I mean, yeah. Her songs are catchy enough to be popular... but does she have enough of a personality to justify her presence in pop music? You look at Lady Gaga, and you can't deny that she has a personality. Taylor Swift has a defined personality. Ke$ha has one. Beyoncé has one. Like it or not, Miley Cyrus has certainly established a personality for herself as well. But at the end of the day, it always seems to be Katy Perry that the general public flocks back to. Almost all of her singles have been in the Top 10 - hell, a good chunk of her singles have held the number one spot at some point. So what's the deal with Katy Perry? Well, to understand Katy Perry, let's go back to her first successful single, "I Kissed a Girl".
Now, this song definitely got people talking, because OH MY GOD SHE KISSED A GIRL AM I RIGHT??? But love it or hate it, I believe that this song is the only reason Katy Perry is famous.
If she had released "Hot n Cold" first, no one would have cared. While I think "Hot n Cold" is a better song than "I Kissed a Girl", it's mostly just a disposable pop song. "I Kissed a Girl" is different. It hit a nation growing in tolerance of the LGBT community at the right time. People wanted to hear a heartfelt, romantic love ballad from the point of a female ostracized from society for having intimate relations with another female.
Okay, who am I kidding. People wanted to hear Katy Perry girl-on-girl action.
This song made it big, and quickly established Katy Perry as a sex symbol, something that none of her other singles could have done as successfully. Even "California Gurls" kind of relies on Katy Perry already being established as a sex symbol. So in short, Katy Perry's success rests on her first single exploiting her sexuality, and having it dominate her personality for a while. Now I guess she's trying on a "Beautiful"-era Christina Aguilera and "Bad Romance"-era Lady Gaga hybrid personality for size, but maybe she should just go back to doing what she does best: tasting cherry chapstick.
Then again, what do I know? She's still as popular as ever. I'm pretty sure an audio recording of her talking to plants would reach the Top 10 at this point. So keep on doing what you're doing, Katy Perry. It appears to be working for you, although I'm not sure what it is. *hums chorus to Dark Horse*
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