Katy Perry feat. Skip Marley - Chained To The Rhythm

What I've learnt in recent years is that by some cosmic divination, I now have a lot more respect for Katy Perry than most. In recent times, we've seen the charts becoming predominantly male, with a lot of thanks to streaming which relative to downloads, leans more towards hip hop & dance, which are predominantly male. This means that some chains have to be cut loose, and it hasn't been a good time for most of the female pop stars who have been dominating the charts in recent years prior.

Perhaps it signals a changing of the guard, but for someone like Katy Perry, whose last album netted two of the biggest hits of 2013/2014, it just feels premature. I feel like her lacking success comes down to a lot of ill will. After years upon years of dominance, people just really want to see Katy Perry fail. I was once like this myself, taking immense pride whenever one of her singles fell short of what it seemed to be aiming for.

So now what seems to happen is that every time she puts out a new single, it feels like there's a rush to solidify the concensus as 'this is awful, this is a total failure', and then when I hear it myself I just can't see it myself. "Chained To The Rhythm" admittedly paints a target on its back with its message akin to 'wake up sheeple', and just like every time a woman voices an opinion, you'll get a choir of 'actually' dudes.

The argument I particularly loathe is one that points out that Katy's previous music and its low stakes means that this is an out of character move, and there's a condescending tone of 'aww, she thinks she's woke now'. Misogyny at the work preventing her from being taken seriously, it's hardly better than 'get back in the kitchen' and similar ilk. Even if she has had a sudden change of stance, who cares? Do you honestly believe everything you did 4 years ago? If so, maybe you're the one who needs some self-analysis.

But honestly I still don't see why this is ever brandished as awful outside of ill will. As a pop song it's catchy, upbeat, and refreshingly listenable on repeat listens. I suppose this could reflect my different opinion as someone who is not typically a fan of her music, but this doesn't scream of re-branded marketing towards my kind in the same way as say, Rihanna. I can't see this as any more egregious as "Dark Horse" or "E.T." and those are among her biggest hits.