Thursday, Feb. 11, Taylor Swift announced to her 148 million fans on Instagram that she would be would re-releasing her sophomore album “Fearless” as “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” with 26 original songs and six songs that have never been heard before from the vault. The following day, Swift released “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” which left fans nostalgic for the times well over a decade ago.

“Fearless,” which was released Nov. 11, 2008, by Big Machine Records, was rooted deep within the country genre for the young musician, who was 16 when she released her self-titled debut album in 2006. Having moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue music, Swift quickly caught the eyes of Big Machine Records and Scott Borchetta, who signed a deal with Swift in 2004 which granted them ownership of the master recording of her first six albums in exchange for a cash advance to kick-start her career.

It wasn’t until 13 years later when Swift released her sixth studio album “Reputation” that she was finally free from the contractual obligations of Big Machine Records. Unfortunately, this is where things started to get a little messy for Swift. The popstar then signed a new deal with Republic Records and Universal Music Group, which she has been associated with since. In this new deal, she negotiated ownership of all future masters whereas Big Machine Records retained ownership over her first six albums. Scott or “Scooter” Braun, of Ithaca Holdings, acquired Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group in late July 2019, when Borchetta sold it to him. Braun, a prevalent individual within the pop and rap industries, had clientele and contracts with Justin Bieber (“Anyone”) and Kanye West (“Bound 2”).

If anyone hasn’t heard about the beef that stewed from West jumping up on stage and derailing Swift’s first large VMA award moment in 2009, they are simply living under a rock as it has been the means for West and his wife at the time, Kim Kardashian, to try and stay relevant with younger crowds by antagonizing Swift in recent years. West, who had gotten on stage, took the microphone from Swift, dismissing her to say that Beyoncé (“Lemonade”) deserved to win the Best Female Video award over Swift, who was just 19 at the time. Since then, there have been ongoing conflict with West and Swift as he has used her name in songs such as “Famous” in lyrics where he says, “I feel me and Taylor might still have sex.” He had also featured a nude version of Taylor Swift in the music video for the song which she had referred to as revenge porn. Instances of Kim Kardashian posting an illegally recorded phone call between West and Swift led to a lot of talk around her final album with Big Machine, “Reputation,” and West’s album at the time, “Life of Pablo.”

So, when the news of Big Red Machine being sold to Braun was released, Swift was rightfully enraged and took to Tumblr to release a blog-like post on her discovery of the selling of Big Machine and subsequently the masters to her six albums. In the post, she recalls the unsavory relationship between herself and Braun and his clients like West and Bieber and that by Borchetta selling out to Braun, she stated her “musical legacy was about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.” She and Big Machine had struck a deal to eventually allow her to buy back the rights to her earlier albums, as she produced more under their label, making her continue to work under them. After the news of the sale, many musicians took sides with artists like Rihanna (“Umbrella”), Miley Cyrus (“Midnight Sky”) and Adele (“Someone Like You”) unfollowing Braun on social media which other artists such as Halsey (“Closer”) showing earnest messages and statements of support for Swift. Some such as Todrick Hall (“Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels”) even recounted their own experiences with Braun, affirming his disdain for Swift and even claiming he was homophobic.

Swift, who had been pumping out new full-length albums, alongside singles, live albums, extended plays and compilation albums, had been releasing an album about every two to three years. With each album evolving with who she was as a young musician in Nashville, her first three albums, “Taylor Swift,” “Fearless” and “Speak Now,” were solely radio country albums.  It wasn’t until 2012 when “Red” came out that Swift started experimenting more with genre and her own range and capabilities vocally. This is where we see a rebranding of her image and an evolution of character with each subsequent album. Some fans, avid and loyal fans of hers, loved every move she made, while others who were now going into their teenage years were put-off by what could be frail and thin vocals that couldn’t hold up against the likes of pop and attempts of speech and almost rap within her albums “1989” and “Reputation.” It wasn’t until Swift signed with Republic Records that she was finally able to transition into a new era of music with her album “Lover,” which was released in August 2019, “Folklore” and “Evermore,” which were released within mere months of one another in July and December 2020.

So, two weeks ago when Taylor Swift announced the re-releasing of her second album “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” one can now take into the fact that much of the identity and reputation that she had sacrificed through her music at the hands of Braun throughout her career. Swift, now 31, has been in the music industry since she was 15 and as a young girl growing up in shark-infested waters, has endured all sorts of slander from press regarding her relations, autobiographical approach to writing, and even down to how much skin she prefers to show on stage. 

Now that she has taken a turn in her musical path and process with her two most recent albums “Folklore” and “Evermore” which are both two incredible works featuring the likes of Bon Iver (“Skinny Love”), The National (“Light Years”) and HAIM (“Gasoline”). Not only did these two recent albums top the charts, but they also confirmed Swift as an evolved and experienced musician who has finally found peace and clarity within her own voice and music.

The release of “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” was incredibly well received and truly hit hearts that heard Swift’s songs over the lyrics she had written and recorded over 15 years ago. Not only does it offer some more introspective but also reflective as well to be mulling over the past and reclaiming her music for herself once again.

“Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” with its archival songs will be released on April 9.

Image from Taylor Swift via YouTube