If this is a woman’s world, I don’t feel lucky to be living in it. Please let me out.
Katy Perry’s latest release 143 has been surrounded by controversy since the beginning. The first single, “Woman’s World,” was produced by alleged rapist Dr. Luke, a former frequent collaborator of Perry’s. He produced songs on albums One of the Boys, Teenage Dream, and Prism, including tracks such as “I Kissed a Girl,” “Teenage Dream,” “California Gurls,” and “Roar,” among many others. Amidst the criticism, Perry went on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and defended his presence, saying he was “one of many collaborators.”
The problem with that statement is that Dr. Luke is credited as a producer on all but one of the songs on 143. Whether or not he just slapped his name on some of these tracks is hard to say, as it is suspected that he has taken credit for songs that he didn’t have a hand in, but it doesn’t really matter. His name is on the songs and Perry is publicly associating herself with him.
I hated “Woman’s World” when it came out, but I was determined to review 143, which meant that I had to listen to the album. So I put my AirPods in, focused, and did my best to forget about Dr. Luke’s involvement to allow the music to speak for itself. Unfortunately, it didn’t have much to say.
The album opens with “Woman’s World;” a cheesy, deeply 2010s girlboss feminism song that doesn’t work today. After the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the core idea of “it’s a woman’s world and you’re lucky to be living in it” simply doesn’t work. One could make the argument that it’s a rich, white woman’s world, but still, nothing about wearing an outfit that looks like Karen Smith tried to dress as Rosie the Riveter screams “feminist” to me.
Following “Woman’s World” is “Gimme Gimme,” which features 21 Savage. I have listened to this song several times in an attempt to review it thoughtfully, but I genuinely still don’t remember how it goes enough to review it. I remember it being inoffensive, as well as some of the melody if I have the lyrics right in front of me, but the fact that track two of the album is this forgettable is concerning.
After this is “Gorgeous,” my least favorite song on the record by far. This track features fellow pop singer Kim Petras, who I’ve never liked, so it was unsurprising that I couldn’t stand this track. Unlike “Gimme Gimme,” I remember how this one goes, so I suppose that’s a point in its favor, even though the reason I remember how it goes is that it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Disappointingly, this is the one song that had Max Martin as a songwriter. While Martin didn’t contribute to the song’s production, the songwriting on the track was still lacking. Given how infrequently Martin works now, one would hope that the man who helped bring us songs like “Hot N Cold,” “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” and “Rise” would bring something positive to his one contribution on 143.
Following “Gorgeous” is “I’m His, He’s Mine,” a collaboration with rapper Doechii that had its debut performance during Perry’s performance at the VMAs. The song is fine. Nothing special, nothing particularly grating. A nice breath of fresh air after the disaster that was “Gorgeous.” There are some fun “la da dee, la da da” moments. Beyond this, it’s as forgettable as “Gimme Gimme.”
“Crush” is also very forgettable. I’ve listened to it the same amount as “Gimme Gimme” and also remember next to nothing. I do remember it sounding like a less interesting, Europop version of the song “Teenage Dream.” I also remember that this is the second song in a row that has “la da dee” be an important part of the chorus, but I only remember that because I wrote it down.
After “Crush” is the album’s second single, “Lifetimes.” I really like this song. It is absolutely my favorite on the album. It’s for her daughter Daisy, which also gives it cuteness points. There was controversy about Perry potentially causing environmental damage when filming her music video, but the song itself is good. It also feels somewhat sonically reminiscent of her early work.
Then comes “All the Love,” another deeply forgettable track that was vaguely reminiscent of her early work. It wasn’t anywhere near as memorable as any of her early work, however.
After that is “Nirvana,” which is a cool song, but it makes me wish I were listening to a song like “Dark Horse” or “E.T.” Compared to the other songs on the album, this one is good. It’s unfortunately quite short, which means that we’re moving onto the very forgettable songs far too quickly.
Speaking of forgettable songs, next come “Artificial” and “Truth.” “Artificial” was a more forgettable, far worse version of “E.T.” with a bad instrumental ruining the rap verse by JID. “Truth” is also very forgettable. I remember the hook and that’s it.
The album ends with “Wonder,” my second favorite song after “Lifetimes.” Another song dedicated to Daisy, it begins with a child’s voice singing the chorus. This is also the only song with no credits from Dr. Luke. “One day when we’re older, / Will we still look up in wonder?” Perry and the child both sing, giving the positivity present on the album a sense of direction: toward Perry’s family. She urges Daisy not to “let the envious ones say that [she’s] just a weed,” and for a “beautiful boy” (presumably fiancé Orlando Bloom or perhaps the child singing at the beginning) to not “let the ways of the world kill [his] empathy.” It’s lovely to close an otherwise shallow, depthless album with a song that seems to come from the heart, the only other of which seems to be “Lifetimes.”
I hated listening to a bland, forgettable album from Katy Perry. Her signature wit that can be found in songs like “I Kissed a Girl” and “California Gurls” is completely gone. What happened? It feels like she’s lost herself. 143 also feels incredibly dated, with the 2010s quality not giving a sense of nostalgia, but a feeling of boredom. Only one song was actively unpleasant for me to listen to, but almost all of the others were boring and forgettable and the whole album just made me sad. If you’re going to collaborate with someone like Dr. Luke, at least make the music good, or at least memorable. At least records like Witness and even Smile have a direction. 143 comes from a code for “I love you” based on the amount of letters in each of the words. Just like that code, the record is dated and not intuitively nostalgic. Perry is trying to take a time machine back to the days of her greatest success, but has picked up all the wrong things and left the exciting, distinctive aspects behind.
In the music video for “Woman’s World,” one woman repeatedly asks Katy Perry, “Who are you?” After listening to 143, I have the same question.