By Macayla Cook
Summer of 2024 has been a good one for pop music. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” is topping the charts, Chappell Roan is taking the world by storm, and the eternally iconic Charli XCX is leading the charge for a messy, recklessly fun “brat summer.” I of course have been enjoying all of these incredible songs and artists, as if I am two things and two things only, I am a pop music lover and a girls’ girl.
July has brought in a new round of tunes from some of 2000s pop’s OGs, with both Katy Perry and Kesha releasing singles within a week of one another. The reception of the songs, titled “Woman’s World” and “Joyride” respectively, have been drastically different. And it’s not just because “Woman’s World” is wildly unlistenable (what? Who said that?).
To understand the modern context of these songs, we have to go back and understand the history between Katy and Kesha (trigger warning for sexual assault).
The dawn of the 2010s brought with it a new crop of pop stars, and Katy Perry and Kesha were both among the first to break out into the new decade of music. Despite making songs within the same genre and both donning uniquely flamboyant aesthetics, the biggest similarity between the two was that they each found massive success in that era.
Kesha’s debut single “Tik Tok” dropped on August 7, 2009, as the lead single off her first album, Animal (2010). The song would go on to spend nine weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified eightfold platinum. It also, on a personal note, is one of the first favorite songs I remember having, despite the fact that I was a first grader with no clue who P. Diddy or Mick Jagger was.
In May of 2010, Katy Perry, who was already a recognizable singer due to the, looking back on it, extremely questionable success of “I Kissed A Girl,” would release the lead single off her upcoming third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010). “California Gurls,” which featured verses by Snoop Dogg, peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and has been certified diamond in the US.
While researching for this piece, I also learned that Katy Perry is in fact from California, which is a relief considering the song title. For some reason, I could’ve sworn she was from Michigan, but nix that, she is fully qualified to melt your popsicle.
The most important thing to know here is that “Tik Tok” was produced by Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco, the guy now dating Selena Gomez. “California Gurls” was produced by the same duo along with Max Martin. All three of these guys were huge producers at the time, and Blanco and Martin have continued to be successful. However, a little wrench got thrown into Dr. Luke’s rise to stardom when in 2014, Kesha filed a lawsuit against him.
Now, the legal drama here is very difficult to wade through, but here’s the simplified version: Kesha sued Dr. Luke for allegedly repeatedly drugging her and having sex with her, with or without her consent. She also stated in the suit that his abuse was what caused her to develop an eating disorder. Dr. Luke countersued Kesha, her mother, and her management for defamation.
During the very long legal battle, Kesha and her team would claim that Dr. Luke also assaulted Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. Gaga’s team denied such an incident occurring (though Gaga has been adamant in her support for Kesha), and Katy herself testified that Dr. Luke had done no such thing.
Now, I’m not saying that Dr. Luke is a rapist, but I am saying that sexual assault is a very difficult crime to prove in the American legal system. I am saying that a lack of evidence in court doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen. I am saying that a man not assaulting one woman isn’t proof that he didn’t assault another. And above all, I am saying that I believe victims.
However, regardless of what you think of the court case, things between Katy and Kesha were pretty icy afterwards. This brings us to the modern day, where the pop phenoms are both still releasing music, albeit extremely different tunes.
Kesha released “Joyride” on July 4, as the lead single off her upcoming sixth studio album and her first release as an independent artist. The song features a kitschy accordion sample, her signature talk-singing verses, and lyrics that embrace a ditzy, party girl aesthetic like “a label whore, but I’m bored of wearing clothes.” As of the writing of this article, there is no official music video for the track.
A week later, Katy Perry dropped “Woman’s World,” the lead single and first track on her upcoming seventh studio album, 143. The song boasts verses discussing the many facets of women (ie. “She’s a flower, she’s a thorn”) and a chorus featuring Katy belting the tagline, “it’s a woman’s world and you’re lucky to be living in it.” Did I mention Dr. Luke produced it?
The accompanying music video is divided into two parts.
In the first part, Katy occupies a Barbie-esque world where women do anything men can do, like be construction workers or pee at urinals (I don’t get how that one works but slay). Yet, they still are catered to the male gaze, wearing outfits that absolutely would not be allowed on real construction sites for fear of somebody losing a boob. I’m happy for these girls in that they’re all absolutely gorgeous, but they’re also clearly being objectified.
Then, Katy and her Rosie-the-Riveter-style bandana are quite literally squashed by a giant anvil mid-chorus. I found this to be slightly jarring.
There’s a weird social media interlude that I really don’t see the point of, then Katy is in what seems to be the real world, strutting around a city in a white bikini and robot-style metallic chaps. For some reason, everyone else in this city seems quite angry, except for two gay guys making out in tennis shorts. I guess somebody liked Challengers.
After Katy legitimately pumps gas into her own butt (I wish I was kidding, I do not understand this video concept AT ALL), Trisha Paytas arrives pulling a monster truck by a rope. After stealing some girl’s phone on a ring light shaped like the female symbol, Katy eventually comes to the heavy-handed realization that she’s allowed to be imperfect because she’s a real woman, not a male fantasy. She of course has this realization while looking perfect.
This music video currently has 597,000 dislikes and only 389,000 likes. When the top comment on your girl power music video is “this looks like something that would be a satire for feminism in The Boys,” you may have done something wrong.
Of course, the criticism of this song isn’t that it’s necessarily a bad message. Women are multifaceted creatures that exist for themselves, not to please men. However, the message feels hollow and outdated coming from Katy Perry.
“Women aren’t objects” is an extremely simple message that you would hope people know by now, and if they don’t get it yet, an extremely generic-sounding pop song isn’t going to change their minds. While this sort of sentiment would’ve done numbers in 2014 when it was enough to simply say that you were a feminist, it takes a lot more to be a champion of women in this day and age. Plenty of people are feminists, it just feels weird and performative to make a song belting about girl power if you aren’t saying anything deeper.
It’s also now time to look back at the fact that Dr. Luke was a producer on this track. Dr. Luke, who, in case you forgot, allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted Kesha.
Pretty tough to be a girl power anthem if an alleged rapist helped make it.
The internet was quick to point this out, saying that Katy can preach shallow messages of women’s rights all she wants but at the end of the day, working with an alleged rapist is not in line with the girl’s girl image she’s trying to project with this song. Just because he didn’t assault her doesn’t mean he didn’t assault other women, and if Katy were a true feminist, she would believe victims rather than continuing to work with Dr. Luke.
Aside from that, this song is also just deeply boring to listen to, so he didn’t even do a good job producing it. Despite the six writers (one of whom was also Dr. Luke), the verses don’t really say anything of substance. The chorus is just the tagline along with the line, “You better celebrate/cause baby, we ain’t going away,” which like…yeah, women will probably continue to be good at stuff, not that this song is evidence of that.
It genuinely sounds like music that plays faintly in the background while you shop at T.J. Maxx. The synths are super bland, the bass in the chorus is weirdly punchy, and there’s pretty much nothing else going on. Standard drums, simple background vocals, and a solid lead from Katy that just isn’t nearly enough to save the song.
This would’ve already been bad, but contrast it with “Joyride” and Katy Perry and her rapist-sympathizing ways might as well be dead in the water.
Kesha has managed to make an absolute masterpiece of dance pop, using all sorts of weird samples and a fun attitude in what I would describe as an absolute tapestry of sound. Starting with an accordion sample is already a refreshingly zany choice, but the song also features clever lyrics, a vocoder on the bridge, and Gregarian-style backup vocals that mix perfectly with Kesha’s biting lead. The song is not only way more fun to listen to, it’s also infinitely better produced as far as I’m concerned.
The producer on “Joyride” is Zhone, a specialist in hyperpop who is also responsible for Troye Sivan’s Grammy-nominated club hit “Rush.” He genuinely might be my favorite up-and-coming producer right now and I cannot wait to see what else he comes up with. I’m a huge fan of songs that are simply fun to listen to while also being notably well-made, which is something I would say Zhone has excelled at so far.
All of this is a very long-winded way of saying, Kesha’s new track is a total hit, while Katy Perry’s is a complete flop. I don’t think Katy Perry is a fundamentally bad person, but I do think this song is a totally awful look for her, especially since she sided with the rapist and still got completely shown up. It’s embarrassing, honestly.
Katy, you and Dr. Luke can keep your shallow empowerment. I’m implored to get in for the joyride, and I recommend you all do too.