Uh Oh, What If You Don’t Love The “Bad Blood” Video?

A Taylor Swift die-hard wrestles with her mixed feelings about the star-studded music video.

May 18 marked the premiere of Taylor Swift's star-studded music video “Bad Blood”. Was the video any good? Or did the sparkling lights blind us?

First a disclaimer: I am a big Taylor Swift fan. When 1989 came out I was absolutely ecstatic. What was the song that made me decide that I loved the album? Yep, you guessed it: “Bad Blood”.

We all know the rumours circulating around the song; how it’s all about that little fiasco between Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. The song is badass – her new “Better Than Revenge” - and it was only ever going to get more badass when Taylor begin teasing posters for the impending video on her Instagram.

News came out that the clip for “Bad Blood” would be full of actresses, models and singers, from the likes of Hayley Williams to Jessica Alba to Cara Delevingne and Karlie Kloss (both of whom are well known besties of Swift - #squadgoals). Expectations were high. And I have to admit… I was disappointed.

I don’t think it ever really occurred to me that the song released wouldn’t be the album version. Instead, we got the Kendrick Lamar remix. I’m a fan of Kendrick Lamar – but not a fan of him and Taylor Swift. The two artists don’t belong together; they’re in completely different leagues and you could see that in the song. The two artists are currently dominating their own fields, with Kendrick’s last album To Pimp a Butterfly ruling the rap scene and Taylor leading the pop way with 1989. However, they’re not dominating together.

As for the video itself, sure, it was star-studded, yet those stars only got three seconds each in a clip that didn’t really have a concrete story line. There were a bundle of movie references thrown in and a general Kill Bill vibe, but on the whole, it’s not that great of a music video.

There’s a chance that if you feel the same way, your opinion could see you shunned by your circle of friends. Here’s some advice:

• Remind everyone of your Tay-Tay bona fides. “I liked her back when she was country!”
• Tell everyone you were blinded by the awesomeness of Nicki Minaj and Beyonce’s “Feeling Myself” instead.
• Or, double-down on your opinion and say that Sin City chic is so “2000 and late.”

Mostly, the video only looked like Taylor showing off her squad and through that she may have sent out the message that you shouldn't mess with her, Katy. She has friends in high places that will definitely take you down with copious amounts of leather and eyeliner. If that was her aim, she definitely achieved it. But I don’t think she achieved a great music video out of it.

Disagree? Or maybe you agree? Maybe you haven’t even seen the video yet? You can check it out here and decide for yourself.

Caitlin Moore is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. Learn more about our contributors program.