The seventh studio album 143 by global pop star Katy Perry is set to be released in September 2024, but has already been causing a stir after the release of her first single for this era: Woman’s World. Set up to be a feminist anthem, it falls short right off the bat as it was produced by Dr. Luke, who has created Katy’s biggest hits but has a complicated history with other female artists, most notably with the singer Kesha.
Dr. Luke vs Kesha
Dr. Luke (real name Lukasz Gottwald), is an American producer and songwriter responsible for hits such as: “Sugar” by Maroon 5; “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus; “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne, and many more.
He acted as CEO and producer at Kemosabe Records, a label under Sony Music, and is known for working with the biggest names in western music since the 2010’s.
In October 2014, one of the artists signed under Kemosabe Records, best known for her hit songs “Tik Tok”, “Timber”, “Your Love is My Drug”, and for branding a new era of sleazy chic that captivated teens around the world: Kesha; filed a lawsuit against her long time collaborator Dr. Luke. The accusations spanned over the 10 years of their relationship and consisted of claims including alleged verbal, physical and sexual assault; her allegedly being drugged and raped by him; and alleged emotional abuse that she said led her to develop an eating disorder. The case pleaded for the termination of her relationship with Kemosabe/Sony Music so she wouldn’t be contractually obligated to work with or around her alleged abuser. In response, Dr. Luke immediately filed a countersuit, claiming that the allegations were fabricated in an attempt to get her out of her contract with the label and extort money out of him.
Many artists like Adele, Demi Lovato and Lady Gaga spoke out in support of Kesha, utilizing the trending hashtag #FreeKesha, and donated money for her legal fees.
With almost a decade of legal battles between them, at the end of 2023 they released a joint statement announcing they were dropping the case once and for all and distancing themselves from the situation, even though both parties still sustain their own versions of the story. Kesha now owns her own record company called Kesha Records, where she released her song “Joyride” in July 2024, garnering support from fans on her new musical ventures unattached to Sony Music or Dr. Luke.
What does Katy Perry have to do with this?
Dr.Luke’s relationship with Katy Perry dates back to their collaboration in 2008 with her songs: “I Kissed a Girl” and “Hot n Cold”; which propelled her as a household name. Two years later, they worked together on her third album Teenage Dream which featured the globally successful songs: “California Girls”; “E.T”; “Last Friday Night”; “Part of Me”; “Teenage Dream”; “The One That Got Away” and “Wide Awake”.
In 2013, on her fourth studio recorded album Prism Dr. Luke was credited as producer to 7 songs, 2 of which garnered impressive success: “Dark Horse” and “Roar”.
After claims of feeling repetitive with her songs, Katy releases her next 2 albums “Witness” (2017) and “Smile” (2020) with no productions from Dr. Luke. Her fall from the top of the charts was visible, as her US album sales dropped from 3 million (Teenage Dream) and 1,7 million (Prism) to 300 thousand (Witness) and 60 thousand (Smile).
It is safe to assume that after the response to the last 2 albums, Perry decided to retract whatever qualms she had with the superproducer in hopes of regaining the global success status she once carried.
In the middle of 2024, Katy released 2 singles with Dr. Luke: “Woman’s World” and “Lifetimes”, which are from her seventh album that is being released later in the year. And it is not lost on the public the irony of releasing a song titled “Woman’s World” with the famously controversial producer accused of abuse against a fellow artist.
It is unfortunately common to find men utilizing their positions of power in order to abuse and assault women, especially in the artistic world, where fame and money are powerful tools of manipulation.
The legal trajectory Kesha went through revealed a much bigger problem: how in the court of public opinion it is very hard for a woman to be taken seriously. Kesha’s story showed how easy it is for the legal system to dismiss victims of abuse. The safety net granted to Dr. Luke during and after the proceedings by Sony Music while Kesha was practically blacklisted for years in the industry further proves the point that there is still no true accountability for men accused of abuse, especially those in positions of fame and success.
In an interview with Apple Music, Perry states: “This is the first contribution I have given since becoming a mother and since feeling really connected to my feminine divine.”, unfortunately the lyrics to “Woman’s World” didn’t really garner that powerful energy from fans that Katy was expecting, receiving backlash for having shallow lyrics such as “ Sexy, confident / So intelligent/ She is heaven-sent/ So soft, so strong” on a song she hyped up a lot and claimed was going to be her artistic rebirth after her disappointing albums.
The video is also being criticized for actually playing into male expectations and over sexualization, but Perry rebutted with backstage footage of her process the shoot showing the whole purposeful irony behind it all.
Though I believe Perry is aware of Dr. Luke’s allegations, she has refrained from commenting on it, which is very telling, in my opinion, about her stance on the whole situation. And while Katy fumbles with trying to justify her new empowered sexy feminist persona while working with Dr. Luke, the public just can’t seem to take this era as seriously as she hoped.
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The article above was edited by Anna Maria Prado .
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