Monday, July 10, 2017

The Evolution of Katy Perry

Katy Perry continues to make revelations at a breakneck pace as she promotes her latest album, Witness.

The 32-year-old songstress on Wednesday opened up to The New York Times about how she's evolved from the pop queen behind top 40 hits such as I Kissed A Girl and Hot N Cold to a deeper, more nuanced artist - to the chagrin of some.

'They want you to stand for something, but once you do, and if you don't do it perfectly, they're ready to take you right down,' Perry told the newspaper.

The Swish Swish singer said she 'didn't kill' off her former image, because she loves that identity, and it was 'exactly what' she had to do at the time.

'I'm not a con artist, I didn't con people, like, that was just me,' Perry said. 'And this is me now ... it's a departure, and it's a necessary evolution that I have to take.'

Perry said she's resistant to those who think she should continue down the pop path without any regards to growing as an artist.

'People don’t let people grow. They just want a time capsule,' she said. 'And they want them to be one thing. And we have to start reimagining that.'

The Firework singer attributed some of the changes, reflected both in her image and her music, to personal changes she's undergone, which include attending therapy with her relatives and quitting drinking earlier this year.

'I feel very empowered, extremely liberated, liberated from the conditioning of the way I used to think, spiritually liberated, politically liberated, sexually liberated, liberated from things that don't serve me,' the Chained to the Rhythm artist said.

Perry, who recently spent four days on a YouTube livestream to hype her new record, also opened up on how impacted she was by Hillary Clinton's loss to Donald Trump  last November, as she was at New York City's Javits Convention Center, where Clinton was expected to be delivering a speech after becoming the country's first female president.

Perry said it was a 'traumatizing' moment when she learned Clinton would not be at the venue that evening, and called Trump's controversial victory 'a revelation' and 'a reckoning.'

She recalled a moment in which she held hands with fellow musical superstar Lady Gaga, as both were in attendance at the venue for the anticipated milestone.

'Gaga and I just looking at each other, and being like, f--- it, we need to touch each other,' she said.

This new evolved Katy says she's also ready to let her long running feud with Taylor Swift "go."

The two music stars have been arguing ever since falling out over some backing singers three years ago.

But during a live streaming session on YouTube to promote her new album Witness this weekend, Katy said she had more important things to think about.

'I forgive her and I'm sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her,' she said.

' think it's time. There are bigger fish to fry, and there are real problems in the world. You know what I'm saying?'

The 32-year-old singer said she hoped she and Taylor Swift could 'come together in a place of love and forgiveness and understanding and compassion.'

'I love her, and I want the best for her,' she said.

'And I think she's a fantastic songwriter, and I think that if we, both her and I, can be representatives of strong women that come together despite their differences, I think the whole world is going to go like, 'Yeah, well we can do this.'

Katy Perry opened up during Witness World Wide, a weekend-long live stream in which fans got to watch her do everyday things like cooking, as well as holding Q&As.

She admitted to being in therapy after having suicidal thoughts, interviewed stars like Anna Kendrick and, while talking to James Corden, she ranked her boyfriends from best (John Mayer) to worst (Diplo).

However, it's unclear if Taylor Swift is ready to forgive and forget.

Last month, Taylor put her music back on Spotify, on the same day Katy Perry's new album came out.

She'd originally pulled her songs off the platform in 2014, after criticising the effect streaming services were having on the music industry.

Katy Perry admitted there was a "situation" last month in a Carpool Karaoke interview with James Corden.

'She started it and it's time for her to finish it,' she said.

Rumors of a rift between the two emerged shortly before the release of Taylor Swift's hit Bad Blood in 2014.

She hinted in an interview that it was about a high-profile female musician who she had become enemies with and it had to do with business dealings.

The day after this article was published, Katy Perry tweeted: 'Watch out for the Regina George in sheep's clothing.'

Regina George is the villain of the 2004 comedy Mean Girls starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams.

Katy’s awakening has been tapped as a marketing strategy for “Witness,” and the live stream was selling her authenticity: If you dig hearing about her new perspective, maybe you’ll enjoy her song “Power.” While there are still plenty of relationship songs on “Witness” that will have fans wondering which of her beaus she misses more than she loved, seven tracks deal plainly with her new mind-set. The most direct is “Bigger Than Me,” a statement of purpose akin to Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” ('But my intuition says there’s a bigger mission I must embrace/So I’m, I’m pushing my thoughts to a new place').

Though some of the subject matter is thorny and emotional, Katy says she’s the happiest she’s ever been.

'It’s a departure, and it’s a necessary evolution that I have to take,' Ms. Perry said. 'And I know that sometimes it feels publicly like I’m dragging cement blocks, but like, the pyramids were made out of cement blocks — or not cement. But do you know what I’m trying to say? I’m gonna get there.'