Pop star Katy Perry, who you will know for one of the best pop albums of the 21st century, with 2010’s Teenage dreamhas not repeated that high since. For the past 14 years, Perry has struggled to find relevance in a pop space she once dominated, and that couldn’t be clearer after today, July 12, when she released her new single “Woman’s World.” The “anthemic” pop song is all the rage online. It makes me think back to one of her career highlights of the last decade: the Pokemon Single and music video “Electric” for the 25th anniversary. Woman’s World is so bad that I feel like she’s embarrassing her friend Pikachu, and I wonder where the little electric rat was that stopped her friend from creating that monster.
To catch up with those who are not into pop music, Perry’s new single “Woman’s World” was already being criticized long before its release today. When she released a Clip of the song from June 17thThe lyrics were criticized for sounding like a song you sing to your dog when no one is home. It is meant to be encouraging, but mostly ends with Perry saying a few adjectives and platitudes. It is a toothless, childish song that only got worse when the truth about its creation came to light. When it was revealed that Dr. Luke, the same man who has been accused of attacking women like pop star Kesha and because he is misogynistic and predatory towards women in the industry, he wrote and produced the song, the entire pro-women anthem became a laughing stock on the internet. There are six writers on “Woman’s World” and four of them are men.
The music video, also released today, is pretty nonsensical. “Woman’s World” is the kind of shit you hear in women’s razor commercials, but when it’s not using the most cliched and generic feminist imagery, it tends toward a weird absurdity, like Perry pumping her butt full of unleaded gasoline. Controversial YouTuber Trisha Paytas is here for some reason, driving Perry around in a monster truck, then the singer is flown out of some random girl’s backyard in a helicopter while the bystander just screams at her, “Who are you?” Appropriate.
Perry said Elle that she knows that many people associate her music with encouraging messages. To be honest, that is true when you listen to songs like “Fireworks” And “Roar,” but those songs were much more impactful thanks to their specificity. “Firework” was a queer anthem in the 2010s because it spoke specifically about finding the light within yourself despite adversity. “Roar” works when it talks about how power dynamics in relationships can make us small and about reclaiming your space. “Woman’s World” essentially boils down to “women exist” while supporting one of the music industry’s most notorious abusers.
But “Electric”, which will be released in 2021 Pokemon anthemic pop song, was all that.
I absolutely love it because while some may find the song cheesy, I get a bit moved when I hear it and watch the music video featuring Perry and her partner Pikachu. The two travel back in time to an earlier point in their lives when Perry was younger and trying to make it in music, despite her Pikachu being a Pichu back then. The duo help their younger selves climb out of a slump in their respective careers. It’s all very sweet, actually. It would have been great if a future version of her and Pikachu had stopped the sequence of events that led them to collaborate with a known abuser and make the most half-hearted attempt at a feminist anthem while attempting a comeback.
We asked Perry’s Pikachu for comment and she said with a confused look on her face, “Pika, piiiiiiikaaaa.”
But that disappointment is what I feel when I listen to most of Perry’s music. Teenage dream is rightly one of the most important pop records of modern times and the decline was catastrophic. Their next album, 143is out September 20th. Hopefully there will be something to make up for this shitshow.
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