On her fourth studio album, Red (2012), Taylor Swift aimed to experiment with musical styles other than the country pop sound that had defined her artistry.

Although Swift had been familiarized with dubstep through the music that Ed Sheeran introduced to her, she was not aiming to embark on specific trends and instead wanted the sound to convey the chaotic emotions of the lyrics.

[12] "I Knew You Were Trouble" is about being involved with someone who is irresistible but flawed: Swift's narrator blames herself for falling in love with him upon recognizing the warning signs in hindsight.

[13][17][21] While describing how the song's style felt "sudden" and "unexpected" when compared to other tracks on Red, the musicologist James Perone believed that it was "logical" for first-time listeners to react in surprise upon hearing "I Knew You Were Trouble" if they were familiar with Swift's work prior to its release.

[22] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times commented that the dubstep wobble was a "wrecking ball" that shifted the dynamic of not only "the song but also of Ms.

[23] Randall Roberts from the Los Angeles Times remarked that although dubstep had been popularized by DJs such as Zedd and Skrillex, "I Knew You Were Trouble" generated much discussion because it introduced the genre to a wider audience of mainstream pop, which had been "sonically conservative for the past half-decade".

[26] Amanda Dobbins from Vulture felt the dubstep sound was not innovative, but praised the song as "yet another plucky, vowel-laden Taylor Swift breakup jam".

[27] In a Red album review for The Washington Post, Allison Stewart criticized the production as "gratuitous and weird" which overshadowed Swift's lyrics.

Though Roberts acknowledged that critics could dismiss the refrain's bass drop as conceit, it was justifiable for Swift—whom he considered a leading pop star—to experiment with mainstream trends.

[24] In positive reviews, Jon Caramanica from The New York Times[23] and Chris Willman from The Hollywood Reporter praised the song for exhibiting Swift's versatility beyond country.

[21] Slant Magazine's Jonathan Keefe praised "I Knew You Were Trouble" as one of Red's best tracks because "the production is creative and contemporary in ways that are in service to Swift's songwriting".

Hannah Mylrea from NME and Alexis Petridis from The Guardian considered the single a bold artistic statement for Swift, ranking it among the best songs of her catalog.

[25][31] In a 2021 retrospective review, Laura Snapes from The Guardian commented that the song was "the rare pop-EDM crossover" that stood the test of time.

[34][35] The day after the Good Morning America premiere, Big Machine Records released the song onto the iTunes Store for digital download.

[36][15] Big Machine in partnership with Republic Records released "I Knew You Were Trouble" to US pop radio on November 27, 2012, as an official single.

[44] In December 2015, the media reported that "I Knew You Were Trouble" had been re-delivered to Spotify, but its credit was mistakenly given to Welsh band Lostprophets and lead singer Ian Watkins.

[note 2] After its radio release, the single returned to the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and the number-one position on the Digital Songs chart in December 2012 – January 2013.

[48][49] Buoyed by strong digital sales, "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached its peak at number two on the Hot 100 chart dated January 12, 2013, behind Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven" (2012).

[54] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the single seven times platinum for surpassing seven million units based on sales and on-demand streaming.

"[77] The video begins with Swift waking up in a desert filled with trash and debris from a concert the night before, intertwined with flashbacks of her and her love interest.

Spin's Chris Martins and Vulture's Amanda Dobbins noted similarities—the desert settings, the "bad boy" love interests, the partying scenes—to Lana Del Rey's 2012 video for "Ride",[73][81] while Rolling Stone compared the downward spiral of Swift's relationship to that portrayed in Rihanna and Calvin Harris' 2011 video for "We Found Love".

[79] Comments by Wendy Geller from Yahoo!,[77] Melinda Newman from Uproxx,[76] and Rachel Brodsky from MTV focused on the video's dark narrative, which depicted a new aspect of Swift's artistry.

[73] A remix of "I Knew You Were Trouble" containing sounds of a screaming goat went viral, resulting in internet memes and boosting the video's popularity.

[91] Swift performed "I Knew You Were Trouble" for the first time at the 2012 American Music Awards, held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on November 18, 2012.

[97] On January 18, 2013, following an appearance at the NRJ Music Awards, Swift held a private concert in Paris, where she included "I Knew You Were Trouble" in the set list.

[104] During the promotion of her 2014 album 1989, Swift performed the song at the iHeartRadio Music Festival on September 19,[105] the We Can Survive benefit concert at the Hollywood Bowl on October 24,[106] and the Jingle Ball Tour 2014 on December 5, 2014.

[113] At the 2019 American Music Awards, where she was honored as the Artist of the Decade, Swift performed "I Knew You Were Trouble" as part of a medley of her biggest hits.