Rap Fans React: Monologue Song & Look What You Made Me Do Music Video | Taylor VS Kanye PT2
Taylor Swift vs Kanye West continues in Part 2 of our ongoing timeline series.
In this episode we explore how Taylor Swift responded to the fallout from the 2009 VMAs and how her relationship with Kanye West evolved in the years that followed.
We begin by revisiting Taylor’s decision to take the high road publicly after the incident, showing grace in interviews and focusing on her career. This leads into a discussion about her early Nashville grind, playing small shows, handing out demo CDs, and building her career the traditional way before mainstream superstardom.
We then react to her humorous but revealing early response, Monologue Song (La La La), and talk about what it shows about her mindset during this era.
From there we jump forward in the timeline to the surprising reconciliation period between Taylor and Kanye. We discuss how she later presented him with the Vanguard Award, how they were seen together socially, and how this friendship ultimately set the stage for the infamous phone call controversy a year later.
The episode then shifts into the dark, cinematic world of Reputation. We explore Taylor’s social media disappearance, the surprise rollout strategy, and the creation of her alter ego narrative.
We break down the lyrics and visuals of Look What You Made Me Do in depth, discussing symbolism including the graveyard imagery, references to past eras, industry conflicts, streaming battles, public scandals, and the famous “Taylor is dead” motif.
We also discuss her $1 sexual assault countersuit victory, her fight with streaming platforms over artist compensation, and how these real-life experiences shaped the Reputation era’s themes of control, revenge, reinvention, and media perception.
Throughout the episode the hosts debate interpretations of lyrics, visual storytelling choices, and the broader cultural narrative surrounding Taylor’s public image.
Finally, we set up Part 3 of the Taylor vs Kanye series, where we will continue the Reputation breakdown with a deep dive into This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things.
Stay tuned. _______________________________________________________________________
CHAPTERS:
SWIFTIES MAKE US BLUSH - 0:00
THE BOYS HAVE BRACELETS - 05:55
LAST BIT OF HOUSEKEEPING - 07:34
LETS REVIEW THE TIMELINE - 10:30
TAKING THE HIGH ROAD - 15:00
SHE'S A RAPPER IN GLITTER - 20:00
MONOLOGUE SONG - 23:00
THOUGHTS & DISCUSSION - 26:50
FILLING IN HISTORY - 29:05
LWYMMD BEGINS - 33:30
NILS SJOBERG - 37:45
1ST VERSE & BREAKDOWN - 43:09
THE COURT CASE - 47:53
THE HOOK & BREAKDOWN - 53:13
2ND VERSE & BREAKDOWN - 59:00
ROBBING STREAMING CO. - 01:06:11
THE BRIDGE & BREAKDOWN - 01:09:25
THE SKIT BREAKDOWN - 01:14:40
FINAL THOUGHTS - 01:16:35
THIS IS WHY WE CANT HAVE NICE THINGS - 01:18:40 ______________________________________________________________________
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Comments (53)
Hey, I know I'm late to the party for this one, but have you ever watched the clip of Seth Meyers on Howard Stern talking about when Taylor did this monolog? Very short, but very interesting and a lot of respect to Taylor! 🫶
with the whole gilded cage thing i always thought that was a metaphor for her fame. and she was on top of the world during the 1989 era like absolute pop princess peaking in popularity and then it all came crashing down with the kanye/kim of it all. she went from such a high in the public eye to such a low.
The Calvin Harris stuff was actually worse - he did an interview in which they asked him if he'd ever consider working with Taylor. He flat out said no, even though his biggest hit was written by her. That's when Joseph Kahn tweeted the spoiler about her pseudonym. Their breakup was pretty messy. He dragged her on social media (he later deleted the tweets) after they broke up and tried to smear her reputation, even though she was basically responsible for his huge success that summer.
The I ❤️ TS shirts are also a reference to a shirt that Tom Hiddleston famously wore, and the number of male dancers in that scene also represent the number of high profile famous boyfriends she had up until that point.
🫶🏻🫶🏻
I really enjoy watching you guys. I have mainly watched the Taylor content so far, but looking forward to checking out the rap content as well. I am a bit weird in my taste of music. I truly love all styles of music. I am a huge Swiftie, but also a metalhead, and love rap, classical, and all genres in between. Unfortunately life has been rough with losing my father last month, my mom is currently in the hospital and I am recently disabled. Thank you for the enjoyable content. It brightens my day! 🫶
1:08- tom hiddleston wore at I❤️TS shirt when they were photographed together at the beach The dance sequence is I think in response to the whole “Taylor can’t dance” thing
have u mentioned kanyes music video for the song with taylor nacked wax figure in bed w him, trump, kim, ray j, etc. CRAZY! love u guys
I hope you include Thank You Aimee before you move on from the Kim/Kanye beef. Another easter egg is the I heart Taylor shirts that are worn by the group of dancers. This is believed to be a reference to a Fourth of July party that Taylor had where Tom Hiddleston was seen wearing an I heart T.S. tank top. The pics went viral and the media used it to once again ridicule Taylor about her dating life. Tom later said in an interview that it was an inside joke and he borrowed it so he wouldn't get sunburned or something like that.
Wait, you said just two songs left? There is "this is why we can't have nice things, "Cassandra" and thanK you aIMee"...i guess the last one is more about kim but its tied to the same beef 😅
Haha yea see this is where my brain slips show in recording VS release. We planned to record “This is why we can’t have nice things” right after this so in my mind it was already checked off as done. So we have 3 more songs to release but only 2 more to record 😅 sorry about the confusion but yes we are going through to Cassandra!!! ❤️🫶🏼
43:40-KimK robbed in Paris Oct 3,2016-tied up & gaged in the hotel bathroom Aug 27, 2017 is the video release date I love the Tupac reference! I think TS is very inspired by hip hop
“Tilted stage” is a Kayne reference too
Yup I said it and showed it lol
30:35 the video has a naked wax figure of Taylor in bed too!!! Also when Taylor presented Kayne the award Taylor was in the crowd with Kim with her arm around her 😳
You have no idea how excited I was to see this! I'm so excited to get into this!
18:19 correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t Beyoncé/JayZ’s teams still close?
Please, please don't go into Ronan without knowing the context and what you are getting into. Some people like to spring it on reactors just to make them emotional, but I think that's cruel, especially if they have kids. It's a beautiful song and the proceeds go to Ronan's mother, so it's good to support it, but it's a VERY difficult song to hear. And I don't even have kids.
Oh no we’re not going in with no context. Corrina and Katie will be there for the full ride. We’re not letting these boys go off on their own, promise! And Katie will absolutely be there for Ronan since Corrina has only ever read about it all but Katie lived through it ❤️🫶🏼
I’m an every episode viewer as well. I unfortunately do not have the time to watch every video on Patreon AND then watch them again on YouTube but I do watch y’all on both platforms, it honestly just depends which platform I see a new video first that determines where I watch lol buuuut is there a platform that is more beneficial for ya’ll for us to watch from?? Like, for the videos that are posted on both platforms, do y’all have a preference on which one we should watch on or does it matter??
Oh yea we know! We got off talking about Ashley because she had gotten into a bit of the debate on our Kendrick video and we were reading the comment but we talk about a lot of you guys a lot! I usually cut it all but I think I’m gonna start including little moments like this 🫶🏼 No real preference at all!! It’s really just what’s most convenient and enjoyable for you!
Seth Meyers talks about this on the Howard Stern's show. The SNL writers had something for her, she came in with this and performed for them. including Lorne Michaels I believe. They were blown away by hers and never even showed her what they had done. Somewhere there is video of the Stern show with Seth Meyers.
calvin and taylor dated for a year. the reason taylor revealed she wrote this is what you came for is because calvin said in an interview (WHILE THDY WEFE STILL DATING, and after this is what you came for already came out and was super successful) that he would never work professionally with taylor. which is like 1. a lie. and 2. so disrespectful? just a slap in the face for nothing.
Ugh yea that’s so shitty! I knew it had something to do with his ego but hearing it spelt out like that just makes it feel worse.
I'm loving this beef/lore deep dive! you guys are doign an amazing job. If you want to keep doing this format I think a great one to explore would be the scooter braun, scot brochetta beef there's some amazing songs on that
That has to be another Beef Series! Great idea 💡 👍🏻
Awww this made my day. I was excited to just see a new video. Then more so, because it's these songs. So to start the video & you guys mention a comment I left, just completely made my entire day or hell entire week!!! I wanted to make sure you all know that you're appreciated & you just turned the table on me, so tyvm! I love these videos & keep up the great work!!!
Robert completely got these lyrics imo in regards to the Kimye bars. I especially loved his interpretation of the birdcage scene with the verse about being locked out of the kingdom.
I think it is Katy Perry but I could be wrong Taylor was on top and Katy took over for a while.
Taylor legit looks like Katie in that scene
It is widely believed that in the Bugatti it represents Katy Perry and the fact that Katy never won a Grammy is salt in the wound.
there was also a diss to her record label big machne records, at the end it show her holding up to big ass bikes ie she is the artist who holds up that company. she is just to fng clever.
1:01:10 you could say they Burried The Hatchet (but she keeps maps of where she put em)
You should react to the Seth Meyers interview on s podcast talking about the monalage song.
The Calvin Harris thing was that Calvin was asked in an interview if he would ever write a song with Taylor Swift and he said never.
Ugh, so shady!!
This song and video is a f** you all song!
Robert: swiftie’s listen to every word. And use google, dictionary’s and the swiftie community to figure out what she’s telling us. No swiftie is “just vibing” enen Taylor releases a new album 😁
That comment was in relation to other pop artists. Generally, you don’t need a dictionary for pop music. That was the contrast he was trying to make, just in his own words 😊
Taylor would never use accident to make a point! Regardless the person or the beef. She would send sourdough!
I agree, but personal musical and visual interpretations are always encouraged here. Exploring what could or couldn’t be is half the fun of doing this for us 😊🫶🏼
Haven’t watched this yet, but PLEASE throw Three Sad Virgins onto the list. I think they will appreciate it.
Definitely will!!!
I MAY be biased, but Swifties by and far are one of the best groups of people. Of course there are shitty people in every single fangroup but most are amazing!
Agree with this 1000%! There’s bad apples everywhere, but I’ll never accept anything bad about the Swifties as a whole because they’re amazingly kind and giving and supportive. Best fanbase I’ve ever been apart of 🫶🏼
Taylor and Calvin Harris dated for 1 year. On April 29 Calvin gave an interview saying he would never work with Taylor. (The same date the Rihanna song was released) he accused her of using him and his fame to gain greater fame. That was the thing that ended the relationship and why Taylor leaked that she was the person behind Nils sjoberg Calvin is allegedly the muse for several of Taylor’s songs for example high infidelity
Thank you! Wasn’t sure exactly what split them but knew his ego was the biggest problem somehow 🤣🫶🏼
22:03 It was her second album Fearless that she was winning awards for. Her 3rd Album Speak Now (Entirely Self-Written btw) came out in 2010 (the year I graduated high school/started college)
Yess! This was the episode I jumped the gun on and talked about things I wasn’t 100% sure on but I corrected when we recorded again which is the episode yall already saw (VMAS & Innocent) 😅 sorry I messed this all up with recording out of order and now we’re releasing out of order of the recordings lololol. As of Monday we will be on track with This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things 🫶🏼
there is a really cool howard stern episode where seth myers talks about this night. he was a writer on the show and taylor ask lorne michaels and seth if she can use her own opening. they here it and say fuck yeah.
Oooh that’s interesting, I’ve never seen that! Will have to check that out 🙌🏼
Still waiting for the PO Box reveal 🫶
Haha we’re working on it! Trying to see if there’s enough people to justify getting a PO Box because they’re a bit pricier than we originally thought! Worst case though if you have bracelets you really wanna send we can give you our address. We don’t mind a few people having it, we just don’t wanna publish it on a wide scale haha 🫶🏼❤️
