End Game (song)
"End Game" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017). The song features the English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and the American rapper Future, who both wrote it with Swift and the producers Max Martin and Shellback. "End Game" is an incorporation of pop rap and R&B. It features loose vocal cadences and hip-hop-influenced drums that create trap beats. The lyrics are about finding true love amidst the gossip on ones' perceived reputations.
This article is about the Taylor Swift song. For other songs, see Endgame § Songs."End Game"
November 14, 2017
4:04
- Taylor Swift
- Max Martin
- Shellback
- Ed Sheeran
- Nayvadius Wilburn
- Max Martin
- Shellback
"End Game" was chosen as the album's third single, being promoted to radio stations in France and the United States on November 14, 2017. Contemporary critics received "End Game" with mixed reviews; some praised the hip-hop experimentation and Future's appearance and hailed the production as catchy, but others found the track and Sheeran's appearance uninteresting. The single reached the top 40 on the singles charts and received platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, and the U.S.
A music video for the single, directed by Joseph Kahn, was released on January 12, 2018. The video depicts Swift partying with Future in Miami, with Sheeran in Tokyo, and with other friends in London. Swift performed "End Game" at the 2017 Jingle Ball, and during the shows of her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour. Then she performed it as a surprise song at The Eras Tour.
Production and composition[edit]
"End Game" was produced by Max Martin and Shellback. The two also co-wrote the song with Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Future. Swift is credited as the main singer, while Sheeran and Future are credited as featured artists.[1] It was recorded for Swift's sixth studio album, Reputation (2017). The song is the only song on Reputation that features guest artists.[2] For his songwriting, Sheeran came up with the inspiration while attending a Fourth of July party at Swift's residence in Rhode Island. At that party, Sheeran encountered Cherry Seaborn, a girl who went to the same school with him. They reconnected and ultimately became married. His verse includes a reference to the film Born on the Fourth of July (1989), a symbol of the beginning of his relationship with Seaborn.[3] The song was recorded at three studios: MXM Studios in Los Angeles and Stockholm, Seismic Activities Studios in Portland, Oregon, and Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta. It was mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia; and Mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound Studios in New York.[2]
Musically, "End Game" is a hybrid of hip hop and R&B.[4][5] Billboard categorized the song as pop-rap.[6] The song incorporates loose cadences, trap beats, and hip hop-influenced drums, which Pitchfork's Meaghan Garvey described as representative of 2017's hip hop/R&B trends.[4][7] In the lyrics, the three artists talk about their true love amidst the gossip about their perceived reputations.[8] At the song's beginning, Swift asserts that she and her lover both have "bad" and "big reputations".[4] Future then echoes this perspective, saying that he has a "bad boy persona, that's what they like".[8] In his part, Sheeran raps about how his love interest was "born on the Fourth of July".[8][7] For Swift's part, she channels half-singing, half-rapping delivery found in hip hop,[9] making fun of the media gossip on her image: "I swear I don't love the drama / It loves me."[10][11] The chorus finds Swift singing "I wanna be your endgame" to her lover.[7]
Release and promotion[edit]
On November 7, 2017, Swift announced track listing of Reputation, where "End Game" was unveiled.[12] Three days later, the album was released with "End Game" being its second track.[1] The song was picked as the third single promoting the project.[13] On November 14, Mercury Records issued the song to French radio airplay,[14] while in the United States, Republic Records pushed the track to contemporary hit radio pannels.[15]
Swift and Sheeran performed "End Game" for the first time during the Jingle Ball festival hosted by iHeartRadio on December 2, 2017.[16] A solo version of the song was included in the regular set list for Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour (2018),[17] and as a surprise song on her Eras Tour concert on November 11, 2023.[18]
Music video[edit]
On December 2, 2017, Sheeran confirmed at the Jingle Ball festival that a music video for the song would be released.[41] On January 10, 2018, Swift revealed through her social media app "The Swift Life"—an app created with Glu Mobile for fans in support of Reputation[42]—with a still image from the video and text that the music video for the song would be released on January 12, that she would be releasing more stills, and that after a snippet of the video would premiere on Good Morning America on January 11.[43] Swift premiered a 20-second snippet on Good Morning America, and posted it on her social media accounts later that day.[44]
On January 12, 2018, Swift uploaded the video onto her Vevo channel.[45] Directed by Joseph Kahn, the video depicts Swift partying at three locations during nighttime: with Future and partygoers on a yacht in Miami, with Sheeran at a nightclub in Tokyo, and with various friends on a double decker bus in London.[46] While singing/rapping with Future, Swift is seen riding shotgun in a Lamborghini Aventador with him.[47] In one of the London scenes, Swift is seen sitting on a bar playing Snake on a handheld game console, a reference to her reputation as a "snake" during promotion of the album.[48] This reference is also noted in one of the Tokyo scenes, in which Swift rides a motorcycle in a snakeskin-patterned bodysuit.[47] The superyacht MIZU was used for the Miami filming.[49]
Frank Guan from New York observed that the video effectively eschewed Swift's previously well-known girl next door image, by "drinking, playing a game on her mobile phone, hamming it up at a karaoke bar, cheerfully failing at Dance Dance Revolution, really getting into Future, having a crowd of friends with only a few white girls and no white guys [apart from Ed Sheeran] in sight". Guan was impressed by the video's nighttime aesthetics featuring darkness against flashing lights and vivid colors, writing that "the end result is as simple as it is appealing".[29] Lyndsey McKenna from NPR Music was less enthusiastic: "It's pretty hard to buy Swift and Sheeran's casual outing in Tokyo or Swift's supposedly uninhibited dance moves."[50]