The release of Katy Perry’s new album Witness with a sound that greatly differs from her past music, a bold new haircut, and new perspective on life, have caused confusion among critics and fans, Pop Crush reports.
Perry understands where the criticism is coming from. “Every day when I think I know something, the universe shows me that I need to learn another lesson,” she told The New York Times. “So I stand here today, more so than any other day, saying I know nothing. I literally know nothing.”
The international pop star takes a defensive stance regarding her new image, explaining that by cutting alcohol out of her life and attending group therapy sessions with her family, she’s set out on a much more productive path. Perry said, “I feel very empowered [and] extremely liberated, liberated from the conditioning of the way I used to think, spiritually liberated, politically liberated, sexually liberated, liberated from things that don’t serve me.”
The 32-year-old singer considered the recent stream of negative press a “maddening game,” pointing out a double-standard is hurting her. Describing it as a “strange race to be the most woke,” she said, “They want you to stand for something, but once you do, and if you don’t do it perfectly, they’re ready to take you right down.”
E! News reports that some LGBT rights activists bashed Perry for collaborating with Migos, a hip-hop trio that sparked controversy over anti-gay remarks, and Saturday Night Live. Perry then explained, “Intention is everything. All I was trying to do was build a bridge.”
She also talked about her rise to superstardom with Teenage Dream in 2010. The “Chained to the Ryhthm” singer called that time of her life “f–king intense. And amazing and beautiful and horrible all at the same time.”
“I used to be scared of intimacy, I used to use my sexualization as attention, I used to over sexualize myself because that was the only way I knew how,” she said about her general style aesthetic from past years.
“I didn’t kill her, because I love her, and she is exactly what I had to do then,” she said referring to the “old” Perry. “And I’m not a con artist, I didn’t con people, like, that was just me. And this is me now.”
The new Perry believes that “All the awards shows are fake,” she shared, “and all the awards that I’ve won are fake… They’re constructs.”
The singer believes, “It’s a departure, and it’s a necessary evolution that I have to take.”
“And I know that sometimes it feels publicly like I’m dragging cement blocks, but like, the pyramids were made out of cement blocks—or not cement. But do you know what I’m trying to say? I’m gonna get there.”
