Katy Perry.

To be as blunt as possible, Katy Perry's music (specifically her singles) give me chills. All the time. I know most people who consider themselves lovers of music, scoff at the pop-music elite. People actively hate --but can't escape that Top 40 melange, tweaked to mind-numbing perfection, curiously upbeat, annoyingly catchy, which lends itself to being repeated 680 times a day on a given Clear Channel station so well. Most often Pop is the Pat Boone style version of whatever really interesting and diverse musical movements are happening in that day and time. There is something horrifying about when ''the masses'' start to like a thing. Which is how I felt when the Teen Choice Award decided to take this white folk's fascination with twerking one boring overplayed step too far this year, by trying to cajole their audience into one final act before the end credits, setting a ''twerking world record.'' 

I feel, and respect the ire that comes when your favorite sound is co-opted and made to be just another cog in the wheel. This applies to 80% of pop tunes to one degree or another. I get it. But here's what I find to be limiting about that viewpoint: A. You and I and everyone else are the masses. B. Some pop stars do more with their platform, for the culture, and for artistry than they are given credit. Katy Perry is certainly one of them. Gaga is another. As is Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and even Justin Beiber. 

I'm not ever here to make people like things they don't like. Or to condemn people for their tastes. What wakes me up in the morning is the idea, that artists (no matter what you or I think of them) have the right to create in a way that is right and honest for them. I'm here to champion that right whenever possible, with vigor, and sarcastic quips. Pop music adds some smoke and mirrors to that ''honesty'' but that's because Pop is a business, rather than a genre. It's always been that, and doesn't make any secrets about it. The same way ads, even with orchestral scores, witty jokes, thought provoking premises, cool pictures, etc...are here to sell you something. That's the reality. Doesn't make the old ''Wassup'' Commercial any less awesome, or culturally salient. 

So, that brings me to Katy Perry. 

That girl can make an anthem. GEEZ. She makes you want to get up and face the day. It's crazy. She uses the pop formula, the rhyming dictionary of her heart, and her upbringing to create this world of empowerment. She's cheeky, but not in the same way that other stars use rebellion as a means to their ends. Well, not totally. She started out rougher, but she evolved quickly (as did Gaga and Minaj). Because when you look up and have 40 Million+ followers, if you're wise, and a decent human being, you realize really quickly, what influence you have. 

The conversation about who is responsible for society, is it artists or individuals, is another conversation that I will address in full or in part as we go on this blogging journey. Here however, I will be quick about it. Artists dictate style, they don't create society. They discuss it, the critique it, they fall victim to it, etc., LIKE ANYONE ELSE. They are, after all, human. Not Kryptonian. So I do not support the notion that we can or should blame art or artists for the ills in society. Sorry. That's the easy way out. That said, when you are creating the soundtrack to people's lives and people are buying that soundtrack in droves, you should be aware, purposeful, and honest about what you are saying. You should make sure that you are being true to yourself, and in that you create something that people can identify with. 

There is fresh approach, and candidness about her music that I really appreciate. Her first songs were interesting, more than the ''chic banal,'' if I may borrow Zac Posen's oft used phrase. Still fitting the pop model, but turning it's styling on it's ear (same again with Gaga, and Nicki---except Nicki's talent is in a Hip-Hop/Pop infrastructure). Then she started making Stadium-Status anthems inspiring dozens of teens in that awkward period of life or love, and me, specifically as a 20-something. The awkward phase, never really ends after teen-dom. If sort of shifts from who likes me, to what city should I live in next. It's still uncomfortable, there's still lots of uncertainty, albeit with more maturity under your belt (hopefully). When you just suspend your (over)critical instincts and get in the moment she's created, the songs are really inspiring, interesting, full of story. 

As I will say until I'm gone, music is to be felt first, then analyzed. Teenage Dream, Firework, Last Friday Night, Roar... all of these lift you, the listener. It's her own unicorn and care-bear filled world, but there are monsters under the bed, and there's smog in the air sometimes, heartbreak, but we're still having a good time. We are still finding meaning, we are still in some ways more than others, triumphant. Where Taylor Swift tends to have a deprecating form of story telling (that is also anthem-like in it's way), Gaga tends to be more brash, Minaj is provocative  Katy Perry has a way of telling you the real, in a very relate-able way. She makes you feel like her brand of awesome is attainable. And that yours is too. 

Really, what more can we ask for?

I Recommend: ROAR, Teenage Dream, Firework, Birthday, Unconditionally