Pop star Katy Perry, who you’ll know for probably the greatest pop albums of the twenty first century with 2010’s Teenage Dream, has been chasing that top with out replicating it ever since. Up to now 14 years, Perry has been having hassle discovering relevance in a pop area the place she was as soon as dominant, and that would not be extra clear after at the moment, July 12, as she launched her new single “Girl’s World.” The “anthemic” pop music is getting raked throughout the coals on-line. It has me considering again on one in every of her profession highlights of the previous decade: the Pokémon twenty fifth anniversary single and music video “Electrical.” “Girl’s World” is so unhealthy I can’t assist however really feel like she’s embarrassing her good friend Pikachu, and surprise the place was the little electrical rat to cease her good friend from placing out this monstrosity.
To meet up with those that aren’t tuned into pop music, Perry’s new single “Girl’s World” was underneath fireplace lengthy earlier than it was launched at the moment. When she launched a clip of the music on June 17, its lyrics have been roasted for sounding just like the form of factor you sing to your canine when nobody is house. It’s meant to be empowering, and it largely simply finally ends up being Perry saying a bunch of adjectives and platitudes. It’s a toothless, juvenile music that solely obtained worse as the reality of its creation was revealed. When it got here out that Dr. Luke, the identical man who has been accused of assaulting girls like fellow pop star Kesha and being misogynistic and predatory towards girls within the trade, was a author and producer for the music, all the pro-woman anthem grew to become a laughing inventory of the web. There are six writers on “Girl’s World” and 4 of them are males.
The music video that additionally launched at the moment is fairly nonsensical. “Girl’s World” is the form of shit you’ll hear on girls’s razor commercials, however when it’s not cashing in on essentially the most cliched and generic feminist imagery, it’s leaning into a wierd, absurdism like Perry filling her ass with unleaded gasoline. Controversial YouTuber Trisha Paytas is right here, for some cause and drives Perry round in a monster truck, then the singer is airlifted out of a random lady’s yard by a helicopter because the onlooker simply screams “who’re you” at her. Apt.
Perry informed Elle that she is aware of lots of people affiliate her music with empowering messages. In equity, that’s true, in the event you take a look at songs like “Firework” and “Roar,” however these songs have been far more practical due to their specificity. “Firework” was a queer anthem within the 2010s as a result of it spoke particularly to discovering the sunshine inside oneself regardless of hardship. “Roar” works when it’s chatting with how energy dynamics in relationships could make us small and about reclaiming your area. “Girl’s World” primarily boils right down to “girls exist,” whereas additionally propping up some of the outstanding recognized abusers within the music trade.
However “Electrical,” the 2021 Pokémon anthemic pop music, was all of these issues.
I’m a complete mark as a result of whereas some may name the music tacky, I get a little bit choked up listening to it and watching the music video with Perry and her companion Pikachu. The 2 time journey to an earlier level of their lives when Perry was youthful and making an attempt to make it in music, although her Pikachu was a Pichu on the time. The duo helps their youthful selves get previous a rut of their respective careers. It’s all very candy, truly. It will’ve been nice for a future model of her and Pikachu to have stopped the sequence of occasions that had her collaborating with a recognized abuser and placing out essentially the most half-hearted swing at a feminist anthem as she makes an attempt a comeback.
We reached out to Perry’s Pikachu for remark and she or he mentioned, “Pika, piiiiiiikaaaa” with a bewildered expression.
However that disappointment is how I really feel listening to most of Perry’s music. Teenage Dream is legitimately some of the necessary pop information of the trendy period and the falloff has been disastrous to look at unfold. Her subsequent album, 143, launches on September 20. Hopefully, there’s something to redeem it after this shitshow.
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