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Karma

Single (Remix feat. Ice Spice) | Midnights (2022)

“Karma” is the eleventh track and third single from Taylor’s tenth studio album, Midnights (2022). It was released on October 21, 2022, through Republic Records. Written and produced by Taylor and Jack Antonoff, the song is written from the perspective of feeling content and proud of the way your life is, feeling like this must be a reward for being a good person. The remix featuring American rapper Ice Spice was released on May 26, 2023.

Background and Release

On August 28, 2022, Taylor announced her tenth studio album, Midnights, set for release on October 21, 2022. Exactly one month later, she began unveiling the track-list in a randomized order through a video series on TikTok, called Midnights Mayhem With Me. It consisted of 13 episodes, with one song revealed in per episode. In the eigth edition on October 6, 2022, Taylor announced the title of the eleventh track as “Karma.”

“Karma” officially impacted US Pop Radio on May 2, 2023, as the third pop format single from Midnights. A remix featuring American rapper Ice Spice was released on May 26, 2023.

Lyrical Theme

On “Karma,” Taylor confronts people from her past, warning them about the consequences of their actions. Karma is a universal force. What goes around comes back around. If you do bad, you get bad results. If you do good, you get good results. It might not happen instantly, but it will follow you through. This is the beauty of karma. All those who deserve it, get it, so you don’t have to spoil your own karma trying to bring justice. Taylor told Zane Lowe on October 21, 2022:

«So one of the themes about Midnights is how you’re feeling in the middle of the night. And that can be intense self-hatred, you go through these very polarizing emotions when you’re up late at night and you’re brain just spirals, it can spiral downward or it can spiral way up and you can just be really feeling yourself. 'Karma' is written from a perspective of feeling like really happy, really proud of the way your life is, feeling like this must be a reward for doing stuff right. And it’s a song that I really love because I think we all need some of those moments. You know, we can’t just be beating ourselves up all the time. You have to have these moments where you’re like, 'You know what, karma is my boyfriend and that’s it.'»

Taylor Swift

Often a lot of atrocities are caused motivated by monetary gains. People fail to see what they could lose whilst gaining monetary edges. The “price” they could pay can come in the form of reputation, family, health, and other non-physical things. They are tough prices to pay and cannot be bought back with monetary gains.

One lyric in the song, “My pennies made your crown,” gives a hint at who this song is about, as it implies that someone stole Taylor’s life’s work and earned money from it. One of the most publicized feuds she has had was with her former record label owner Scott Borchetta and the label’s buyer Scooter Braun, who refused to sell the masters to Taylor’s albums when she wanted to switch record labels. This led Taylor to re-record all of her first six albums to retain rights for her own music.

On November 11, 2023, Taylor changed the lyrics in the bridge when NFL star Travis Kelce attended “The Eras Tour” in Buenos Aires (Argentina) as her boyfriend for the first time. Gone was, “Karma is the guy on the screen.” The new version is: “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me.”

Production

“Karma” came together when Jack Antonoff reached out to co-producer Mark Anthony Spears (Sounwave) for any other ideas he may have to contribute to the album and its synth-pop vision. He also contributed to “Lavender Haze” and “Glitch.” He told Rolling Stone in October 2022:

«'Karma' was just a last-minute Hail Mary. I remembered I was working with my guy Keanu [Beats] and had something that was too perfect not to send to her. As soon as I sent it, Jack was instantly like ‘This is the one. Playing it for Taylor now. We’re going in on it.’ The next day, I heard the final product with her vocals on it. It is such a fun song! It instantly rings up and you just feel joy inside. And the messaging is so cool.»

Mark Anthony Spears

Spears only heard a few other songs from the LP prior to its officially release; Antonoff had sent over a sampling of what him and Taylor had made so Spears had a sense of the sound they were going for when he went to reproduce the beats following the lyric and vocal additions. He was impressed by the sound and concept.

Remix with Ice Spice

“Karma (feat. Ice Spice)” is a remix of Taylor’s featuring rapper Ice Spice. After rumors started spreading about the collaboration in April 2023, Taylor finally took to Twitter to officially announce it alongside the Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition), featuring an extended version of “Snow On The Beach” with a new verse from Lana Del Rey, as well as the release of “Hits Different” on streaming platforms. On Spotify, she talked about collaborating with Ice Spice:

«Collaborating with Ice Spice on 'Karma' was one of the most natural things. She reached out through her team just kind of saying, 'Hey, you know, Ice has been a big fan of Taylor since she was a little kid. We’d love to collaborate if that was ever something that came about.' And I had been listening to her nonstop, like getting ready for my tour, I was just listening to Ice Spice constantly. So I immediately got her number and said, 'Hey, would you want to do your version of 'Karma'? Do you relate to this?' And so she jumped in head first, and getting to know her has been so special, because I’m blown away by her. She is, in my opinion, the one to watch. Just watching her work ethic and how thoughtfully she approaches her career. She’s like my new favorite artist, and I’m so honored that she’s on the song. So, yeah, what a joy.»

Taylor Swift

In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 in July 2023, Ice Spice told a sweet story about how her and Taylor’s collaboration came to be: “I was home, and my manager called me and was like, ‘Oh, Taylor wants you on a record.’ And I’m like, ‘Taylor?’ And he usually would just text me anything, right? So I’m like, ‘OK.’ I was having a terrible day. I was crying all morning because I was just so mad at something, and then he called me with that news. And then I cried more, because it was good news.” Ice Spice described her time in the studio with Taylor as “amazing”:

«We went to the studio, and she's so humble and so nice. I kid you not. I pulled up to the studio, and she's outside waiting for me. I'm like, 'Why is Taylor Swift outside?' Like, 'Taylor, what are you doing here?' So she's great. She's so funny.»

Ice Spice

Since making the collaboration, Ice Spice said, “We text all the time. She is fucking hilarious. I’m not going to lie. She’s the funniest person ever.”

Live Performances

“Karma” is part of the regular set list of Taylor’s sixth headlining concert tour, “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). It is the show’s closer. Hours after the remix was released on May 26, Taylor brought Ice Spice on stage as a surprise guest during her “Eras Tour” stop at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey — and again the following two nights. Since getting together with Travis Kelce in the fall of 2023, Taylor has changed a lyric in the bridge for her live shows, excitedly declaring: “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me!”

Commercial Performance

In the United States, songs from Midnights occupied the entire Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100; a historic feat. “Karma” debuted at No. 9 on the chart. Taylor became the first artist to simultaneously occupy the Top 10 spots of the Hot 100; the female artist with the most Top 10 songs (40); and the first act to occupy the entire Top 10 of the Hot 100, Streaming Songs, and Digital Songs charts simultaneously. Midnights also became the first album in history to contain ten Top 10 songs. After the release of the remix, during the week dated June 5, 2023, “Karma” reached a new peak of No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It became the third Top 2 track off of Midnights.

Accolades

At the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, “Karma” received a nomination for “Song of the Summer”. At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on February 5, 2024, the “Karma (Remix)” featuring Ice Spice is nominated for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance”.