Image Credits: 143 via katyperry.com
This last summer, Katy Perry released her newest single “Woman’s World.” On July 11, the song was published followed by its music video the following day. Perry, along with being the singer of the single, was a co-writer for the song. However, a handful of people assisted with the creation of this project. In addition to Perry’s contributions, “Woman’s World” was co-written by Chloe Angelides. The song’s producers — Dr. Luke, Aaron Joseph, Vaughn Oliver and Rocco Did It Again! — also assisted in the lyrical and musical attributes. The song itself has not been very popular since its release, and throughout a long string of events, it seems everything that could have possibly gone wrong with Perry’s revival did go wrong. That does not mean the song didn’t get a lot of attention. In fact, “Woman’s World” did get a lot of attention from social media users. However, the attention was surely not the kind of attention Perry was hoping for.
A lot was done on Perry’s part to bring as much attention as she could to her 2024 comeback. On June 17, Perry posted a short TikTok video of her lip-syncing to “Woman’s World” on the set of the music video in an attempt to promote her song before its release. The TikTok itself only got 4.8 million views, which is, in comparison to other celebrities on the app, very underwhelming. However, she did post many other videos similar to this. The song was very heavily promoted to reach as wide of an audience as possible. In another instance on June 25, Perry arrived at the Hotel Ritz Paris for Paris Fashion Week. Arriving in her black limo, Perry stepped out in a red Balenciaga custom-made dress. The dress featured two different trains, one of which showcased the lyrics to “Woman’s World” along it. According to Vogue, the second train was about 100-yards-long and could be seen being dragged into the building by a bystander to get the dress inside more efficiently. There was also a partnership between Perry and Denon, a Japanese electronics company, for a teaser of the song in a wireless headphones commercial. So, Perry made sure that everyone knew she was coming back to music.
Many pop stars who gained more popularity between 2010–2015 — like Perry — began making modern comebacks around the point in their careers that Perry is now at. Perry’s most successful songs of her career, “Firework” and “Roar,” held a common theme of empowerment. This explains the intended message of “Woman’s World.” However, upon the initial announcement of the song, “Woman’s World” was met with a multitude of mixed reactions from its audience. Social media users criticized the song and Perry for the involvement of Dr. Luke throughout the writing and production of “Woman’s World.” This all started in 2014 when the pop star Kesha was beginning her career. Dr. Luke had helped produce some of Kesha’s biggest hits at the time. However, Dr. Luke and Kesha’s affiliations were cut short when Kesha made allegations against him. This case has been ongoing and relevant since 2014 and connects directly to Perry. Kesha stated that Dr. Luke had allegedly committed the same acts he did to Kesha to other artists — including Perry. However, Perry denied this. Dr. Luke did not face any charges but instead responded by suing Kesha.
Once this story was accounted for, the backlash to Perry’s “Woman’s World” was amplified through social media. On Perry’s social media platforms, her comment sections are flooded with criticism and negativity. An Instagram user commented on one of her posts saying “A ‘feminist’ anthem produced by Dr. Luke? Hard Pass.” In that same post, another user commented, “This is trashy. You’re working with a vile person and you’re okay with it! Fans deserve better. And trying to be about Women power while collaborating with a person many women have taken issue with… Lame Katy.” However, on her TikTok, users are taking a different approach. There are a plethora of comments that state something along the lines of “KESHA JOYRIDE,” “JOYRIDE BY KESHA” or even “I’m looking for a joyride.” Comments such as these are referencing Kesha’s song “Joyride” which came out in July 2024. They are supporting Kesha while criticizing Perry’s involvement with Dr. Luke in “Woman’s World.” And the list goes on. But not everyone is so critical of “Woman’s World.” There are a handful of fans leaving comments on Instagram along the lines of “This is what I call rebirth.” Even Papa John’s commented “Album of the year incoming.” So the feedback isn’t entirely negative. However, the negative-to-positive ratio is drastic, and her audience leans heavily on the negative, especially given Perry’s involvement with Dr. Luke after Kesha’s allegations against him.
After realizing the song was not performing as well as anticipated, Perry was “freaking out” over the backlash of the single. It later came out that Perry was warned not to work with Dr. Luke because of the allegations by her team, but she ignored the consequences. It is also said that she demanded to go “back to the drawing board” and even planned to change the album to revive its reputation. Not long after the initial backlash of “Woman’s World,” a video was released of the backstage of the music video. In the video, Perry talks about how the music video was purposely “slapstick” and “sarcastic.” Many viewers in the music video’s comments argue if this was filmed during the making of the video or after the backlash of the single.
Katy Perry’s career peaked in the 2000s–2010s. Her top songs were “Dark Horse,” “Firework” and “Hot N Cold,” which were all released between the years 2008–2014. However, after “Teenage Dream,” her relevance nosedived. She was still relevant, and her music was still listened to, of course, but not many people focused on her anymore. At this time, she was also beginning to star in different films. She endorsed her own fragrance and was even featured in “The Sims.” So, she was also busy doing things other than singing. She was also singing the Super Bowl Halftime Show and starring on “American Idol.” Then in Feb. 2024 on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” she announced that she was coming back to music with a new album. This was supposed to be Perry’s big return to music; the response to “Woman’s World” shattered that opportunity.
The release of Perry’s new album, “143” is set for Sept. 20. It’s impossible to estimate how successful the album will be considering the backlash that “Woman’s World” received months prior. The situation is chaotic and messy which makes it hard to find a solid standing on the situation. This is Perry’s chance to get herself back into music and be the same icon she was back in the earlier stages of her career. This is halted by many factors stemming from the production of her single, her portrayal in her music video and people even going as far as to attack the quality of the song itself. It’s hard to say what she is planning next. I guess this is Katy Perry’s world, but are we really that lucky to be living in it?
Payton Vogt is a second-year English major. PV1017396@wcupa.edu