"...Ready for It?" is a song by the American singer-songwriter
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
from her sixth studio album, ''
Reputation
The reputation or prestige of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity – typically developed as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance.
...
'' (2017). She wrote the song with its producers:
Max Martin
Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin AllMusic known professional ...
electropop
Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...
and industrial pop song, "...Ready for It?" incorporates elements of
dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...
hip-hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
rapping
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...
and singing over heavy
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s,
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
drops, and programmed drums. Lyrically, the track uses criminal imagery such as bank heist and ransom to depict lust and infatuation in a newfound romantic connection.
Swift premiered "...Ready for It?" during an
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
college football match on September 2, 2017; the following day,
Big Machine Records
Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...
released the song for digital download. The single was released to US radio as the second single from ''Reputation'' on October 24, 2017. Music critics generally described the production of "...Ready for It?" as anthemic and considered it a better single choice than ''Reputation'' lead single " Look What You Made Me Do". While most reviews praised the production elements, several regarded the track as generic and indiscernible from mainstream trends.
The single both peaked within the top 10 and received platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The accompanying music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, features a dark, futuristic aesthetic and references
sci-fi
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
franchises. It depicts two versions of Swift dueling each other: a black-hooded human version and a mechanized, robotic version. Swift performed "...Ready for It?" live as the opener on the Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and the first song of the ''Reputation'' act on the Eras Tour (2023–2024).
Background and release
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's fifth studio album, ''
1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
'', was released in October 2014. Its
synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...
sound and commercial success transformed Swift's status from a
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
artist to a global pop star. Her fame was accompanied by tabloid gossip on her celebrity disputes and short-lived relationships, which blemished her "America's Sweetheart" reputation. During a self-imposed hiatus, she secluded from public appearances and conceived her sixth studio album, ''
Reputation
The reputation or prestige of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity – typically developed as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance.
...
'', as an answer to the media commotion surrounding her celebrity.
On September 2, 2017, Swift premiered a snippet of "...Ready for It?" during a teaser leading to ABC's ''
Saturday Night Football
''Saturday Night Football'' (currently branded as ''ESPN'' ''Saturday Night Football presented by Capital One'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American weekly presentation of prime time broadcasts of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCA ...
'' broadcast of
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's
Florida State
Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
vs.
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
game. A day after the snippet premiered, the track was released for digital download by
Big Machine Records
Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...
, as part of ''Reputation''s pre-order. It was the second song released from ''Reputation'', after the lead single " Look What You Made Me Do". In the United States, although the track initially was not actively promoted to radio,
pop radio
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Pop music, a musical genre
Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop! (British group), a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Album ...
stations proactively aired it, thus making it gain traction on airplay throughout September and October 2017. It was officially promoted to US
rhythmic contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...
radio on October 24, 2017, as the album's second single, by Big Machine Records. A
remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
by
BloodPop
Michael Tucker (born August 15, 1990), known professionally as BloodPop (stylized as BloodPop®), is an American musician, record producer, songwriter, and gaming executive.
Life and early career
Tucker was born in Kansas City, Missouri, Uni ...
was released in December 2017, accompanied by a lyric video.
Music and lyrics
Swift wrote "...Ready for It?" with its producers:
Max Martin
Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin AllMusic known professional ...
Serban Ghenea
Serban Ghenea () is a Canadian audio engineer and mixer. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award a total of 45 times and has won 21 times.
Early life and education
Ghenea was born in Romania, and in 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. H ...
at MixStar Studios in
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...
Randy Merrill
Randy Merrill is an American mastering engineer who has worked with international artists including Blink-182, DAY6, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Harry Styles, One Direction, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Beck, Liam Gallagher, Jonas Brothers, Muse ...
electropop
Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...
dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...
,
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
,
hip-hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
, and
trap music
Trap music, also known simply as trap, is a subgenre of hip-hop music which originated in the Southern United States, with lyrical references to trap starting in 1991 but the modern sound of trap appearing in 1999. The genre gets its name from t ...
. The song is written in the key of
E minor
E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp, on the F. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major.
The E natural minor scale is:
Change ...
with a
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
of 80 beats per minute, and Swift's vocals span from G3 to E5. It is driven by heavy
synths
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis an ...
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...
drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...
s, and Swift's
rapping
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...
-singing. The track has dynamic shifts through each part: it begins with abrasive dubstep bass beats and Swift clearing her throat, the verses feature her rapping, and the chorus has a less dense arrangement to make room for her breathy vocals. The production elements received comparisons to the music of
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...
, particularly his 2013 album ''
Yeezus
''Yeezus'' is the sixth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released on June 18, 2013, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. West gathered a number of artists and close collaborators for the production, includi ...
'', and
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
.
Swift wrote "...Ready for It?" about finding a "partner in crime". She was influenced by the novel ''
Crime and Punishment
''Crime and Punishment'' is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal '' The Russian Messenger'' in twelve monthly installments during 1866.
'' (1866) by
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...
to use criminal imagery such as bank robbers, thieves, and heists, finding it an interesting way to write songs about finding love. The lyrics of "...Ready for It?" are about excitement, lust, and infatuation in a burgeoning romance. The opening lines see Swift's narrator being attracted by a man whom she describes as a "killer" the moment she sees him. This man is "younger than erexes" but "acts like such a man". In turn, she confesses that she herself is a "robber" who has stolen other men's hearts "never saying sorry". She dreams about " eepinghim forever" and keeping this relationship private so that nobody can know about it. She compares her romance to that of
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...
and
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor.
Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...
, implying the complications of stardom and privacy.
Critical reception
Upon its release, "...Ready for It?" was seen by many critics as an improvement from ''Reputation'' lead single "Look What You Made Me Do";''The Music'''s Uppy Chatterjee opined that it should have been the lead single. Favorable reviews considered the song anthemic and catchy. Mary Wang of ''Vogue'' described the track as both a love song and a stadium anthem, Patrick Ryan of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' lauded the "sparkling, anthemic" chorus, and Shahzaib Hussain of ''Clash'' deemed the sound defiant. Tom Breihan of ''
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...
'' was impressed by the musical elements that were new to Swift such as rapping, tropical house, and sudden dynamic changes, writing that she "rides a beat better than anyone could've reasonably expected". In the views of
Jon Caramanica
Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music.
Biography
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Caramanica received his bachelor's degree ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', the maximalist pop of "...Ready for It?" represented a new musical direction for Swift, with "harsh sounds and urgent buildup segments to theatrical, bruising effect".
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
's Alexa Camp thought that the song was carefully constructed with catchy pop melodies and rapping cadences. Kristen He from ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' wrote that "...Ready for It?" showcased how Swift successfully used her voice as an instrument, in line with mainstream pop production choices, and hailed the chorus for featuring "one of the prettiest melodies of her career".
Less enthusiastic reviews considered the production of "...Ready for It?" generic and the songwriting subpar. In ''Spin'', Jordan Sargent acknowledged that the song is "melodically rich" but considered the metaphors clunky and ineffective and wrote that the song showcased Swift in a "mask" that lost her distinctiveness. Craig Jenkins of ''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...
'' similarly lamented that the track was an effort to keep up with mainstream trends and criticized Swift's experimentation with rapping and hip-hop as a cynical move for her artistic reinvention. According to Frank Guan, also from ''Vulture'', the song sounded too similar to other popular songs on radio. ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' described the lyrics as "wonderfully cringeworthy".
The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand.
It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...
's George Fenwick considered "...Ready for It?" one of the worst tracks off the album.
Retrospective reviews have considered "...Ready for It?" an effective opener for ''Reputation''. According to ''Billboard''s Joe Lynch, when the song was first released, "casual listeners were confused,
Swifties
Swifties are the fandom of the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Regarded by journalists as one of the largest, and most devoted fanbases, Swifties are known for their high levels of participation, community, and cultural impact on the mus ...
were challenged, and haters were given a bounty of fresh ammo".
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' thought that Swift's rapping was "better than you might expect" and highlighted the "impeccable hook" that had been absent in the lead single "Look What You Made Me Do". ''Vulture''s Nate Jones wrote that he disliked Swift's flow "borrowed from
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
" but regarded the chorus as undeniable. ''Stereogum'' ranked "...Ready for It?" among the 40 best pop songs of 2017, and ''Variety'''s Chris Willman placed it at number 38 on his 2024 ranking of Swift's 75 best songs. Less complimentary comments were from ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
''s Hannah Mylrea, who described the song as a messy combination of genres, and ''Paste'''s Jane Song, who considered Swift's "vaguely Bahamian accent" in the song "unsettling".
Commercial performance
In the United States, "...Ready for It?" debuted and peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated September 23, 2017, becoming Swift's 22nd top 10-song and 14th top 10-debut. It also became her 13th number-one song on the
Digital Songs
The Digital Song Sales (previously named Digital Songs and Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Luminate and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally started tracking ...
chart and opened at 35 on the
Pop Songs
Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the U ...
chart, where it eventually peaked at number 12. On other ''Billboard'' charts, "...Ready for It?" peaked at number 10 on
Adult Pop Songs
The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...
, number 26 on
Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
awarded the single a double-platinum
certification
Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...
in recognition of two million units sold in the United States.
Elsewhere, "...Ready for It?" entered the top 10 on charts of Australia (number three), Hungary (four), Malaysia (six), Canada (seven), the United Kingdom (seven), Greece (nine), and New Zealand (nine). The single reached the top 20 in Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Lebanon; and top 40 in Austria, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. It has been
certified
Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...
six-times platinum in Australia; double platinum in Brazil, Canada, and New Zealand; and platinum in the United Kingdom.
Music video
The music video was directed by Joseph Kahn. On October 23, 2017, Swift released a teaser of the music video for the song. The teaser received backlash from online commentators and audience, who claimed that Swift appears naked in the teaser. Subsequently, Swift posted an
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
story denouncing the nudity claims alongside a selfie of her wearing a
bodysuit
A bodysuit is a one-piece form-fitting garment, form-fitting or skin-tight garment that covers the torso and the crotch. The design of a basic bodysuit is similar to a one-piece swimsuit and a leotard, though the materials may vary. Thong or T ...
, captioned "It truly warms my heart that ppl had so much to say about this bodysuit." The full video premiered on October 26. It features homage references to
sci-fi
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
films like ''
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...
'' (1982), ''
Tron
''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...
manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
franchises like ''
Ghost in the Shell
''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...
'' and ''Sailor Moon''.
The video's central narrative is a battle between two versions of Swift: a human one and a
cyborg
A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. It starts with the human Swift, dressed in a black cloak. She walks through a dark alley and enters a room where the cyborg Swift is held captive in a force field cage. The cyborg Swift mutates into various forms trying to escape, and she eventually breaks 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 with the white cyborg Swift walking away from her demolished cell and moving 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
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' on November 11, 2017; she sang the track donning a cropped black sweatshirt and black shorts, backed by a quartet of backing vocalists and dancers. In December 2017, she included "...Ready for It?" in the set lists of several concerts that she participated in, including KIIS-FM's Jingle Ball on December 1, in
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
Pepsi
Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
's Jingle Bash on December 7, in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, the Z100 Jingle Ball on December 8, in New York City, and the Jingle Bell Ball on December 10, in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England. On May 27, 2018, Swift performed "...Ready for It?" as the opening number to her set as part of
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
Swansea
Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
, Wales.
"...Ready for It?" was the opening number of Swift's 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour. Before the performance began, the intro included news snippets discussing Swift's reputation. The screens onstage then parted, and Swift emerged through the smoke, wearing a black hoodie before revealing herself in a sparkling black bodysuit and knee-high black boots. On the Eras Tour (2023–2024), Swift performed "...Ready for It?" as the opening number for the ''Reputation'' segment, which began with stage screens showing imagery of snakes. Swift appeared onstage in a one-legged black
catsuit
A catsuit is a one-piece form-fitting garment that covers the torso and the legs, and frequently the arms. They are usually made from stretchable material, such as lycra, Chiffon (fabric), chiffon, spandex (after 1959), latex, or velour, but may u ...
embroidered with snakes motifs.
Personnel
Adapted from the
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards.
Origin
Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
of ''Reputation''
*
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
– lead vocals, background vocals, songwriter
*
Max Martin
Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin AllMusic known professional ...
Serban Ghenea
Serban Ghenea () is a Canadian audio engineer and mixer. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award a total of 45 times and has won 21 times.
Early life and education
Ghenea was born in Romania, and in 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. H ...
Randy Merrill
Randy Merrill is an American mastering engineer who has worked with international artists including Blink-182, DAY6, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Harry Styles, One Direction, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Beck, Liam Gallagher, Jonas Brothers, Muse ...
List of UK top-ten singles in 2017
The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom. Since 2004 the chart has been based on the sales of both CD single, physical ...