One of the most harsh criticisms Katy receives from her detractors is that of lack of artistic merit however this couldn't be further from the truth.
Each of Katy's releases is rich with artistic merit and requires further understanding of pop culture to understand the several layers of her music. Katy: a true artist does need see the need to explain herself or her work, her fans are left to work out the meaning, create their own meaning or simply enjoy her fun music.
For the interest of this thread, we will be looking at "ROAR" and "DARK HORSE"
ROAR:
Roar is directly inspired by an old film and comic book called Sheena. Katy Perry re-creates scenes from the movie and pays homage using the single cover art.
For those of you that don't know, Sheena rules the Jungle and animals by force with an iron fist and there is also of course a love interest. In "Roar" Katy changes that concept and rules the jungle with her confidence. Unlike Sheena (who wanted a man to settle down and have children) Katy don’t need no man to survive.
Taking an existing concept and re-inventing it is what Madonna did with Material Girl and It's what Katy has done with Roar in fact that is the essence of Pop Art: taking a popular imagery, or a popular concept, intervening/changing it into something else - if not the purpose, the execution, if not the execution, the meaning.
Dark Horse
In the beginning of the "Dark Horse" we see Katy sailing down the Nile river. This entire scene (in fact the entire clip) is all Egyptian inspired. Egyptian boats, Egyptian symbols and Egyptian clothing.
So, it comes as a surprise when Katy sings the line " Make me your Aphrodite"
Aphrodite is of course from GREEK mythology, the goddess of love however when one examines things a little further, it should actually come as no surprise. Because of trading there were Greek settlements all along the Nile river, there was actually a greek harbour and settlement called Naucratis that housed one of the largest and well known Aphrodite shrines.
This greek city Naucratis in Egypt on the harbour (where Katy is sailing) was also home to the one of the largest Aphrodite shrines.
So there we have it. Katy's music is artistically rich and littered with historical facts and examples. If any of the detractors say Katy is artistically limited and that her music is basic, I feel like this is a reflection on their own knowledge.
What do you think Katy Kats? - If im missing anything let me know and I'll add it to the OP!
In the beginning of the "Dark Horse" we see Katy sailing down the Nile river. This entire scene (in fact the entire clip) is all Egyptian inspired. Egyptian boats, Egyptian symbols and Egyptian clothing.
So, it comes as a surprise when Katy sings the line " Make me your Aphrodite"
Aphrodite is of course from GREEK mythology, the goddess of love however when one examines things a little further, it should actually come as no surprise.
