JOY FEELINGS MAGAZINE OCTOBER.2015 | Page 78

Brandishing a wink, a coo,
and cleavage with the aplomb
of an assassin, Katy
Perry created a distinctly
new millennial pop persona:
a Disney princess as
imagined by Madonna.
Flirty and
bodacious, Perry sometimes
skirted with taboos -- she
sneered on her first single
"Ur So Gay" (punch line:
"and you don't even like
boys"), she gasped "I Kissed
a Girl" and she liked it -- and
that willingness to be
controversial certainly put
her on the pop culture radar,
but the reason she stayed
there was her knack for

JOY FEELINGS

blending classic pop
conventions with new trends.
This talent reached its apex
on 2010'sTeenage Dream, a
blockbuster sophomore set
that generated hits as diverse
as its dreamily romantic title
track, the cotton-candy
summertime pop "California
Gurls," and steely EDM
variant "Firework," but she
was canny enough to temper
some of her risqué moves as
her career progressed,
transforming herself from the
naughty cousin into an
admirable big sister.