Karma Is a Munch: Taylor Swift and Ice Spice Team Up on ‘Karma’ Remix Video

The people’s princesses, Taylor Swift and Ice Spice, have released an amped up remix of “Karma,” an ode to allowing our enemies defeat themselves. On Friday, the duo also dropped the accompanying music video. With karma in the duo’s corner, there’s no way either of them can fail — like Ice Spice said, how can they lose if they’re already chose?

“Karma is your text ’bout to bounce/Karma is the fire in your house/And she ’bout to pop up unannounced/And she never leavin’ you alone,” raps Ice Spice in the new verse. “Watch her put ya opps on a throne/Got you wavin’ pretty white flags, feenin’ for that cash/Thinkin’ it’ll save ya, now you switchin’ up your behavior/It’s okay, baby, you ain’t gotta worry, karma never gets lazy.”

The video is filled with surreal scenes from Swift singing from inside an hourglass to the singer laying on a curled up cat. The visual also finds Ice Spice rapping from a floating clamshell, and the two rowing through a heavenly pink ocean.

In an audio clip shared by Spotify, Swift explained how the “Karma” remix took shape, sharing: “She reached out through her team, just kind of saying, ‘Hey, Ice has been a big fan of Taylor’s since she was a little kid, would love to collaborate if that was ever something that came about.’”

The singer added that Ice Spice’s music was a staple in the music she listened to while getting ready for the Eras tour. The rapper’s single “In Ha Mood” is currently on Swift’s pre-show playlist that plays in the stadiums before she takes the stage. “I was just listening to Ice Spice constantly,” Swift said. “Getting to know her has been so special because I am blown away by her. In my opinion, she’s the one to watch. 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.”

When Midnights arrived, Swift described “Karma” to iHeartRadio as being written “from a perspective of feeling really happy, really proud of the way your life is, feeling like this must be a reward for doing stuff right.”

That feeling allowed the singer to shift her outlook from vengeful to relaxed. “You’re talking shit for the hell of it/Addicted to betrayal, but you’re relevant,” she sings in the original opening verse. “You’re terrified to look down/Cause if you dare, you’ll see the glare/Of everyone you burned just to get there.”

Describing the song, she added: “It’s a song that I really love because I think we all need some of those moments, 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.”

Swift’s karmic relationship has brought her far less trouble in recent weeks than her alleged romantic one. The singer’s decision to collaborate with Ice Spice raised some eyebrows in light of her recent public appearances with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, who faux-apologized to the rapper in April for participating in derogatory conversation about her face and body on The Adam Freidland Show.

“I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you,” Healy said, not directly to Ice Spice, but to the audience at the 1975’s recent stop in Auckland, New Zealand as a catch-all apology for his multiple offenses over the years. He added: “Ice Spice, I’m sorry. It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a dick. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.” 

Ice Spice, who gushed about being “obsessed” with the 1975’s music in a January interview with Elle, hasn’t publicly responded to Healy or commented on the matter. Friedland, who made the direct comments about the rapper that Healy laughed along to, recently quote-tweeted an announcement of the “Karma” remix, writing: “You’re Welcome.”

From Rolling Stone US.