vocals were recorded by Rowe at Kitty Committee andElectric Lady Studios in New York. Musicians who contributed to the track included Mike Meadows (synth, acoustic guitar), Dan Burns (drums, synth bass, synth), Amos Heller (bass guitar), and Matt Billingslea (drums). Serban Ghenea mixed the song at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach.[211]
The arrangement of "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)" remains identical to that of the original version.[212] Some critics commented that there were subtle changes;Notion's Rachel Martin wrote that Swift made "some dialect tweaks" and sang "with more depth and emotion" in the bridge, which resulted in a more powerful conclusion,[213] whileThe Music's Tione Zylstra said that her vocals were "angrier and bitter".[214] Ed Power of thei described it as a "timeless diss track",[215] and Mark Sutherland ofRolling Stone UK commented the track "remains astounding".[216] Commenting on the re-recorded remix, Elizabeth Braaten ofPaste praised Swift and Lamar as "a match made in radio heaven".[212] Giving the track a negative review,Pitchfork's Shaad D'Souza said that it "sounds more basic, bratty, and boring than ever".[210]
On theBillboard Hot 100, "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)" debuted at number seven on the chart dated November 11, 2023,[217] extending Swift's record for the most top-10 singles (49) among women.[218] On theBillboard Global 200, it debuted at number six; with other1989 (Taylor's Version) tracks, it helped Swift become the first artist to occupy the entire top six of the Global 200 chart simultaneously.[219] The track also peaked in the top 10 on charts of Canada (7),[220] New Zealand (10),[221] and the Philippines.[222] It was certified platinum in Australia[52] and gold in Brazil.[53]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 23. týden 2015 in the date selector. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
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