Taylor Swift made it no secret: One of the themes of Midnights would be the idea of getting revenge, something that kept her up at night. “Karma” was one of the album’s most obvious tracks exploring it. Less obvious? Who the song is about, as Swift didn’t name names and has publicly feuded with several people over the years.
Swifties were quick to share their guesses, though, suggesting Scooter Braun and Kanye West were the two most obvious subjects of “Karma.” Lyrically, Swift’s song may make more overt references to Braun, who bought her song catalog of her first six albums from Big Machine Records’ Scott Borchetta. “This is my worst case scenario,” Swift wrote on her Tumblr in June 2019 when the news was announced. “This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.”
“When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them,” she continued. “Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”
But West, whose feud with Swift started when he interrupted her MTV VMAs speech in 2009, hasn’t exactly fared the best in the public eye over time either—and “Karma” touches on the peace Swift feels watching those who wronged her get their due. Today, for example, Balenciaga announced it was cutting ties with West following the rapper making anti-semitic remarks. Some fans pointed out the coincidence of this timing, including Swift releasing the song on West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s birthday:
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Every time I hear Taylor Swift say “Karma” I remember Kanye West being cancelled everywhere.
— Hanina (@hellohanina) October 21, 2022
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Fitting Taylor releases karma when Kanye is at his lowest of all time lol
— Mikala Compton 🦇 (@MikalaCompton) October 21, 2022
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taylor releasing a song called “karma” on kim’s birthday while kanye is being kanye … yes
— Monica Kast (@monica_kast) October 21, 2022
One fan also pointed out that Braun is an investor in 100 Thieves, which Swift seemingly referenced in both “Karma” and “Vigilante Shit.” (In “Karma,” Swift sings, “Spiderboy, king of thieves / Weave your little webs of opacity / My pennies made your crown.”)
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Important info for fellow Swifties listening to Vigilante Shit and Karma: Scooter Braun is an investor in 100 Thieves (“picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife” and “king of thieves”)
— nat (@heyhellonat) October 21, 2022
Swift’s lyrics are, for the most part, vague enough to fit both West and Braun given their own public actions. Here, read the lyrics, with some contextual annotations added. You can listen to the song below, too.
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You’re talking shit
For the hell of it
Addicted to betrayal but you’re relevant
You’re terrified to look down
‘Cause if you dare
You’ll see the glare
Of everyone you burned just to get there
It’s coming back around
And I keep my side of the street clean
You wouldn’t know what I mean
Insider ran a profile on “The many faces of Scooter Braun” in March, which explored his dark side in the business with people beyond Swift. A source close to Swift took issue with Braun’s attorney characterizing he and Swift were ever on good terms because they were photographed “dancing together in Taylor’s photo booth at a private Billboard afterparty in recent years [2015],” per Insider. “If Scooter is trying to insinuate they were friends, it would have been the ‘friendly’ thing to do to ask her if she was okay with him buying her entire life’s work out from under her,” the Swift source told the outlet. “He did not do that. Obviously any photo taken with him was before Taylor found out all the details and the full extent of some things that had gone down.”
‘Cause karma is my boyfriend
Karma is a God
Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend
Karma’s a relaxing thought
Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?
Sweet like honey
Karma is a cat
Purring in my lap ’cause it loves me
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like thatSpiderboy, king of thieves
Weave your little webs of opacity
My pennies made your crown
Trick me once
Trick me twice
Don’t you know that cash ain’t the only price?
It’s coming back around
And I keep my side of the street clean
You wouldn’t know what I mean
Braun ultimately sold Swift’s masters to private equity firm Shamrock Holdings in November 2020. Swift, at that point, had begun plans to re-record her albums and told fans Braun had been trying to make Swift sign an ironclad NDA before discussing selling her work to her. Swift’s disclosure about Braun’s conduct and her choice to release Taylor’s Version editions of her past work decreased the value of the original recordings and harmed Braun’s public reputation.
‘Cause karma is my boyfriend
Karma is a God
Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend
Karma’s a relaxing thought
Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?
Sweet like honey
Karma is a cat
Purring in my lap ’cause it loves me
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like thatAsk me what I learned from all those years
Ask me what I earned from all those tears
Ask me why so many fade but I’m still here
This lyric could refer to Swift’s using her hardship (the situation with West and Braun) to create music where she profits. Swift, for example, dedicated several tracks on 2017’s Reputation to her Kanye West feud. With Braun, she’s now re-recording her first six albums and profiting by revisiting them.
‘Cause karma is the thunder
Rattling your ground
Karma’s on your scent like a bounty hunter
Karma’s gonna track you down
Step by step from town to town
Sweet like justice
Karma is a queen
Karma takes all my friends to the summit
Karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me‘Cause karma is my boyfriend
Karma is a God
Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend
Karma’s a relaxing thought
Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?
Sweet like honey
Karma is a cat
Purring in my lap ’cause it loves me
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like thatKarma is my boyfriend
Karma is a God
Karma’s a relaxing thought
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
