Katy Perry

Katy Perry, the queen of teenage pop, released her fourth album titled Witness. The album was released about two years ago and focuses on mostly love and her ex lover(s). The album contains anthems about owning who you are and loving yourself while also containing fun disco pop sounds while including a rather crude tune about being a buffet. Despite the fact the album is overall a pretty good one, I must be honest and say it is my least favorite Katy Perry album and “Chained to the Rhythm” is the best thing on the entire thing… oops.

When I listen to a piece of music, two things usually attract me to it - the melody and arrangement, and the beat. That is to say that I'm not too particular about lyrics even though they are very important as well. When I hear a good melody I usually get a soothing feeling and I'm able to use my mind as a mirror into what and how I want to feel, and if the melody is too good, I let it drive me and lead me to its desired destination. The beat gives me something to vibe along, something to dance to or probably just nod my head to. A good beat would literally have me imagining what dance styles to go with it and that results to a lot of happiness for me. A lot of people are like me. More than anything, music makes them happy. They appreciate music so much that just the beat or melody is enough to get them going. While other people insist that music can't be great if the lyrics is not great as well. If the lyrics is not on the same level with the beat and melody, they say it is trash or crappy music. While that is true to some extent, it is not entirely true. Some piece of music is just meant to make you feel good. Katy Perry's 2017 album "Witness" is that kind of music. Katy Perry serenaded her listeners with music that moves the mind and body. Set in 17 tracks namely, "Act My Age", "Bigger Than Me", "Bon Appetit", "Dance With The Devil", "Chained To The Rhythm", "Hey Hey Hey", "Into Me See You", "Mind Maze", "Miss You More", "Pendulum", "Power", "Roullette", "Save As Draft", "Tsunami", "Witness", "Deja Vu", and "Swish Swish", Katy Perry layered some sweet melodious tunes on fantastic beats arranged in really interesting ways, with a mix of some really interesting lyrics. That is to say that "Witness" is more than just beats and sweet melody, it contains good stories and experiences that everyone can relate to.

Time and time again, there have been many female artists that tried to overtake the title of Queen of Modern Pop, but there is one artist that can prove to everyone that she has songs that everyone enjoys, and has a loyal and dedicated fanbase that stood with her since the beginning. I’m talking about Katy Perry, the Queen of Modern Pop (in my personal opinion). She is the singer of many, many hit songs, and currently she has a single entitled “Never Really Over.” But today, we will feature her past songs that made the mark in the music industry worldwide.

If you know me or have read literally anything I’ve ever written, then you would know that I absolutely love Katy Perry. I love Katy Perry. She was my favorite artist. I was known as the “Katy Perry guy” in high school. I legally own all of her albums and I forced my mother to buy me tickets to see her. Katy Perry was the main artist I was rooting for in the battle for mainstream success. After 3 iconic albums, Katy Perry did what any smart musician would do and she gave herself a much needed break. After countless broken records and chart-topping singles, it was best not to rush into another album too quickly for fear of a decrease in quality. During that break, Katy Perry continued her reign by performing during the Super Bowl Halftime show to the largest audience ever. She was obviously at the top, and she had the support. It seemed that even the slightest misstep wouldn’t be enough to take her down. Well, the break was going on for a little longer than anticipated… The first thing we heard from Katy Perry after her disappearance was the Olympic anthem “Rise” which didn’t capture the same uplifting power of her previous hits like “Firework” or “Part Of Me.” It was slower and it didn’t pack as much of a punch, I mean, it was for the Olympics. Something more fast-paced would’ve been more appropriate. Another misstep was not servicing the single to all streaming platforms. During its first week, “Rise” was only available for streaming on Apple Music. As a Spotify fan myself, I felt that this cut off a large percentage of her audience because “Rise” debuted at no. 11, before falling and never reaching a new peak. At least during the first week, I felt that the extra steaming would’ve done wonders, giving Katy Perry another top 10. “Rise” wasn’t the type of song for one’s musical return anyway. It wasn’t big enough. It didn’t have the same energy that her previous chart-topping lead singles had like “California Gurls” and “Roar.” And it pains me to say the same thing when it came to introducing us to her next full-length record Witness.

What she was to become indeed gets clearer in this second album as Katy Perry, Teenage Dream. She’s no loser. She’s no quitter. She’s no conformist. Meager success was not her destiny. She’s meant for greatness. And this second album is instrumental to actually make Katy Perry believe more in her craft, in her calling, in her artistry. Thanks to better lyrics in this album and a more honest take, she finally had an album she could call a real success. What makes an album a good one is not necessarily it being talked about. An album can be talked about simply because of its controversies, its music video that makes no sense except sexual innuendoes. That’s almost like the description of her first one. But here’s a good one— one that gets to millions of listeners all because the lyrics connected to them. And that’s what Teenage Dream is mostly about.

For an album that spawned five number one singles, it’s hard to believe that Katy Perry’s magnum opus Teenage Dream received a mixed critical reception. On reflection, the male-dominated music industry was never going to take too kindly to a grown woman skipping through a brightly coloured candy land and shooting whipped cream from her bra, but if they’d actually taken time to listen to the lyrics, they might have seen a more vulnerable side to Perry hidden away behind the layers of artifice that came to define her second album. While “California Gurls” and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” topped the charts, critics seemed quick to dismiss them as frivolous party tracks and criticised her move away from the pop-rock inflections found on her debut album One of The Boys, but in hindsight, the electro-pop gem “Hot N Cold” should have served as a sign of things to come. Looking back, the internalised misogyny from the largely male pool of reviewers is glaringly obvious as they criticised her lyrics that concerned partying and casual hook-ups, themes that have been rehashed countless times by male musicians without anybody batting an eyelid. But by judging this album (literally) on face value, blinkered by their narrow definitions of what “real” music is, they failed to realise that these songs were created for not just teenagers but the dreamers and hopeless romantics of the world who seek solace in the safety of a carefully constructed chorus. It was this complete and total disdain for pop music that meant I kept my love of albums such as Teenage Dream hidden, only embracing it some seven years after its release, but luckily those days are long gone.