There's no one better than Katy Perry to commit to the track. When she sings in Simlish, she puts her whole diamond into it. Her Vegas residency, which began in 2021 at the absolute nadir of her career, featured an extended set in which she interacted with a giant toilet. Sometimes, the universe completes the track for her: “The One That Got Away” was the only single from her gigantic 2010 album Teenage Dream that didn't reach No. 1 on the Hot 100. She's the Jenna Maroney of pop music, facing every challenge with a blank stare and nothing less than 150% commitment.
This is Perry's greatest strength as well as her fatal flaw. When she half-assed something, you can really tell: Rhyming “problem” with “bubble” would have been a slam-dunk in a track about a sexy foam party, but Katy wasted it on a reggae song about the dangers of technology, or anything. But when it comes to politics, Perry just seems bored, so much so that a single back titled “Woman's World” seems like a foregone conclusion. And yet, when she describes women as “so smart,” she sings it in that nonstop, unintentionally patronizing rhythm that leaves you no choice but to assume she's being sarcastic. Now that's a bit of a good thing.
With its throbbing synths and steamroller chorus, “Woman's World” is clearly based on Lady Gaga's 2020 single “Stupid Love,” a cheeky return to the form that successfully launched Gaga into the second act of her career. However, it appears to have been a miscalculation: “Stupid Love” worked not because of its sound, but because it took the staples of Gaga's music—slightly silly lyrics, an acid trip concept, a general struggle with vowels—and turned them up a notch. . to 11. It's disappointing because Perry would have chosen to come back with a vaguely political song—you just get the feeling that she just doesn't like or care about this stuff.
Even if “Woman's World” didn't sound like its author had to explain feminism to her from the top half of the first page of Google, its message of empowerment would be false simply because it was co-written and . Produced by Dr. Luke, the producer accused Kesha, in a since-dismissed lawsuit, of sexual assault and emotional abuse — claims she denied. It's frankly twisted, if not surprising – I generally think you should be at least something of an unscrupulous pretender to be a celebrity or pop star, and fair play to those who want to—but it also reveals that “Woman's World” is even more of a monumental disaster: If Perry were willing to face the built-in bad press of creating a song about female fat with an alleged thug, shouldn't the song at least be a banger? Instead, it's incredibly tepid, irritating at best. In the immortal words of sister Kathryn Rose Holtzman, who said moments before she died: “Katy Perry, please stop.”
