Album cover of 143, courtesy of Spotify

“It’s a woman’s world and you’re lucky to be living in it” Katy Perry sings on her seventh studio album, titled 143, which follows her previous album titled Smile, released in 2020.

Before the initial release of the album, Perry released three singles: “I’M HIS, HE’S MINE,” “LIFETIMES,” and “WOMAN’S WORLD,” the last of which is the opening track of the album. “WOMAN’S WORLD” is a high energy feminist album that describes how women seem to be taking charge in society, how we’re all lucky to see such a great rise. This was a great upbeat song to begin the album.

An artist that I was quite surprised to hear on this album was 21 Savage on the track “GIMME GIMME.” The collaboration between the two was not something I expected to hear, but I wasn’t against it. Perry’s ability to work with different kind of samples was showcased on this album, especially with one the single “I’M HIS, HE’S MINE,” featuring Doechii, who samples house music classic “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” by Crystal Waters. This song is so catchy and after I finished the album, this was a song that was stuck in my head for a while.

The last track on this album is “WONDER,” I feel like this is such a cute and uplifting finish to close out 143. Perry shares a sweet lyric to her daughter, Daisy “Stay free little daisy.” This isn’t the first time Perry has mentioned her daughter in a song either; back in 2020 when she released her album Smile, she included a single titled “Daisies.” It’s so sweet that Perry can include little bits about her daughter and motherhood in her songs.

Although this album has been heavily criticized, I don’t think it deserves all the hate that it gets. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. This album is similar to Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa or Crash by Charli XCX. The pop vibe about it all makes it very likable and easy to listen to.