Certain pop stars are often cited as having a certain je ne sais quoi about them. A sort of "coolness" which comes naturally and effortlessly(like Rihanna for example). Katy Perry used to be very successful, but was she considered cool by the GP?

 

yes. We all know Katy was the MF it girl of the early 10s. Let's stop being delusional ATRL. Katy used to run the mf music industry and everybody and their mom used to party tf down to every Teenage Dream bop. Mind you, fashion loved Katy too and til this day, student associations have Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) on their sorority party playlists.

 

She was never cool in a Rihanna/Aaliyah sense, but she had a "one of the boys" (no pun intended) appeal back in the day.

Edited July 6, 20233 yr by Virgos Groove

Of course, it just went away when she turned 30.

 

She would never have gotten away with this otherwise:

Yup, I think Katy was the most beloved pop star in Latin America from 2010 to 2014. 

How old were you at her peak because I've never seen anybody who was around back then question this. 

 

Not even the OKHs agreeing she was cool 

Edited July 6, 20233 yr by Century

Yeah, she was considered cool and the talk of the town in TD. She just didn't capitalize on it enough. Never on the Rihanna level obviously but she had it

4 minutes ago, KatyPrismSpirit said:

yes. We all know Katy was the MF it girl of the early 10s. Let's stop being delusional ATRL. Katy used to run the mf music industry and everybody and their mom used to party tf down to every Teenage Dream bop. Mind you, fashion loved Katy too and til this day, student associations have Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) on their sorority party playlists.

 

You are conflating two very different things; Success vs impact. The public liked her singles, but the industry was not looking to Katy for anything meaningful. She was not moving the needle or impacting the industry in any considerable way (not to say she did not have impact, because she did). That is why despite her success, Katy was never viewed as a critic's darling or taken seriously by major awards bodies despite her music being quite good. If what you are saying was true, Katy's position in pop music right now would be at a much higher level.

 

How are we defining "cool", though? When I think of cool, I do think of Rihanna, but Katy has never reached that level of coolness. I do not think most popstars reach that level because pop as a whole is not "cool", it is fun and generic for most listeners.

Before Birthday, yes.

 

Katy has always been cool 

Just watch the TD music video.

She lost her cool factor somewhere around 2011

 

TD/California girls she was the definition of cool

She had a rock edge in OOTB & heavy sex appeal for Teenage Dream. The 1-2-3 punch of Part of Me, Wide Awake & Roar made her look cheesy to young people & she never recovered

8 minutes ago, Psylocke said:

Of course, it just went away when she turned 30.

 

She would never have gotten away with this otherwise:

 

Not really. Times were just different back then.

 

I think having 5 #1 from just one album is pretty cool

8 minutes ago, Sannie said:

You are conflating two very different things; Success vs impact. The public liked her singles, but the industry was not looking to Katy for anything meaningful. She was not moving the needle or impacting the industry in any considerable way (not to say she did not have impact, because she did). That is why despite her success, Katy was never viewed as a critic's darling or taken seriously by major awards bodies despite her music being quite good. If what you are saying was true, Katy's position in pop music right now would be at a much higher level.

 

How are we defining "cool", though? When I think of cool, I do think of Rihanna, but Katy has never reached that level of coolness. I do not think most popstars reach that level because pop as a whole is not "cool", it is fun and generic for most listeners.

Girl what is cool to you then? Katy always had a unique style that was definitely very influential in the early 10s. Her colorful and eccentric fashion choices always sparked conversation at every single award show she attended. This helped her built great relations with big fashion houses and magazines like VOGUE. Katy was also a well embraced figure in various genres. She was able to pull off very succesful pop rap duets with some of the most iconic rappers of all-time. Those collabs felt extremely organic as well and not forced at all. Katy definitely had an edge to her that gave her appeal and still til this day makes her popular. 

 

Also. Since when does being a critic darling give you the "cool" factor tho? Norah Jones won like what? 8 grammys with one album. Does that make her "cooler" all of a sudden? 

 

 

Edited July 6, 20233 yr by KatyPrismSpirit

She was was definitely cool during OOTB. Once TD came around she wasn’t uncool but definitely was more “fun”. She lost her edge.

i don’t think she was seen as “cool”, she was seen as more of a hot girl with big boobs who made fun music. but her videos and image have always been a lil corny and cartoonish

She was never cool. Liking her was always considered to be a guilty pleasure amongst anyone over the age of 14

4 minutes ago, Material Girl said:

i don’t think she was seen as “cool”, she was seen as more of a hot girl with big boobs who made fun music. but her videos and image have always been a lil corny and cartoonish

This

 

She was like cool to listen to in high school but when someone entered their college years etc. definitely not

Yeah, she was

Everything went downhill when she insisted on pushing the "clown" bottom in her 30s.

Ayone I know saw her as a clown and they got tired of her.

She was “cool” during her debut era. After that she was so popular she didn’t really have to be 

of course, you troll  

I feel Katy was very successful when it comes to creating an image that pulled from different archetypes. She combined sensuality, (dark) humour, quirk. She was slightly cartoony, she was assertive in her image but never oppressive and it came through effortessly in her look and in her music (and videos). But she came out of a time when pop stars still looked like, or were expected to look like, essentially superheroes. That shifted tremendously midway the 10s, as did music consumption.

 

At one point in 2011 (I think this was during TOTGA run) in particular she was pulling references from really interesting media for her look like the Rachael character from Blade Runner:

 

 

 

Edited July 6, 20233 yr by Dark Miracles