A musical overhaul and Lamar’s stellar contributions make this as much a 'f*** you' statement as it is a slice of Swiftian joy.
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Not content with abandoning the country girl image completely on 1989, Taylor Swift collaborated with Kendrick Lamar on the single release of ‘Bad Blood’. Now, it’s practically a hip-hop dance track.
It’s glorious.
Stripping away all the live instruments and replacing them with electronic and synth based counterparts gives the song a tougher, cooler edge than it had on the album. The sound of the electronic snare increasing in tempo before the chorus drops everything into a bassy groove is intoxicating. It is so easy to get lost in bad songs with these familiar dance trappings that we forget that they work. When they are in a song that is great from start to finish, from the memorable and catchy chorus, to Lamar’s simple, brutally effective verses, ‘Bad Blood’ makes for one hell of a track. This is not just one more meaningless stunt collaboration, but a powerful new duo.
‘Bad Blood’ is out now via Big Machine Records.
