Taylor Swift Breaks Adele’s Record

The new Taylor Swift era began just days ago, and it already feels like a bit old, doesn’t it? She hasn’t said nothing or appeared at a live event yet, but already theories and analyses about this new musical achievement are underway thanks to the singer’s recent single, the truly divisive “Look What You Made Me Do.” While there’s plenty to say about the song— abd its attempt at Kanye West shade, its “I’m Too Sexy” reference, that “she’s dead!” spoken-word bit at the end—Swift knows that a song alone was not nearly enough to please her fans.

So she released a splashy music video for the single at the MTV Video Music Awards as well. Thanks to the endless level of the hype machine and Swift’s megastar status, the video is already breaking records—including a massive one previously set by Adele’s smoky “Hello.”

“L.W.Y.M.M.D.” notched got 31 million views in less than 24 hours, making it the most viewed video in that period of time this year so far. The video has bested Adele’s sepia-toned “Hello,” directed by Cannes favorite Xavier Dolan in 2015, which garnered 27 million views in the same 24-hour time span.

The “Despacito” remix, which tagged Justin Bieber onto the catchy Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee track, now falls down to third place, with 22 million views in 24 hours.

Swift has, in her own unique way, has shown just how critic-proof she has become. Early reviews and social chatter around the single were not harsh at best and negative at worst. This is what she spent months in hiding working on—a jittery pop number with a chanted chorus that barely sinks its claws into West, her career-long enemy turned frenemy turned enemy once more? Apparently!

Swift has clearly been taking notes. Prepare for more self-aware material in the Reputation era—and more record-breaking videos to come.