r/popheads AOTY 2024 #32: Katy Perry - 143
Artist: Katy Perry
Album: 143 (1432 - Deluxe)
Release Date: September 20th, 2024 (December 20th, 2024 - Deluxe)
Tracklist & Lyrics: Genius
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Where to start with 143? The horrendous lead single choice? Going back to work with Dr. Luke? The waste of the Y2K/futuristic aesthetic? Well don't worry cause we'll be going through all of it! Buckle in for the annual Katy Perry lashings!
Soooo let's address the elephant in the room
As I'm sure all of you know, Dr. Luke was heavily involved in the process of this album, and while there have been many conversations about "separating the art from the artist" it's kind of hard to do that especially when looking at the subject matter of some of the songs on the album. I'm sure this goes without saying but I obviously don't condone any of the actions Dr. Luke is alleged to have done and I am very disappointed with Katy's choice to work with him again. With that said, I will try my best to be unbiased in my review of his production despite what he has done.
Okay now that that's out of the way, let's get to it.
Can I get a Witness?
Since the second half of 2023 there were rumblings of a new Katy Perry album on the horizon, and the hype was HIGH. Discussions were had about how Never Really Over should've been the song of the year and gone diamond, Witness was a groundbreaking album ahead of its time, extremely influential and deserving of several #1s and Grammys...ok well maybe not all that but I did notice a bit of retrospection towards the past 6 years of Katy's career (and yeah NRO was robbed). The people were hungry for a Katy Perry comeback and it was starting to feel like that was a real possibility: several of her songs were going viral on TikTok, she had finally left American Idol, and most importantly her long black hair was back!
And then came the news...Katy Perry was reconnecting with an old producer for this album. And y'all, the coping was crazy. The 2 remaining Katycats were in denial saying it wasn't true, it could be several different producers, Swifies made it all up...but yeah it was Dr. Luke. Era over pack it up. Well not exactly; while yes it was super disappointing that Katy was back with Dr. Luke, it didn't mean that the music was gonna suck and that the album was gonna flop (I mean it did happen but we didn't know that at the time!!). Say what you want about Dr. Luke but (unfortunately) he can crank out some bangers, and several of his newer hits have (unfortunately) hit #1. Yeah this era will morally be a bust but maybe we can at least get some hits?
Well, that was before the snippet dropped...
If this is what a Woman's World is like, then I most definitely don't want to be living in it
Just a month before the release of Woman's World, Katy teased the name alongside a cvnty promo pic where Katy has her signature long black hair, a two-piece, and these huge robotic legs...and I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty hyped for it. But then we got the snippet...and it was everything you could expect from a Katy Perry song about feminism produced by an alleged rapist...NOT GOOD. I mean if you're gonna tank your reputation by working with a rapist, you'd think the song would at least be good right???
I'll keep my dragging of Woman's World to a minimum cause there are already so many amazing reads you can find already. I think the part that annoys me the most about this song is 7 years ago Katy released Chained to the Rhythm, a song about how we need to wake up, we need to pay attention to the media we're consuming, and face our problems in society that we've been ignoring. So to then release this? A very shallow "feminist anthem" produced by that man? Do you genuinely think your fans are stupid? And then for her to say that the video was satire...it's hard to tell that for sure when you're working with a man like that.
While I don't think the rest of the album was amazing, this was by far the worst and I do think the era and Katy's career and reputation would've been far better off had this song not been released, let alone as the lead single. But if not WW, then what should be the lead?
Enter the second single from 143, Lifetimes: a very generic but inoffensive bop, well, a tepid bop but I mean...at this point do we take it? It's certainly not to the level of Woman's World, and for being released only a month afterward was this really the best Katy could come up with? The song has kind of become the mascot of the entire Era, even naming the SOLD OUT HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL TOUR after it (which I will be attending)! Sadly even Lifetimes wasn't without controversy, the video was filmed in the Balearic Islands of Spain and an investigation was launched as to whether environmental damage was done to the dunes. While it looks like this might not be a crime, it's certain not a good look.
Okay..another bust, maybe third times the charm? and hopefully not the Swish Swish kind?
I'm His, He's Mine (in reference to the top spot on the Billboard Bubbling Under chart)
Ok I'm not gonna lie, I kinda like this??? Yeah the beat is sampled from Crystal Waters' Gypsy Woman, but in terms of sheer bopbability, this song is definitely the best from the era. Grammy winner Doechii chewed her verse, and the video looked good for once. Had this been the lead single I could've seen a cute top 40 placement for it and maybe some life in what would come after..uh..actually are there even any other songs on this album that could've done well?
The bops
Now despite what anyone says, I do think there are a couple of great songs on this album: Nirvana, Wonder, and maybe Crush if I'm feeling generous.
Nirvana and Crush serve Europop realness. Yeah some of the lyrics are basic and in the grand scheme of things these songs are nothing special, but they are the saving grace of the album. When you turn on Katy Perry you want dancey bops, and while these songs are missing a bit of the campiness I love from Katy, they're certainly catchy.
Wonder is a cute tribute to Katy's daughter Daisy, named after the hit song that peaked at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also just so happens to be the only song without Dr. Luke's hands on it, and wow what a surprise it's one of the best songs on the album. While I don't think this song is a huge hit in the making, it does show that most of the controversy of this album could've been avoided; Katy doesn't need Dr. Luke to make hits (and I'd argue that her flops from the past decade haven't been because he wasn't involved). This song will make a cute closer to the era alongside footage from the tour.
The others
The other tracks on the album are nothing to write home about. All The Love and Truth are very forgettable so that brings us to the collabs. Gimme Gimme has not 1 but 2 phoned-in verses from 21 Savage. There is a solo version, but it's not like it's much better. JID ate up his verse and while I do kind of like the chorus to Artificial, the lyrics throughout the entire song ironically read like they're written by AI. That being one of the critiques of the entire album; it feels very soulless and manufactured, sadly again going against what some of the songs on Witness had to say.
Katy Perry and Kim Petras' "KP KP" collab would've been cute if not for their joint love of Dr. Luke...
1432 (the album's placement on the charts)
Two months after the release of 143, Katy released the deluxe edition 1432 including 4 new songs, one of which (OK) is apparently the 4th single? I saw minor buzz on TikTok about this song the week it came out, but it wasn't exactly positive. I do appreciate Katy going for a slightly different sound, but is the last 2000s RomCom ending credits theme what you really should be going for?
The other 3 deluxe songs range in quality. Has A Heart is probably my 2nd least fav song from the entire album, but I Woke Up and No Tears For New Year's are kind of groovy. From the title I wish I Woke Up was more of a callback toward Teenage Dream cause right now it sounds like a cheaper version of Tucked from Smile which you should definitely go stream cause that song is a bop!
Closing thoughts
Well that was certainly something. I don't think 143 is a great album, but I also don't think it's the worst thing released last year. There are a couple of good tunes on it and as a whole the album flows quite nicely from song to song, kind of like a nonstop club mix. It serves as nice background music at the club, playing video games, or working out (which I will be doing tomorrow to get those sick robo-legs Katy was rocking). It is disappointing that the album felt more like a playlist of songs instead of a unifying message or thesis (at least Witness had that). The Y2K mixed with futurism aesthetic was wasted on this album, but it would be cool to see Katy come back to it. Scrap that, I wanna see her go back to her sound from One Of The Boys. And when that album flops I'll see y'all in ~4 years when Katy releases another dud!
Discussion Questions:
Katy has released 3 "flop" albums back to back: Witness, Smile, and now 143. How would you rank them? Which album had the highest highs and which had the lowest lows?
Your job is to redo the 143 era! You can change the single choices, marketing, visuals, etc., but you can't add or remove songs. What do you do? Is there a way to save the era without changing the music? Should Katy have just re-released Never Really Over as the lead single?
What do you want to see next from Katy? Is it unfortunately time to admit that Katy isn’t a main pop girl anymore:( ? Is there a way to bounce back from this era, and if so what would that look like?
Is Katy the reason why Kamala Harris lost?