Taylor Swift reveals surprise collab with rapper Ice Spice – and fans are confused: ‘A fever dream’
Taylor Swift’s latest collaboration, with rapper Ice Spice, is a bit of a surprise for fans. (Getty/ Jeff Kravitz/John Shearer)
Brace yourself, Swifties: one of the most unexpected collaborations of Taylor Swift’s career is almost here. Karma, featuring breakout bisexual rapper Ice Spice, is on the horizon.
Being a Taylor Swift fan for the past six months has felt somewhat like a full-time job. In October, she dropped her record-breaking tenth album Midnights, before announcing a deluxe “3AM” version five minutes later.
Towards the end of last year, Swifties marched into battle with concert giant Ticketmaster over issues acquiring tickets for her The Eras Tour, before the “Anti-Hero” singer launched the three-hour, 44-song stadium concert in March.
Anyone who thought Ms. Swift had no time for anything other than work was proved wrong last month, too, as rumours began to circulate that she was dating The 1975 frontman Matty Healy. As the rumour mill churned ferociously, Taylor made the conveniently-timed announcement that her third album, 2010’s Speak Now, would be getting the “Taylor’s Version” treatment as part of her bid to re-record all of her albums.
Exhausted yet? Taylor Swift isn’t. As if the new tour and Speak Now re-release wasn’t enough for Swifties to chew over, the 33-year-old musician has just announced that a third version of Midnights, the Till Dawn edition, is coming out this Friday (26 May).
As well as featuring Target exclusive song “Hits Different” and ‘from the vault’ track “You’re Losing Me”, the Midnights Till Dawn version will featuring a remix of previously released track “Karma” featuring rapper of the moment, Ice Spice.
Announcing the collaboration on social media, Swift said she had “so much” to tell her fans, including how much she loves Ice Spice.
“I’m a massive fan of this brilliant artist,” she said of the New York-based rapper, who became an overnight sensation in 2022 with her single “Bikini Bottom”. “After getting to know her I can confirm: she is THE ONE to watch,” Swift added.
Fans are mostly overjoyed at the news of more Swift music, though for many, Ice Spice wasn’t exactly the first person they though Swift would team up with.
“Still can’t imagine how Taylor Swift and Ice Spice would sound on the same track,” one fan shared. “This is going to be the most random collab ever.”
“Taylor Swift ft Ice Spice feels like some kind of fever dream,” another said. “That s**t is so unserious.”
“Taylor Swift and Ice Spice collab? I am so confused ‘cuz what the f**k?,” a third questioned.
Others have picked up on the odd timing of the Ice Spice collaboration, considering Taylor’s rumoured boyfriend Matty Healy was recently called out for questionable remarks he made about the artist.
Appearing on The Adam Friedland Show podcast, co-hosts Friedland and Nick Mullen referred to Ice Spice as a “chubby Chinese lady” and mocked Chinese and Hawaiian accents, while Healy laughed along. Healy later apologised for the remarks, somewhat, suggesting that he was “joking”.
In addition to the new tracks and Ice Spice collab, Taylor has also revealed that she will be releasing a re-recorded version of her Midnights song “Song on the Beach”, featuring “Cherry” singer Lana Del Rey, after fans complained the first version omitted Lana’s vocals almost entirely.
“You asked for it, we listened: Lana and I went back into the studio specifically to record more Lana on “Snow on the Beach”. Love u Lana,” Taylor wrote on social media.
Midnights Till Dawn is released on 26 May.
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