After a semi-quiet year following the re-release of her album Red (Taylor’s Version) and an original song for the movie Where the Crawdads Sing, Taylor Swift makes a historic return to the MTV VMAs proving that she will always get smarter and harder in the knick of time.
The 2022 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony took place on Sunday and saw the artists Bad Bunny, Harry Styles, Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow bring home notable wins. Swift herself had a successful night and made history by winning three different awards, including video of the year, longform video of the year, and best direction.
Taylor Swift is the first artist to win best longform video while being the sole director and artist, and she also broke the record for having the most video of the year wins with three. Her video “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” was indeed record-breaking, and Dylan O’Brien was there to accept the awards with her as he was one of the stars of the music video along with Sadie Sink.
Besides the award wins, fans were quick to connect that her Oscar de la Renta gown was reminiscent of not only her dress from the 2009 VMAs but also of the bathtub scene in her 2017 “Look What You Made Me Do” music video. Both of these connections were made after fans realized that it had been 13 years since Ye, commonly known as Kanye West, infamously rushed the stage during her acceptance speech for winning Best Female Video.
Her sixth studio album “Reputation” is partially inspired by her ongoing feud with West, and so the dress made fans speculate that there also may be some re-records of “Reputation coming out next. Nothing is ever coincidental with Swift, and being that 13 is her lucky number, there was bound to be some kind of surprise from her.
In true Taylor Swift fashion, Swift took the time to announce that she will be releasing her 10th studio album, titled Midnights, which is set to release on Oct. 21. This album is said to be a collection of songs written through the span of her career late at night that are a reflection of thoughts that will keep you up at night.
Taylor Swift’s triumphant return to the VMAs and the album announcement is so special because Swift has been working to regain control of her masters, and for one of her re-records to be so successful shows that not only can Swift take back control of her music, but she can continue to break records while doing so.
Swift had been open in the past in discussing how the criticism of her winning awards discredited the awards she was receiving. Her acceptance speeches at this year’s VMAs were quick to thank the fans, whom she was grateful for making the music videos so popular. It seems that Swift has finally reached a point in her career where she no longer doubts herself or her career and is truly proud of the work that she has done and the positive effect that it has had on people.
I, for one, will be counting down the days until Midnights is released and can’t wait to see what Taylor plans to do next.