Vigilante Shit

On August 28, 2022, Swift announced her tenth studio album, Midnights, set for release on October 21, 2022. The track-list was not immediately revealed.[4] Jack Antonoff, a longtime collaborator of Swift who had worked with her since 1989 (2014), was confirmed as a producer on Midnights by a video posted to Swift's Instagram account on September 16, 2022.[5] On September 21, 2022, Swift began unveiling the track-list in a randomized order through her 13-episode short video series on TikTok, called Midnights Mayhem with Me.[6] In each episode, Swift rolls a lottery cage containing 13 ping pong balls numbered from one to thirteen,[7] each representing a track of Midnights, and when a ball drops out, she disclosed the title of the corresponding track on the album, through a telephone.[8][9] In the second episode, released on September 23, 2022, Swift announced "Vigilante Shit" would be track eight.[9][10] The song alongside the thirteen announced tracks and additional surprise-released tracks for the 3am edition of Midnights, was released on October 21, 2022 under Republic Records.[11][12]

At two minutes and 44 seconds, "Vigilante Shit" is the shortest track on Midnights. Swift wrote the song and produced it with Jack Antonoff.[13] The minimal track is built on a trap beat[14] that is driven by pulsing snare drums[1] and light bass and electronic tones.[15] It incorporates swirling synths[2] and elements of industrial[16] and hip hop.[14] Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos described the genre as "dark-pop".[17]

Swift performing "Vigilante Shit" at the Eras Tour (2023)

Globally, "Vigilante Shit" received over 11.8 million streams on Spotify in its first 24 hours, becoming the seventh-most streamed song on that day, following six additional songs from Midnights.[18] It remained on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs for six weeks, peaking at number nine.[19] The song peaked at number nine on the Global 200, compiled by Billboard.[20]

In the United States, "Vigilante Shit" debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, receiving 32.2 million streams, selling 6,400 digital downloads, and reaching an airplay audience of 424,000 in its first week.[21] During the week of its release, Swift became the first artist to occupy the top 10 of the Hot 100.[22] The song remained on the chart for six weeks.[23] It peaked at number nine on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified gold by Music Canada on November 16, 2022.[24] Elsewhere, "Vigilante Shit" entered numerous territories, peaking within the top 50 in the Philippines (9),[25] Australia (10),[26] Malaysia (10),[27] Iceland (17),[28] Vietnam (18),[29] India (20),[30] Luxembourg (24),[31] South Africa (24),[32] Switzerland (39),[33] Hungary (40),[34] and Sweden (41),[35] and further reaching Spain (63)[36] and France (133).[37]

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Midnights.[13]

Recording

• Recorded at Rough Customer Studio, Brooklyn and Electric Lady Studios, New York City
• Mixed at MixStar Studios, Virginia Beach
• Mastered at Sterling Sound, Edgewater, New Jersey
• Evan Smith's performance was recorded by herself at Pleasure Hill Recording, Portland, Maine
• Dominik Rivinius' performance was recorded by Ken Lewis at Neon Wave Studio, Pirmasens, Germany

Personnel

• Taylor Swift – vocals, songwriting, production
• Jack Antonoff – production, engineering, programming, synths, percussion, juno 6, wurlitzer, Moog, recording
• Evan Smith – engineering, synths
• Dominik Rivinius – drums
• Laura Sisk – engineering, recording
• Ken Lewis – engineering
• Megan Searl – assistant engineering
• John Sher – assistant engineering
• John Rooney – assistant engineering
• Jonathan Garcia – assistant engineering
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• Bryce Bordone – assistant mixing
• Randy Merrill – mastering