[Single Review] Katy Perry – Part Of Me

It’s official: Katy Perry‘s Teenage Dream is the new Good Girl Gone Bad. It’s the pop album that won’t die, and secretly, nobody really even wants it to. Sure, we all roll our eyes and groan whenever Katy announces a new single or discounts her songs to three cents on iTunes, but the woman has become such an unrivaled presence in pop music that it’s hard to imagine life as a Top Forty fan without one of her addictive anthems playing in the background.

Katy’s latest Z100 slayer is “Part Of Me”, an ancient Teenage Dream leftover co-written with Bonnie McKee and produced by Dr. Luke. Bonnie may be the worst dressed celebrity alive, but she has yet to pen a bad pop song, and with Luke in tow, “Part Of Me” is guaranteed to be a great before you’ve even heard it.

It goes without saying that if you’ve heard one Katy Perry song, you’ve heard ‘em all, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. One half “Hot ‘n’ Cold”, one half “Teenage Dream”, “Part Of Me” is every bit the kind of catchy pop-rock confectionery that we’ve come to begrudgingly love from Katy.

Despite lyrics about reclaiming ones self after a split, “Part Of Me” is less of a breakup song than it is a publicity stunt. It’s been released to shamelessly cash-in on Katy’s highly-publicized divorce to Russell Brand (she even updated the lyrics of the demo to include a wedding ring reference), but by this point her total lack of integrity has become so commonplace that it’s hard to even find the strength to get annoyed by her tacky antics any more – especially when all her music sounds so damn good.

Aside from the timeless classic that is “Teenage Dream”, you never feel much emotion from Katy’s tunes –she’s just too frivolous and calculated to connect with– but it doesn’t really matter when her songs are so well-produced. Who needs feeling when you’ve got the greatest hook known to man blasting from your iPod?

The Complete Confection, indeed.

Score: 3.5/5

“Part Of Me” is available on iTunes now.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 8:13 pm and is filed under New Music, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Carlos

     ’Aside from the timeless classic that is “Teenage Dream”, you never feel
    much emotion from Katy’s tunes –she’s just too frivolous and calculated
    to connect with’

    Disagree, her performance was powerful and you could feel how she felt. There are several songs you can connect with in her repertoire, its a matter of perspective.

    On the song specifically, I think its brilliant, it always has, and now shimmers even more. Even though it looks like a stunt to cash in the publicized divorce as you say, Katy is also a human being, maybe this is her way to cope with and move on, and hey if she can sell/cash in more money off of it, then why the hell not. I can’t wait to see the video.

  • Carlos

     I forgot to add it is beautifully arranged, it has this underlaid beat conveying angst, vulnerability and a bright side all at once. It is grand. I’m looking forward to see this number on her next tour.

  • Barf

    yeah, no.  a lot of people connect with her – that’s why she’s such a huge pop star.  you might not connect with her or her music in that way, but others do.

  • Anonymous

    Sorry, my bad.

    Gay teenage boys and little girls connect with her.

  • G-Nasty

    Katy honestly seems like a chill person. I remember meeting her & getting her autograph right before she made it big in 08.

    But since 08, Katy’s gotten tired to me. Since her music is so damn catchy, I still play it on my iPod from time to time, but I’m not really a “fan” anymore, more just a listener, especially after her main producer Dr. Luke hooked up with Ke$ha, who is soo much better than Perry in basically every way!

    #TeamKe$ha

  • Barf

    you’re right! gay teenage boys and little girls are the worst!

  • Barf

    you’re right! gay teenage boys and little girls are the worst!

  • Popblock

    You said exactly what I (and basically everyone else with a brain) have been saying since they announced it as a single.. this is all just to cash in on her divorce.

    It’s not a bad song.. just more basic fluff like the majority of her discography. I wonder why it was not included in the original release to be honest.

    This could very well be the last Dr. Luke/Katy collab we will see for a while.. unless the other two songs are by him.

  • joey

    I don’t think it was released to cash in on her divorce. Yea, she def changed the lyrics to cash in on the publicity, but the song was always going to be a single off the re-release. Bonnie Mckee said ages ago that it was going to be used for a re-release,and Katy has been sprucing up TD leftovers since last fall. Part of Me was always going to happen, divorce or no divorce. 

  • Carlos

    You know they’ll work themselves a way to have Dr. Luke work with Katy, the stacks do the talking over a contract with Sony. Watch, and mark my words. 

  • MUSIC LOVER

    This song is close to 2 years-old.  Convenient, yes considering her divorce, but this was planned a long time ago!!!!

    This is one of her weakest singles released this era.  Ranks down there with TGIF.  It makes sense this is the first song off the re-release though.  I know “Dressing Up” will shit.

    With that said, knowing Katy, she can get this to #1.  It’s nothing less than a top 5 hit.

  • Eva

    The song is crap. The album is crap. She couldn’t sing her way out of a paper bag. Capitalizing on her divorce is pathetic. Despite the fact that it’s trash, my local station is playing it every hour. She’s talentless, but her people are good with the payola. She should get her ass to a vocal coach.

  • Carlos

    That is absolutely correct, McKee said the song was going to be used at some point. Obviously the break was changed to allude to her failed marriage, but its working. It still sounds smashing. I want this to crash the charts and allow her another number one. 

  • Anonymous

    Who cares about divorce or not … The song is great..,

  • ChristinasCOMING

    If this is the direction that music is moving to then the industry is screwed.

  • Adam

    hey eva take i think you need your daily dose of a golden apple becus u really sound pressed.

    Katy is flawfree and your paula deen ass is gonna deal with it.

  • SerferTJ

    Wow, this is basic.
    It’s like a bad Disney Channel Movie song. Like, even Hannah Montana would reject this sh**.
    Holy crap, even Jessie J’s new single is better than this lame ishhh.

  • Kev

    as u said proph u hear one katy perry song uve heard them all …

  • Adrian

    LOL. Jessie J is a tired try-hard who sings very well but has no identifiable personality or sound whatsoever (apart from the hair). I’d take this any day over Price Tag or Domino.

  • Chase_wayne12

    If you can’t connect with Thinking of You, you have no heart! ;)

  • Anonymous

    Okay, I’ll give her Thinking If You too, which is my equal favorite Katy Perry song with Teenage Dream. 

  • Jesus Salamanca

    Another #1? Sorry, but that’s just not happening. This song is the worst and weakest single from the Teenage Dream era. Hummingbird Heartbeat and Peacock have more hit potential than this flop.

  • http://twitter.com/curdey Michael Curd

    Not a fan of Katy’s tacky money-grabbing tactics. And all I hear when I listen to this is “I’ve broken up with Russell Brand, now cough up more of your cash to me you gullible idiots” This is mediocre and forgetful, and will only succeed because of her record label’s desperate lengths they go to get every single of hers’ to do well..

  • MUSIC LOVER

    At the of the day, radio loves Katy, and all these gay boys and little girls will download her music, and she’ll hit the top, yet again! And that’s that.

  • vlad

    i think it sound like Till the world ends, but more pop than electronic/dance. Boring!

  • http://twitter.com/SirLordJ Jeff

    Katy is always hit or miss with me and this is definitely a miss. It’s okay, but nothing special. Also I hate how the song is written, its not insipid like Firework its just poorly put together and lacks any real punch.

  • http://twitter.com/fareth Mofe Farid Madiya

    is it just me or the beat sounds just like Till The World Ends?

  • http://twitter.com/HyunAKnowles HyunA Knowles

    I still hate Katy but her music is so great and Part Of Me is no exception.

  • Yumm

    Katy is EXTREMELY hit and miss with me……and this is a miss. I’m hoping I like the other 2 songs on the re-release cause lord knows I could use some new music.

  • Meow

    Aw, how sweet of Katy to try and be Kelly Clarkson now. Nice try.

  • Broolprop

    oh please this she song leaked a year ago i would rather somethin new

  • Eva

    Honey, I’m skinny and cute…and I can cook…Paula Deen has nothing on me! Katy is very flawed. Listen to this song and you will know. Why don’t you pull that stick out that you keep in your ass and she can use it as a microphone at her next vocal lesson.

  • http://twitter.com/ThatBoyLuke luke Marriott

    Oh god… Maybe if she didn’t sound like a cracken screaming then I might connect to it, Honestly “Teenage Dream” is the only one, just because when i listen to it i wanna be running on beaches n shit haha

  • http://twitter.com/ThatBoyLuke luke Marriott

    Yeah coz besides her huge jugs Katy Perry is brimming with personality…

  • http://twitter.com/ThatBoyLuke luke Marriott

    *Lame teenage boys and flat chested teenage girls.

  • MUSIC LOVER

    Produced by Dr. Luke as well.  It leaked in December 2010 so “TTWE” technically was based off of “POM.”

  • …

    The next time a celeb bemoans about their lack of privacy and goes on to release a track obviously about their private life, I’m losing it. 

    So tired of the plastic-y Dr. Luke sound that every. single. fucking. pop star. has co-opted in the last few years. 

  • …

    This gay boy will be avoiding that bitch like the plague.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1127181558 Andrés Felipe Rodríguez

    I enjoy the song is cool for her, the perfomance in the grammy’s was kind of decent and just what she always do nothing new in there…all cool and simple to her…now about Bonnie/Bambi/Dereon’s new bitch….WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE WEARING?! I said before she can sit on my lap anytime with the other hooker costumes you show us in your other post….but now with that dress she looks like she a real desperate housewife with a genital infection trying to be cool and young…just trying to find a nice way to say she looks like an 50 yo hooker trying to be “edgy” (something that only Madonna have manage to do well all these years)

  • xx

    Part of Till The World Ends (verse) + Part of Hot n Cold (chorus) + Part of The One That Got Away (bridge) = Part of Derivative Me (#reductive)

  • xx

    Aren’t you supposed to be gay as well, Proph?

  • dany.p

    we can bitch and moan about her and her songs, but you just know this songs gonna tear up the charts…

  • Reactor550

    This sounds like many of her other recordings, syrupy, melodramatic, catchy but forgettable but I’m sure it will go to #1 due to constant radioplay . Dr. Luke really needs to get his act together, his songs are starting to all sound familiar.

  • mimifan

    and the world would end earlier than this effing bitch and her 99c singles.