Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” Video Breaks Vevo Record

Last Sunday (May 17) at the Billboard Music Awards, Taylor Swift debuted her star-studded, Joseph Kahn-directed video for "Bad Blood." The song in the video is actually a remix of the 1989 cut, helmed by Kendrick Lamar. The clip quickly stormed across social media, its cameos from the likes of Lena Dunham and Karlie Kloss making for easy Twitter fodder. Well, it's paid off in a tangible way: "Bad Blood" has broken Vevo's single-day streaming record, racking up some 20.1 million views in its first 24 hours. The previous record holder was Nicki Minaj, whose "Anaconda" hit 19.6 million on its first day last year.

The pop star and the Compton rapper had previously spoken of a sort of mutual admiration, with Kendrick singing Swift's "Shake It Off" in an interview and Taylor explaining to a Rolling Stone reporter that "Backseat Freestyle," from Lamar's 2012 debut good kid, m.A.A.d. city, is one of her favorite songs. His follow-up, this year's To Pimp a Butterfly, has enjoyed tremendous digital success of its own; at press time, it holds streaming giant Spotify's single-day record for most plays. That sort of commercial viability comes naturally to Swift, however, as 1989 enjoyed the biggest opening-week sales since Eminem's The Eminem Show was released in 2002.

Filed Under: Kendrick Lamar, taylor swift

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