143 (Katy Perry album)

143
Standard cover
Studio album by Katy Perry
Released	September 20, 2024
Genre	Pop[1]
Length	33:34
Label	Capitol
Producer	Dr. Luke Aaron Joseph KBeazy Malibu Babie Vaughn Oliver Rocco Did It Again! Stargate
Katy Perry chronology
Smile (2020) 143 (2024)
Singles from 143
"Woman's World" Released: July 11, 2024 "Lifetimes" Released: August 8, 2024 "I'm His, He's Mine" Released: September 13, 2024

143 is the seventh studio album by American singer Katy Perry. It was released on September 20, 2024, by Capitol Records. The album title references the expression "I love you", but was also inspired by what Perry considers as her symbolic "angel number". It was her first album in four years, following Smile (2020).

In an effort to create a "dance party" album channeling joy, Perry turned to producers Max Martin, Dr. Luke, and Stargate, who had produced her earlier songs, while also working with first-time collaborators Vaughn Oliver and Rocco Did It Again!. 143 features guest appearances from German singer Kim Petras and American rappers JID, 21 Savage and Doechii.

The album was preceded by the release of three singles; "Woman's World" was released as the lead single on July 11, 2024. The song peaked at number 63 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 47 on the UK singles chart. It was followed by "Lifetimes" on August 8, and "I'm His, He's Mine" featuring Doechii on September 13.

After the 2020 release of her sixth studio album, Smile,^[2] Katy Perry confirmed in an August 2023 Good Morning America interview that she was working on new material from a "place of love".^[3] The next February, she made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and announced her exit from the American Idol judges' panel following the conclusion of the twenty-second season, wanting to "go out and feel that pulse to my own beat" and release new music after being "in the studio for a while".^[4] Two months later, Perry told Access Hollywood that she was working on a "very bright and joyful" album.^[5]

Rolling Stone reported in June 2024 that Perry had "reconnected" with producers who worked with her before, including Max Martin, Stargate, and Dr. Luke.^[6] During a livestream via her social media on July 10, 2024, Perry described 143 as a dance album: "This record is super high energy, it's super summer, it's very high BPM. We just had a family dance party to one of the songs, and it's just full of so much joy, so much love, so much light." Perry also stated that an acoustic follow-up album was in the works.^[7]

During an exclusive interview with Zane Lowe, she explained that the album title is her symbolic "angel" number: "A couple years ago, we were going through a little bit of a hard time medically in our family, and it was a little bit scary, and I started seeing 143 in many different ways, not just, like, on the phone. It was just like trippy, almost. And I looked it up, and it's code for 'I love you.' I really believe it was my angels, my guides, saying, 'I love you. We got you. We're going to protect you. You're exactly where you're meant to be. You're on the path".^[8]

Perry revealed on July 10, 2024, that her seventh album is titled 143 and will be released on September 20, 2024, by Capitol Records.^[9] To further excite her fans, she went on a social media livestream that day and teased new songs from the album, including "Nirvana", "Gimme Gimme" featuring 21 Savage, and "I'm His, He's Mine" featuring Doechii, which samples "Gypsy Woman" by Crystal Waters.^[7] During her interview with Lowe, Perry shared snippets of two other 143 tracks: "Lifetimes" and "Gorgeous".^[10] The album is scheduled to be released on CD, vinyl, and cassette.^[11]

Three singles were released from the album, all of which commercially underperformed.^[1] The lead single, "Woman's World", was released on July 11, 2024.^[12] The song and its music video were received negatively by critics and the public. Several journalists attributed it to the "bad taste" of the album's marketing, which they found unhelpful to Perry's perceived commercial decline with Witness and Smile. Perry's collaboration with Dr. Luke, who has been accused of sexual harassment by American singer Kesha, was also widely criticized.^[13]

Negative press continued to plague the album's promotional campaign with the second single "Lifetimes", released on August 8, 2024. Its music video, which revealed 143's track list, was accused of trespassing on ecologically protected dunes by the government of Balearic Islands, Spain.^{[14][15][16][17]} Perry performed "I'm His, He's Mine" with Doechii and "Lifetimes" in a medley at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on September 11,^[18] with the song being released as a single two days later on September 13.^[19] Perry will be performing at Rock in Rio on September 20, and 2024 AFL Grand Final on September 28.^[20][21][22]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	38/100[23]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Clash	5/10[24]
The Guardian	[1]
The Independent	[25]
The Line of Best Fit	2/10[26]
NME	[27]

On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from professional publications, 143 received a weighted mean score of 38, based on five reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[23] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian dubbed 143 a mediocre pop album; he felt "isn't that bad. It isn't that good either, but it’s certainly some way short of total catastrophe."^[1] Similarly, Clash's Robin Murray dubbed it a unsatisfying album, mostly underwhelming with fewer highlights.^[24] Both Petridis and Murray felt that Perry's outdated music does not fit in a 2020s pop musicscape defined by new popstars like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan.^[24][1]

Variety writer Steven J. Horowitz gave the album a negative review, stating "the album is flat, coasting on cascades of lyrical cliches and musical ideas that rarely crest."^[28]

Notes and samples

• ^{^[a]} signifies a vocal producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies a primary and vocal producer.
• "I'm His, He's Mine" contains samples from "Gypsy Woman", written by Neal Conway and Crystal Waters.
• "Crush" contains elements from "My Heart Goes Boom (La Di Da Da)", written by Barbara Alcindor, Torsten Dreyer and Karsten Dreyer.

Musicians

• Katy Perry – vocals
• Łukasz Gottwald – background vocals (tracks 1, 2, 6, 8, 9)
• Chloe Angelides – background vocals (tracks 1, 3)
• 21 Savage – vocals (track 2)
• Kim Petras – vocals (track 3)
• Doechii – vocals (track 4)
• KBeazy – background vocals (track 9)
• JID – vocals (track 9)
• Leah Gjerde Drabløs – background vocals (track 11)
• Tius Luka Sundberg – background vocals (track 11)
• Knut-Ingolf Brenna –guitar (track 11)
• Cirkut – synthesizer programming (track 11)
• Stargate – synthesizer programming (track 11)
• Cato Sundberg – synthesizer programming (track 11)
• Thomas Andersson Drabløs – synthesizer programming (track 11)

Technical

• Dale Becker – mastering
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• Clint Gibbs – engineering (tracks 1–10)
• Kalani Thompson – engineering (tracks 1–10)
• Tyler Sheppard – engineering (tracks 1–10)
• Cirkut – engineering (track 11)
• Stargate – engineering (track 11)
• John Hanes – immersive mix engineering
• Katie Harvey – mastering assistance
• Noah McCorkle –mastering assistance
• Bryce Bordone – mixing assistance
• Grant Horton – engineering assistance (tracks 1–10)
• Rachel Findlen – engineering assistance (tracks 1–10)
• Ashlee Gibbs – production coordination
• Cynthia De La O – production coordination
• Kent Sundberg – choir arrangement (track 11)