Maybe, you were led to believe, only 1 or 2 tracks on Katy Perry’s “143” album were produced by Dr. Luke.
It turns out 10 of the 11 tracks were co-written and produced by Lukasz Gottwald, or basically the whole album. Only one track– the best — called “Wonder” — comes from the Swedish producer Stargate.
Why Perry returned to Dr Luke as a producer and collaborator remains a mystery. Gottwald has been part of an ongoing scandal with the singer Kesha with accusations of rape and abuse. The long and winding court cases were only recently settled. But nearly every female performer of Perry’s era — starting with Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga — denounced Gottwald publicly.
And yet, here is Katy Perry with her first album in four years that includes an anthem called “Woman’s World” put together by Gottwald. It boggles the mind. When “Woman’s World” first appeared, Perry was heavily criticized for continuing to work with Dr. Luke. The reaction didn’t bother her. she told Variety that Dr. Luke was “one of her collaborators.” IN reality, he is all of her collaborators.
And then “Woman’s Word” and the next two singles were flops. The album may be, too. It just entered the iTunes chart at number 27.
I was kind of rooting for Perry to make a good comeback. She left “American Idol” after 7 seasons very rich but with a career left behind. On “143” the songs are ones designed for a 20 year old, not a 40 year old. All the credit she built up with “Roar” and “Firework,” her big hits, has been squandered on Dr. Luke, samples, synth, and juvenile lyrics. This could have been a big moment for her, but it isn’t.
