Katy Perry and Camp
The first three eras of Katy Perry's mainstream pop career were built largely around different facets of the same persona (we will not acknowledge her Christian rock debut album, “Katy Hudson,” since Perry herself rarely acknowledges it). On “One of the Boys,” “Teenage Dream,” and even “Prism,” Perry seemed to be playing into the idea of the over-the-top, risqué pop star. It was camp, leaning into and embracing cheesy empowerment anthems ("Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?"), on-the-nose imagery (who remembers the California Gurls music video?), and lyrical double entendres (we don't have enough time to discuss the song "Peacock").
These albums never received critical acclaim ("Teenage Dream" holds a 6.8 score on Pitchfork), but they worked commercially at unprecedented levels. Perry not only captured the bubblegum pop sound and moment of the early 2010s, but she also delivered those songs with a self-aware “wink” to the audience. No matter how one may have felt about the quality of the music, Perry sold it because she was in on the fun. Sure, that persona was performative but performative with intentionality, conviction, and humor. It was as if she was commenting on the objectification of the female pop star through the exaggerated portrait of femininity she created. Sure, not all of it ages particularly well, and Perry would go on to reject this persona publicly. Still, that tongue-in-check quality may have been the display of authenticity that resonated more with folks than the greater attempts at authenticity that followed.
The Inauthentic Authenticity of the “Witness” Era
Much has been made about the effectiveness of a pop star departing from previous work and embracing a new sound and aesthetic (think Madonna's "Ray of Light" or, most recently, Beyonce's “Cowboy Carter”). When handled successfully, these career pivots can help artists demonstrate new sides of themselves and, therefore, new avenues for their professional futures. When handled poorly, they can range from a slight underperformance to major backlash. **insert Jojo Siwa here**
By the mid-2010s, pop stars from Katy Perry's generation began evolving: Lady Gaga was singing jazz, Taylor Swift transitioned from country to pop, and Miley Cyrus, to put it mildly, had grown up. Meanwhile, Perry, in contrast, had yet to make a noticeable pivot sonically or aesthetically. That all changed in 2017 when Perry revealed that her next musical era would be one of “purposeful pop.” Unfortunately, and ironically, the purpose behind the music ultimately left much to be desired.
“Witness” was a big swing. Perry cut her hair, live-streamed her own therapy session, and rejected the Old Katy Perry. The singles underperformed, and the album was not well-reviewed. The music itself was incongruous with her new aesthetic, supposedly a revelation of the real Katy Perry. The machinations of that “revelation,” however, felt more forced than honest and more confusing than clarifying. The title may suggest that we, the audience, were meant to witness the real Katy Perry. However, what ultimately came across in the convoluted album rollout was a preoccupation with how her self-expression would be received rather than the unapologetic self-expression that fans desired. In short, “Witness” felt more like a performance of authenticity than authenticity itself.
Post-Witness Confusion: From American Idol to “Smile”
It's safe to say that “Witness” did some damage. In the ensuing years, Perry was mainly seen as a judge on the revamped American Idol. She also gradually re-adopted elements of her pre-"Witness" look, carefully and quietly shedding the persona without rejecting it outright. Her fifth studio album, “Smile,” was released in August 2020 and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, her lowest charting opening since “One of the Boys” in 2008. That performance was likely due to a loss of listeners and fan buy-in post-"Witness" but also, undoubtedly, the lack of traditional promotional opportunities in that particularly grim year.
Although “Smile” received a mixed critical and commercial response, some elements showed promise. “Never Really Over” certainly deserved better reception, while songs like “Daisies” displayed vulnerability and acknowledgment of her career fluctuations. Still, she could have gone further to delve into what it was like to experience that level of vitriol and criticism. There was a unique opportunity at this moment for Katy Perry to make an honest record, but instead, she chose to play it safe.
She also played it safe musically. The title track sounds like a Target commercial and notably contrasts with the new trending sounds of contemporary pop music. Drawing inspiration from prior pop sounds can certainly lead to success (look no further than Olivia Rodrigo), but artists still have to reinvigorate that sound to make it relevant. Meanwhile, the sonic choices on “Smile” came across as uninventive. Additionally, there was also not much to smile about during that year, which made the album's release even more awkwardly timed. It seemed that with “Smile,” Katy Perry was misinterpreting the cultural moment both musically and thematically, a pattern she would repeat with the release of her latest single, “Woman's World.”
The Epic Fail That Is “Woman's World”
“Woman's World” was released on July 11th after nearly a month of promotion and lots of hype from fans who, after the cultural missteps of “Witness” and “Smile,” were hoping for a true return to form. The song seemingly takes a page from Lady Gaga's “Stupid Love,” as many fans noted online. The difference? Gaga was more committed to the bit. The song was nostalgic, yet contemporary enough to resonate commercially. “Stupid Love” was also recorded with energy and passion. This was not Gaga playing it safe; it was Gaga reasserting that elements of her prior persona were still very much a part of her.
Re-embracing your prior persona can be a tough sell when it's the same persona you once rejected publicly. Once again, Katy Perry's move to do so called her authenticity into question. To make matters worse, choosing to work with a controversial producer like Dr. Luke on a feminist anthem created a ton of justified skepticism leading up to the song's release. It's hard to convince your fans that you believe in the empowerment of women when your choice of collaborators says otherwise.
As for the song itself, “Woman's World” sounds like it was mostly written and produced by men—it was. Its structure consists of two short verses, no bridge, and a brief chorus that repeats the line “It's a woman's world, and you're lucky to be living in it” thrice. The song is not just a generic revisiting of a dated sound from the “Teenage Dream” years. The lyrical content is more unsophisticated and unspecific than anything on “Witness” and “Smile.” Perhaps the messaging would have resonated in 2010. Perhaps no one would have cared who she chose to work with then. Perhaps Perry genuinely believes this song authentically speaks to where she's at now. However, authenticity requires self-reflection and self-awareness, and based on the choices here, from the lyrical content to the visuals to the team involved, one can surmise that Katy Perry has all but abandoned her search for authentic growth in her music in favor of a dated persona and sound that she has refused to update for a 2024 audience.
This time, that persona does not even have the trademark tongue-in-cheek quality that made us amused by Katy Perry in the first place. Well, apparently, it does, but it certainly did not resonate. Perry seemingly addressed the song's criticism by sharing a clip of her explaining her “satirical” approach to her dancers in a behind-the-scenes look at the music video, which only backfired more. The look of “Woman's World” may allude to the old Katy Perry, but the old Katy Perry had a humorous self-awareness about her as well as a savvy understanding of the times that this new one lacks.
So, back to our Rip Van Winkle. If we were to explain to him what happened to Katy Perry between that night at the Super Bowl and the catastrophe that is “Woman's World," chalking it up to poor artistic and business cohesion on this one song would be merely scratching the surface. When we look at the context of Perry's past decade, we might better understand why this once-dominant pop star has been struggling to satisfy consumers in the ways she once did.
Perhaps we are partially to blame for this. Sure, it's hard now to believe that “Witness” was an authentic self-portrait, but it was at least a bold artistic swing, the consequences of which led to safe, half-baked choices on “Smile” and, now, this most recent chaotic miscalculation that reeks of self-delusion and lack of growth. The intense scrutiny that female pop stars experience under the microscope of celebrity has certainly had an unfortunate impact on Perry's ability to properly tap into the zeitgeist and make music that feels authentic, grounded, and well-executed.
Fans of pop music like myself love a comeback, and many of us are still holding out hope that Katy Perry will find her way back to her true artistic voice, but clearly, she needs a fresh start. She needs to figure out what it is she wants to express and how that fits into the cultural landscape of the 2020s, the same way she did in the late 2000s. “Woman's World” may have been a colossal failure. Right now, Katy Perry has certainly fallen to the ground. However, like any pratfall, she can certainly get back up, but operating from a place of fear and familiarity is not going to be the key to bouncing back.
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