everything we know about KARMA: the lost taylor swift album

In her video, Nina delves into the fervent fan theory surrounding Taylor Swift's alleged unreleased album, "Karma," which many believe was intended to follow her 2014 "1989" album but was scrapped amidst the tumultuous events of 2016. Nina passionately outlines the clues and Easter eggs from Swift's music videos and interviews that have led fans to speculate about the existence of "Karma." She discusses the thematic connections to Swift's "Reputation" era, the symbolic use of the color orange, and the potential reasons behind the album's shelving—whether due to personal choice or record label influence. Nina also touches on the implications of Swift's re-recording of her previous albums, hinting at the possibility that "Karma" could resurface. She invites viewers to share insights and engage with this compelling narrative, highlighting Swift's intricate planning and the engaging fan experience she creates through her music and mystique.

• Nina introduces the topic of Taylor Swift's scrapped album "Karma," which is a conspiracy theory she is excited to discuss.
• She has spent two hours researching and collecting evidence such as pictures and easter eggs to support the theory.
• Nina decides to dedicate an entire video to this topic due to its complexity and depth.

"Today I am literally so excited to talk about this; I spent literally like two hours yesterday researching, finding pictures, all the little easter eggs to piece together this conspiracy theory of Taylor Swift's scrapped album Karma, the lost era."

The quote indicates Nina's enthusiasm and the effort she invested in preparing for the discussion on Taylor Swift's supposed unreleased album "Karma."

• Taylor Swift had a pattern of releasing albums every two years in the fall.
• Fans were anticipating a new album in 2016 based on this pattern.
• New eras of Swift's music often coincide with changes in her appearance, particularly her hairstyles, which are debuted in Vogue photo shoots.

"Back in 2016, we were like waiting for an album; this was like the album cycle Taylor Swift had put out an album every two years in the fall like clockwork."

This quote highlights the expectation of a new Taylor Swift album in 2016 based on her previous release schedule.

• Swift's hairstyle changes are symbolic of the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one.
• Notable hairstyle changes include the straight hair with bangs for the "Red" era, the chop for "1989," and the bleached hair known as "bleachella."
• Fans interpret these changes as signals of a new music era.

"I feel like every time she changes her hair it kind of marks the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one."

The quote explains how Taylor Swift uses her hairstyles as a metaphor for transitioning between different creative periods in her career.

• Fans were surprised by Swift's bleached hair, dubbed "bleachella," and saw it as a sign of a new album.
• Swift's profile picture changes and her new look in the Vogue photo shoot fueled album release speculation.
• Despite the initial shock, fans eventually embraced Swift's "bleachella" look.

"So we were just like. Okay. This is it. She's going to be releasing a new album this year not what we were expecting this like bleachella kind of unhinged look."

The quote captures the moment fans believed that Taylor Swift's new look signaled the imminent release of a new album.

• 2016 was a tumultuous year for Taylor Swift, including her breakup with Calvin Harris and the drama surrounding the song "This Is What You Came For."
• The Grammy incident where Swift responded to Kanye West's lyrics about her, and the subsequent Kimye drama involving a recorded phone call, led to public backlash against Swift.
• Nina sympathizes with Swift's situation and suggests that the negativity may have influenced Swift's decision to withhold the "Karma" album.

"And then you know the whole Kimye drama happened where they recorded the phone call edited it to make it sound like Taylor Swift agreed to it and then went back on her word and everybody called her a snake."

This quote describes the controversy between Taylor Swift and Kanye West, which played a significant role in shaping public opinion and possibly impacting Swift's career decisions at the time.

• Taylor Swift is known for continuously writing songs, even while promoting a previous album.
• It is suggested that during the three-year gap between the albums "1989" and "Reputation," Swift must have written songs that were never released.
• The theory is that Swift had to abandon an unreleased album, referred to as "Karma," due to circumstances in her life and move on to the "Reputation" era.

"I'm sure she was just going through it and the last thing on her mind was like I need to put out an album and so going back to karma the lost album I think there's no way Taylor Swift didn't write songs between 1989 and when reputation came out that's like three whole years she had always been writing the next album while she was in the previous era."

This quote suggests that despite personal challenges, it's unlikely that Swift stopped her creative process, supporting the idea that there is unreleased material from the period between "1989" and "Reputation."

• Taylor Swift has a history of hiding "easter eggs" or hidden messages in her work, starting around the "Red" album era.
• Over time, these easter eggs have become more intricate and less obvious, requiring fans to look deeper to find them.
• Fans, including the speaker, enjoy discovering these hidden messages, even if they are sometimes late to realize their significance.

"She started out with these easter eggs kind of like I don't know during red I feel like was when she was actively like dropping these easter eggs and they used to be so obvious and like even when she was doing the 1989 live stream release she was posting lyrics and told everybody it was a pop album and she would just like put the date and the time and we wouldn't really have to do any other work it was just like she told us what was happening."

This quote reflects on the evolution of Swift's easter eggs from direct to more cryptic, illustrating the playful and interactive relationship she has with her fans.

• The music video for "Look What You Made Me Do" is analyzed for potential easter eggs related to the "Karma" album theory.
• Specific scenes, such as Swift standing in a vault and wearing an orange outfit, are interpreted as hints towards unreleased music.
• The color orange and the image of Swift as a prisoner are theorized to symbolize the trapped state of the "Karma" era.
• The final scene with multiple versions of Swift, including an unfamiliar one spray-painting over a plane labeled "TS6," suggests the concealment of an original album that was replaced by "Reputation."

"Look what you made me do has a lyric that says the world moves on another day another drama drama but not for me not for me all I think about is karma... oh it's still in the vault also she has this visual of her in an orange outfit kind of like a prisoner almost in this big gold cage where she's just like hanging out in the cage... that Taylor doesn't look familiar she's spray painting over the side of this plane reputation so it's like she's covering up this plane on the tail of the plane it says TS6 TS6 is technically reputation but the fact that she's spray painting over it seems like this was supposed to be a different album TS6 was supposed to be something else that she's now covered with reputation."

This quote dissects the music video's imagery and lyrics, proposing that they are intentional references to unreleased work and the concept of "Karma" being locked away, with the "Reputation" era taking its place.

• The speaker speculates on the reasons Swift may have decided to scrap the "Karma" album.
• It is suggested that external circumstances in Swift's life may have influenced the decision to move on to the "Reputation" era.

"When I saw this theory I was like. Oh my gosh this makes so much sense what other reason would it be. That can't just be. Oh she just thought that would be funny to like saw off the wing it doesn't make sense in any other context for me."

The quote expresses the speaker's belief in the validity of the "Karma" album theory, emphasizing that the symbolism in the music video likely has a deeper meaning related to Swift's artistic decisions and personal life.

• Nina discusses the impact of bad publicity on a musician's career choices.
• The musician in question contemplated taking a break due to the aggressive nature of her unreleased album, "Karma."
• The decision to not release the album may have been influenced by the record label's control over the musician's choices.
• The record label had a history of pushing back on the musician's creative decisions, such as opposing the transition to a pop album with "1989."

"crazy right now I'm getting such bad publicity that I just want to go away for a while because I don't think it would be smart to put out an album that's named karma that's very aggressive and that could incite very bad responses."

This quote highlights the musician's concern over the potential negative impact her aggressive album "Karma" could have on her public image, especially amidst bad publicity.

"because they controlled so much of what she did and that reputation was her last album with that record label."

The quote emphasizes the level of control the record label had over the musician's work, with "Reputation" being the last album under their contract.

• Nina reflects on the artist's desire to break free from the record label's control.
• The artist's use of easter eggs in her work hinted at her intention to release an album titled "Karma."
• Despite the record label's restrictions, the artist successfully released "1989" as a pop album, which became highly successful.
• Nina suggests that the artist's transition into the "Lover" era marked a significant change, with the artist leaving the old record label and adopting a more positive and uplifting musical style.

"it is just like wild to me that she was able to put these easter eggs in here while she was still under the record labels control of kind of wanting to break free."

This quote reflects Nina's amazement at the artist's ability to subtly communicate her desire for artistic freedom through easter eggs while under restrictive contract terms.

"and every time she pushed back she was successful."

The quote underscores the artist's success in overcoming the record label's attempts to limit her creative decisions, particularly with the album "1989."

• Nina discusses the symbolism found in the "The Man" music video, which includes references to all of the artist's past albums and the mysterious "Karma" album.
• The presence of the word "Karma" in the graffiti, especially highlighted by its central position and repetition, suggests that it was intended to be an actual album.
• The color orange, associated with the "Karma" era, and the phrase "if found please return to Taylor Swift" imply ownership and the idea of reclaiming something that was lost or taken.

"and then we got fearless red speak now and in the very middle karma. and then you see karma again above that so it's not on there once but twice."

This quote describes the visual prominence of the word "Karma" in the music video, reinforcing the theory that it was supposed to be an official album.

"why would that be on the wall with all of her other albums you know like why else it's not it just doesn't feel like a coincidence at this point."

Nina expresses her belief that the inclusion of "Karma" among the other albums is deliberate and not a mere coincidence, suggesting that it was meant to be part of the artist's discography.

• Nina recalls an interview with Vogue where the artist hinted at a new era by emphasizing that "karma is real."
• The timing of the interview and the artist's direct statement with a smirk are interpreted as deliberate clues about the unreleased "Karma" album.

"and they asked her what is the most important life lesson someone can learn and she would looks straight at the camera and replies that karma is real with like a smirk on her face."

This quote captures the moment in the interview where the artist may have been dropping a hint about the "Karma" album, using the concept of karma as a life lesson.

• Nina speculates on the existence of an eighth album, "Karma," based on various hints and the presence of eight little girl dancers symbolizing the artist's albums during a performance.
• The artist's decision to re-record her albums opens up the possibility of the unreleased "Karma" album finally coming to light.
• Nina sees the re-recording of old albums as evidence of the artist's willingness to revisit and share previously unreleased work.

"so people were like there was eight kids so alluding to the fact that maybe there was eight albums karma could have been that eighth kid the eighth album."

This quote discusses the interpretation of a performance where the number of dancers could symbolize the total number of the artist's albums, including the unreleased "Karma."

"i think that kind of opened the door for this album this lost era to maybe quite possibly come to light."

Nina expresses optimism that the artist's project of re-recording past albums may eventually reveal the "Karma" album, which she considers a "lost era."

• Fans analyze Taylor Swift's music videos for hidden messages and clues about future releases.
• The "Man" music video has graffiti referencing "Karma" and "1989," leading to a theory about a double album release.
• The "Willow" music video features a line about coming back stronger, which fans interpret as a hint about overcoming challenges.
• Taylor Swift's appearance on Jimmy Fallon discussing Easter eggs has fueled speculation about her long-term planning.
• Fans believe Swift has been planning her re-records since learning she couldn't purchase her masters.
• The community actively discusses theories on platforms like TikTok, Tumblr, and Reddit.

"Some people think that going back to the 'Man' music video with all the graffiti karma the second karma written in orange is right next to 1989 which is written twice as well and they're next to each other some people think that means that 1989 and karma are going to be re-released as like a double album like taylor's version double album."

This quote discusses a fan theory that Taylor Swift's "1989" and "Karma" might be re-released together as a double album, based on clues from the "Man" music video.

"In the 'Willow' music video where she's trapped in a box that that could also be something about the album and she looks at the camera and says I come back stronger than a 90's trend so it's like I always come back stronger could be somehow related to that feeling of being trapped and not being able to you know do what she wants to do."

This quote interprets a scene from the "Willow" music video as a metaphor for Taylor Swift's resilience and possibly hints at themes in her music related to overcoming restrictions.

"Like oh my gosh is there Easter eggs from three years ago that we haven't gotten like the 'Man' music video being like three years ago and like you know I think when she set out to put out 'Lover' she did these interviews they were like are you planning on re-recording. And she's like. Oh yeah."

The speaker reflects on Taylor Swift's strategic planning, suggesting that Easter eggs planted years ago in the "Man" music video and interviews during the "Lover" era could be related to her re-recording plans.

"I think she has it all planned out with Taylor Swift it's like there is no coincidences it feels like everything she does is for a reason I think she totally knows what re-record's gonna be next what's her plan like I think she has like the next few years completely planned out with what she's doing with the re-records."

This quote emphasizes the belief that Taylor Swift meticulously plans her career moves, including the re-recording of her albums, and that there are no coincidences in her actions.

"Every single Easter egg lines up the orange connections to her other albums just the timeline it all makes sense."

The speaker points out that the theories about Easter eggs are consistent and make sense within the timeline of Taylor Swift's career and album releases, reinforcing the idea that these are not random occurrences.

• Fans speculate that Taylor Swift has been planning her re-records since she discovered she couldn't buy her original masters.
• Swift is recognized as a smart businesswoman and artist with a well-thought-out plan for her music.
• There is a sense of unpredictability in Swift's release strategy, as fan theories often turn out to be incorrect.
• Despite skepticism, there is a belief that the current theory about "Karma" has strong support and could be accurate.

"So I think she has been planning these re-records ever since she found out she couldn't buy them."

The speaker suggests that Taylor Swift's decision to re-record her albums was a strategic response to not being able to purchase her original masters.

"I think we think we know what's coming next. And we always have all these theories but like literally every single one of them has been wrong."

This quote reflects on the unpredictability of Swift's release strategy and the frequent inaccuracy of fan theories.

• The Taylor Swift fan community is highly engaged in theorizing and discussing potential album releases and Easter eggs.
• Fans express their excitement and readiness for what they call the "Karma era."
• There is speculation about the musical direction of potential new releases, such as the genre of the "Karma" album.
• The speaker encourages fans to share their thoughts and theories in the comments, fostering community interaction.

"If you guys have anything else about karma please let me know in the comments because I just this is one of my favorite theories to look at."

The speaker invites fans to contribute to the discussion about the "Karma" theory, highlighting the collaborative nature of fan theorizing.

"And I just like love the way her mind works and how she makes it so fun for us to be fans."

This quote expresses admiration for Taylor Swift's creative approach and how it engages and excites her fan base.