Katy Perry really is one of the defining characters of the 2010s pop era.
In the style of Usher, Katy made the jump from Gospel music to secular and hasn’t looked back since.
Her contributions to pop music were largely clustered in the early 2000s to mid-2010s, but it didn’t take her long to rack up an impressive list of number-one hits and performances that have made their mark within the cultural zeitgeist (Left Shark says hi!).
Katy Perry’s music genres
Pop
Pop. That’s it, that’s the tweet, as the kids say. Katy Perry is pop incarnate. More specifically, Katy’s particular flavor of pop can be described as the bubblegum variety.
Songs in this genre are noted for their unrelenting catchiness and mostly vapid lyrics.
Katy had these hits in spades, with “Firework,” and “California Gurls” being some of her most recognizable offerings to the bubblegum pop gods.
Katy’s take on pop has also been enmeshed with a distinct campiness. Her pop music performances and music videos are quite over-the-top, extravagant, and sometimes just plain ridiculous.
Pop Rock
Occasionally, Katy would come through with a slightly more aggressive, harsher track that landed in the pop rock category.
“Hot N Cold” and “I Kissed a Girl” are two examples of her foray into this genre.
These were just two of the hits from her second album, “One of the Boys,” that can absolutely be classified as pop rock in its entirety.
It also needs to be noted that Katy was getting that bag long before she ever released a song for herself. As a prolific songwriter, she wrote several pop rock hits, including “I Do Not Hook Up” and “Rock God.”
Disco
Once you know it, you can’t unhear the disco notes in some of Katy Perry’s works.
“Teenage Dream” functions as a classic disco hit, with a booming bassline and uber-catchy melody.
Another one of her later hits, “Chained to the Rhythm,” is another disco-influenced dance track.
One of the key characteristics of disco is that it’s really, first and foremost, made for the club.
Although Katy largely traffics in teeny-bopper hits, her tunes are remarkably well-suited for the dancefloor.
Conclusion
The story of the 21st-century music industry really cannot be told without Miss Katy Perry.
Whether she was writing songs for your fave or belting them out herself, Katy Perry’s career has a staying power that’ll endure well after the 2000s have come to pass.