Following her announcement this week that she would be releasing a remix of her song “Karma” featuring the rapper Ice Spice, Taylor Swift dropped the track Thursday night at midnight. And just a few hours later, online reactions to the unexpected collaboration are already mixed.
One bit that’s causing a few snickers: After Ice Spice’s vibey, dextrous verse, later in the song, Taylor sings, “Karma takes all my friends to the summit,” after which Ice Spice adds in a halfhearted and misplaced, “Facts.”
Swift announced the collaboration with Ice Spice amid a firestorm of backlash against Matty Healy, her rumored boyfriend. Earlier this year, the British rocker laughed at disparaging remarks made about Ice Spice during his appearance on a dirtbag leftist podcast, angering much of Swift’s fanbase.
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If Swift’s move to add Ice Spice to her latest single was some attempt at damage control surrounding her relationship with Healy, the pop star divulged nothing of the sort in an interview released on Spotify to accompany the remix’s release.
In fact, Swift said Ice Spice reached out to her first.
“Collaborating with Ice Spice on ‘Karma’ was one of the most natural things,” Swift said in the interview. “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, so I immediately got her number and said, ‘Hey, would you want to do your version of ‘Karma?’”
The galactic artwork Swift and Ice Spice released to accompany their “Karma” remix has also caught flack for resembling the visuals released by Doja Cat and SZA for their smash 2021 hit “Kiss Me More.” Apparently with Swift, there’s always something to fuss about.
