Katy Perry‘s artists and repertoire (A&R) manager says he feels responsible for her working with Dr. Luke on her recent album ‘143‘.
via: Rolling Stone
Fans of Katy Perry might now have someone to point fingers to for her recent work with Dr. Luke. In a recent The Manager’s Playbook interview, the singer’s A&R manager Chris Anokute said that it was his “desire” to reconnect Perry with the disgraced producer for her album 143.
“I think there was some backlash on her reuniting with Dr. Luke, which was my desire,” Anokute claimed. (Skip to 1:30:00 into the video below.) “[It was] my recommendation for her to get back into the studio with Luke because Luke is a dear friend.”
“I thought it was a good time to reunite them after 10 years of not working together,” he continued. “Every single he’s ever done with her has gone Number One. The press just didn’t react favorably and they tried to assassinate him and her.”
When Rolling Stone reached out for comment via Instagram, Anokute wrote back, “You must be bored. God bless you.”
The backlash to the singer’s reconnection with Luke on the album came quickly after Rolling Stone confirmed last summer that Perry worked with Max Martin, Dr. Luke, and several others for the album following the release of single “Woman’s World.” At the time, a Capitol Records source told Rolling Stone that “Katy knew exactly the album she wanted to make and put together the team to make it happen.”
Music fans, especially those on X, have long expressed their dislike for Luke given the sex abuse allegation from Kesha years prior, even following the settlement of his defamation lawsuit in 2023. In the new interview, Anokute claimed to believe that “all the stuff he was accused of is actually not true,” seemingly in reference to the Kesha allegation.
Years before 143, Luke and Martin worked on many of Perry’s biggest hits, including smashes from her first three albums like One of the Boys‘ “I Kissed a Girl,” Teenage Dream‘s title track, “Last Friday Night,” “California Gurls,” “E.T.,” and “The One That Got Away” along with the vast majority of Prism, including “Dark Horse,” “Unconditionally,” and “Roar.”
Despite the success of Perry’s previous work with Luke, 143 was poorly received by many fans and most critics. Anokute also said he believed 143 had “massive hits” despite the negative reaction. A Rolling Stone review called the record a “failed attempt to rekindle her glory years.”
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If the A&R is willing to lie on the sword for Katy as to why 143 was a flop (which, after this story came out the KatyKats ate him up online, to which he then tried to walk back this very story) this proves that she is nothing more than a blank canvas for the mainstream label she is tied to (Capitol) to paint whatever picture they want of her artistry.
I truly feel with her contemporaries out here consistently making music while she opted to make millions doing her Vegas residency and American Idol, she got a bit of FOMO, and wanted to remind people that she was still around.
Only problem is, she would rather be a walking jukebox regurgitating dated music that would have popped during her glory days, then actually evolving her sound with other producers that weren't Dr Puke.
I also feel that Chris is out of touch with what is going on outside his music bubble. It wasn't just the press that as he claims tried to "assassinate him and her." People who were #TeamKesha that were also fans of Katy's music were not going to support anything produced by him.
Once people have made their minds up, there's no changing it. So for him to make the snarky comment "you must be bored," you're the one who put this out there, so of course this is going to be catnip for the press to elaborate further on.
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