Today (October 27) is another historic day for frequent chart-topper Taylor Swift. The “Slut!” singer has snatched back the masters of her album 1989, thanks to the rerecorded Taylor’s Version. The project features the breakout songs “Welcome To New York,” “Blank Space,” “All You Had To Do Was Stay,” “Shake It Off,” “Wildest Dreams,” and who could forget “Bad Blood?” Each of the songs has been spruced up in the Taylor Version. What about the “Bad Blood” remix featuring Kendrick Lamar?
Due to the legal loophole surrounding Swift’s ownership stake, fans wonder if she had Kendrick re-record his verse. The answer is yes. She confirmed the news in a post shared on Swift’s official X (formerly Twitter) page with a touching note. “The reality that Kendrick would go back in and re-record ‘Bad Blood’ so that I could reclaim and own this work I’m so proud of is surreal and bewildering to me,” wrote Swift.
Watching @kendricklamar create and record his verses on the Bad Blood remix was one of the most inspiring experiences of my life. I still look back on this collaboration with so much pride and gratitude, for the ways Kendrick elevated the song and the way he treats everyone… pic.twitter.com/au2PNAjHfx
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 27, 2023
During a 2017 interview with Howard Stern, Kendrick discussed what it was like working with Swift, saying, “We both were in Los Angeles, so I came to her studio session. She had the music up, and I started writing and jumped in the booth, and we laid it down. With this particular record, I was just vibing and catching her lyrics. I didn’t want to get into her head too crazy. I just wanted to have my own inspiration and see where it took it… Fortunately, the vibe was right, and it didn’t take too many takes, and we were really locked in on the chemistry, and we really felt what was going on when I was in the booth.”
1989 (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic Records. Find more information here.