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...Ready for It?
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = ...Ready for It?
| type = single
| cover = ...Ready for It? - Taylor Swift.png
| border = yes
| caption =
| artist = Taylor Swift
| album = Reputation
| released =
| recorded =
| studio = MXM Studios
| genre =
* Electropop
* industrial pop
* pop rap
* EDM
* progressive pop
| length =
| label = Big Machine
| writer =
* Taylor Swift
* Max Martin
* Shellback
* Ali Payami
| producer =
* Max Martin
* Shellback
* Ali Payami
| prev_title = Look What You Made Me Do
| prev_year = 2017
| next_title = End Game
| next_year = 2017
| misc =
}}
"'...Ready for It?'" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her sixth studio album, 'Reputation' (2017). Initially released as a promotional single on September 3, 2017, the song impacted radio on September 17 as the album's second official single after
"Look What You Made Me Do". The song itself is an electropop, industrial pop, EDM, and progressive pop song with elements of dancehall and trap. It sees Swift rapping over deep synthesizers, heavy bass drops and programmed drums. Lyrically, the song revolves around a subject whom Swift names a "killer", using Hollywood imageries such as a bank heist, going undercover, ransom and jail.
The accompanying music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, features a dark, futuristic aesthetic and pays homage references to sci-fi franchises such as 'Blade Runner', 'Tron' and 'Ghost in the Shell'. Upon release, "...Ready for It?" received positive reviews from music critics, who praised the production as "anthemic" and "colossal", and cited the track as an improvement over Swift's previous single, "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017).
Commercially, "...Ready for It?" reached the top-ten in Australia, Canada, Greece, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand, Scotland and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the song debuted at number 4 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, extending Swift's record as the female artist with the most Hot 100 top-ten debuts, with fourteen. It also debuted at number-one on the 'Billboard' Digital Song Sales chart, selling 135,000 song downloads. A BloodPop remix of the song was released on December 10, 2017. "...Ready for It?" has been certified 2 Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for earning over 2 million units in the US. The song is certified double platinum in Australia and Canada, as well.
Promotion and release
Swift had first teased a portion of the single, along with "Look What You Made Me Do", on September 2, 2017, during ABC's 'Saturday Night Football' broadcast of the Florida State vs. Alabama game, and was also used in the introduction to every 'Saturday Night Football' game on ABC that season. The same day, she announced it would be included on her upcoming album, 'Reputation', and confirmed its release as a promotional single. It was made available for digital download as part of the pre-order of the album on September 3, 2017. It impacted contemporary hit radio on September 17, 2017.
A remix for the song featuring American musician BloodPop was released on December 10, 2017. The remix received positive reviews from critics. On December 14, a lyric video for the remix was uploaded to Swift's Vevo channel on YouTube, which included clips from the original music video, released about a month and half before. As of August 2020, the lyric video for the remix has gained over nine million views on YouTube.
Writing and composition
"...Ready for It?" is a "pop-oriented", "electronic-inspired" electropop, industrial pop, EDM, and progressive pop song with influences of dancehall and trap music. The song features deep synths, a tropical house chorus, dubstep a bass drop, drum machines and rapping. The atmosphere of the song drew comparisons to Kanye West and Rihanna. The song is performed in the key of E minor with a tempo of 80 beats per minute, with Swift's vocals spanning from G3 to D5.
The song lyrically revolves around Swift's fantasies about an individual whom she describes as a "killer" who has had multiple relationships and is "younger than her exes" but "acts like such a man". These fantasies include "holding him for ransom", committing a bank heist together, moving to a secret offshore location and being held in jail. Swift uses images of Hollywood romance, islands and going undercover so that "no one has to know". She also addresses the perception of her own romantic history by comparing herself to Elizabeth Taylor and her lover to Richard Burton.
Critical reception
"...Ready for It?" received positive reviews from music critics, calling it an improvement from Swift's previous single, "Look What You Made Me Do". Tom Breihan of 'Stereogum' said the songwriters "made something ungainly and goofy, something that was probably a terrible idea, and they still made it sound like towering, colossal pop music". Patrick Ryan of 'USA Today' expressed some scepticism concerning Swift's rapping, but noted the contrast between the "anthemic chorus" and "dark", intense verses made for a "promising second glance on her 'reputation' era". Richard He wrote for 'Billboard' that "Swift has never sung more expressively, nor sounded more in tune with the way modern pop production uses the voice as an instrument" and that the song's chorus has "one of the prettiest melodies of her career".
However, Craig Jenkins of 'Vulture' gave it a lukewarm review, stating that the song "doesn't reinvent pop or Taylor, but it does get her name out on a product built to keep pace with current trends". Mike Wass for 'Idolator' dismissed the song as "not good" and called it "equally underwhelming" as "Look What You Made Me Do". He concluded by saying "If you can get past the cringeworthy lyrics and jarring production, a cute chorus awaits. But that's a lot of work for a minor payoff".
Commercial performance
In the United States, "...Ready for It?" debuted and peaked at number four on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, becoming Swift's 22nd top 10 song and her fourteenth top 10 debut on the chart, the most among female artists and second most overall behind rapper Drake. It also became her thirteenth number one song on the 'Billboard' Digital Song Sales chart with opening sales of 135,000 copies, entered the 'Billboard' Streaming Songs chart with 19 million streams in its first week of availability, and opened at 35 on the 'Billboard' Pop Songs chart with a radio audience of 13 million. On other 'Billboard' charts, "...Ready For It?" peaked at number 12 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, number 10 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, and number 26 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
In Canada, the song peaked at number seven. It opened atop the digital sales chart, dethroning another single from 'Reputation', "Look What You Made Me Do". Likewise in the UK, it also peaked at number seven, while in Scotland and New Zealand, it peaked at numbers three and number nine, respectively.
In Australia, "...Ready for It?" entered at its peak position of number three on the ARIA Singles Chart, becoming her twelfth top five entry in the nation.
Music video
Production and release
".The video was shot on August 21, 2017. An audio for the song was released on September 3, 2017, that has more than 300 million views to date. On October 23, 2017, Swift released a teaser of the music video for the song. The full video premiered on October 26. It was directed by Joseph Kahn. The video features homage references to sci-fi and anime, such as 'Blade Runner', 'Tron' and 'Ghost in the Shell'. As of October 2021, the video has over 300 million views on YouTube.
Synopsis
The video features two versions of Swift. One version is a cyborg in a white bodysuit. She is shown behind the walls of a cell being guarded by several men in suits. The other version of Swift is seen wearing a large black cloak. The video starts with the cloaked Swift walking through an alley, making her way past several guards and typing in a code to access the room where the cyborg Swift is being held. Graffiti seen on the walls are lyrics from the 'Reputation'. The cloaked Swift walks up to the cell walls and watches as the cyborg Swift transforms into several iterations - she wears futuristic armor, rides a white horse, manipulates various flickers of energy, and shoots lightning bolts from her fingertips. Eventually, the cyborg Swift is able to break through the cell walls, with shards of glass cutting the cloaked Swift across the face, revealing she is a cyborg as well. The cyborg guards try to contain both of them to no avail, and the video ends as cyborg Swift moves up an escalator.Live performances
Swift performed "...Ready for It?" for the first time during an episode of the 43rd season of 'Saturday Night Live' on November 11, 2017, alongside an acoustic version of "Call It What You Want". Swift also performed "...Ready for It?" as part of the KIIS-FM's Jingle Ball 2017 on December 1, 2017, in Inglewood, California. Two days later, Swift returned onstage to perform the song again as part of 99.7 Now!'s Poptopia in San Jose, California with the same setlist. The following week, Swift performed the song again on three other occasions, such as the B96 Chicago and Pepsi Jingle Bash 2017 in Chicago, the Z100 Jingle Ball 2017 in New York City and Jingle Bell Ball 2017 in London.
The song was the first song performed every night at Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour.
On May 27, 2018, Swift opened her set as part of BBC Radio 1's Biggest Weekend in Singleton Park in Swansea, Wales with the song.
Accolades
Usage in media
*ESPN used it in its college football telecast advertisements for the season opening game between Alabama and Florida State, which was aired on ABC on September 2.
*On the March 16, 2018, episode of the reality television singing competition show 'The Voice', Team Kelly (Clarkson) members Brynn Cartelli and Dylan Hartigan performed a grunge-rock arrangement of the song in a Battle round. While coaches Adam Levine and Alicia Keys preferred Cartelli's vocal performance, coach Blake Shelton preferred Hartigan's. Ultimately, Clarkson chose to agree with Levine and Keys and named Cartelli the winner of the Battle, advancing her to the Knockout rounds. Soon after, Hartigan was stolen onto Team Blake, saving him from elimination.
Track listings
Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of 'Reputation'.
'Studio'
* Recorded at MXM Studios (Stockholm, Sweden)
* Mixed at Mixstar Studios (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
* Mastered at Sterling Sound Studios (New York)
'Personnel'
* Taylor Swift lead vocals, background vocals, songwriter
* Max Martin producer, songwriter, recording, keyboards, programming
* Shellback producer, songwriter, recording, keyboards, programming
* Ali Payami producer, songwriter, keyboards, programming
* Serban Ghenea mixing
* John Hanes mix engineer
* Randy Merrill mastering
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
Notes
See also
* List of number-one digital songs of 2017 (Canada)
* List of number-one digital songs of 2017 (U.S.)
* List of Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles in 2017
* List of UK top 10 singles in 2017
* List of top 10 singles in 2017 (Australia)
References
Category:2017 songs
Category:Big Machine Records singles
Category:Electropop songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Max Martin
Category:Song recordings produced by Shellback (record producer)
Category:Songs written by Ali Payami
Category:Songs written by Max Martin
Category:Songs written by Shellback (record producer)
Category:Songs written by Taylor Swift
Category:Taylor Swift songs
Category:2017 singles
Category:Tropical house songs
Category:Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn
Category:Song recordings produced by Ali Payami
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