Katy Perry
Prism
Photo:Turntablelab.com
I remember the summer of 2010, on route 22 in Harrisburg driving in a car with friends and talking about Katy Perry. At this point, she had already begun to win me over as a listener and during our discussion of her music and her newest music video for California Gurls, someone mentioned that it was inarguably the song of the summer. “I bet we could look for it on the radio right now and find it.” She skipped a couple of channels and lo and behold, there it was in all its bubblegum glory.
Two thousand ten was the beginning of the ascent for Katy Perry. The release of Teenage Dream made it clear that she was a contender for pop stardom, but it wasn’t until Prism that people started taking her seriously. She would then traverse from superstar to megastar.
Prism saw Katy Perry at the top of her popularity. She was churning out hit after hit, one could argue she was progressing with her music and branching out (much like a Prism refracting light, get it?), and performed at the goddamn super bowl. Hit pop albums are a dime a dozen, and the evidence that Prism would be a bona fide success are all over this one.
There are some undisputable powerhouses on Prism, ranging from unappreciated gems, to commercial behemoths to career defining numbers. Roar would come to define Perry and a certain political candidate, Dark Horse crushed at the charts, and Birthday will always be, for my money, a perfectly crafted and criminally underrated pop song. Speaking of underrated, I can even say that This Moment never got the recognition it deserved.
It’s unsure what Perry’s future might hold, and if she’ll ever recreate the success she achieved with Prism. Whatever the case, Prism will be forever known as the rocket that helped propel her to unimaginable heights. It brought Perry to the height of her popularity.
