Katy Perry Continues to Tout Her Retro Sensibilities on “I’m His, He’s Mine”

It didn’t take watching the “Woman’s World” video or listening to its lyrical content to know that Katy Perry is, despite her “strongest” attempts at projecting otherwise, a conservative bia. Further evidence of that also mounted in 2022, when she voted for Rick Caruso during Los Angeles’ mayoral election. Known for being a billionaire/his own conservative politics (complete with being former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission and being extremely anti-abortion), Caruso represents Perry’s inherent Republican “values” despite lately touting the false notion that she’s not only “LGBTQIA+ friendly,” but also a gay icon (as if).

With “I’m His, He’s Mine,” the third single from 143, which has already become more well-known for its embarrassing rollout than any “hits” that it has yielded, Perry continues to highlight her undeniable retroness when it comes to her possessive, heteronormative views. Something that particularly stands out in a climate where polyamory has become, if not more normalized, than at least more “chic” than monogamy. Nonetheless, the messaging of “I’m His, He’s Mine” is unapologetically “pick me,” as Perry seeks to denigrate another woman through none too subtle slut-shaming just because this girl is “flirting” with “her” man—though, the more plausible scenario is that said man was actually making eyes at the other woman (likely based on Perry’s own personal experience, if Orlando Bloom’s recent eyes made at Kim Kardashian [who, quelle surprise, also endorsed Caruso in ’22] is an indication). Even so, it’s in a pick me’s interest to blame the female in a love triangle scenario (see also: the forever applicable Joey Potter/Jen Lindley dynamic in Dawson’s Creek).

So it is that Perry “sings,” “I can see you flirtin’/Why you overworkin’?/On him like a suntan/Go and get your own man/Thinkin’ that we’re over/We only gettin’ closer/You’re creepin’ in his DMs/I’m sleepin’ in his sweatpants.” That latter declaration isn’t exactly a “flex” considering every hetero woman knows that a man gets bored easily, especially after things start to become “too domestic” a.k.a. too quotidian. Thus, his increased interest in a “side piece.” And it is the potential for such a side piece to “dominate” that plagues Perry and featured artist Doechii (who has made a huge mistake with this collaboration, but maybe thought it was fine since Nicki Minaj jumped on “Swish Swish” back in 2017) throughout “I’m His, He’s Mine.”

Being that this is yet another single co-produced and co-written by Dr. Luke (with “Woman’s World” and “Lifetimes” also falling under that category), it’s no surprise that the retroness of the sentiments is baked right in. This includes the uncomfortable “boast,” “I’m his queen, I’m his freak/I’m every woman he wants and needs/I’m his dream, I’m his drug/I’m every woman he wants, so what?” All that braggadocio, of course, falls under the umbrella of, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” In other words, Perry is trying to assure herself that she’s all Orlando wants and needs—this much made apparent by the Bloom lookalike in the video, directed by Torso (slumming it a bit with this after directing Charli XCX’s “Von Dutch” earlier this year).

But it doesn’t sound all that pleasant to be in a marriage with someone who pronounces, “I’m his boss, I’m that bitch [this itself being ultra-cringey language for its increasing association with 00s-10s vernacular]/I’m every woman he knows exists/I’m his main, I’m his side/I’m every woman that’s in his mind.” Of course, even more insulting is than the lyrics is the sampled backbeat, which takes from Crystal Waters’ untouchable 1991 single, “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)”—even going so far as to actually copy Waters’ vocal repetition of “la-da-di, la-da-da.”

What’s more, like Justin Timberlake, another fellow millennial that has faced a “relevancy” crisis as a result of, among other things, “antiquated sensibilities” in his new music (hear: “Selfish,” ripe with its own overly possessive bullshit), Perry refuses to acknowledge any fault of her own in the matter (that fault lying in a failure to evolve). This much was made clear when she stared daggers at the audience during the 2024 VMAs to insist, “There are so many things that have to align to have a long and successful career as an artist. There are no decade-long accidents.” And it was here that she took pause to glare at everyone who has jumped on the bandwagon this year of calling her out for her shittiness. But the truth is, it’s all just been a matter of public taste finally catching up long enough to realize Perry’s lackluster output (which, as she pointed out in the aforementioned speech, is buttressed by an entire village…of handlers, songwriters and producers—again, Dr. Luke included).

And even though Perry has gone out of her way to tout her progressive nature in the past several years, what always ends up shining through is her deep-seated Republicanism (with the L.A. mayoral election in 2022 being one of those peak examples). Her political schizophrenia, so to speak, is likely rooted in the brainwashing of an extremely religious upbringing—one that still rears its racist, sexist, homophobic head when least expected. Like on “I’m His, He’s Mine.” And while Perry is given “her” man as a prop throughout the video, Doechii gets far less play with her own prop of a boyfriend, with both of them being almost as non sequitur as the scenes of skydiving and Katy on the hood of a car while peacocking as her boyfriend drives (these being the visuals that dominate the “narrative”).  

Doechii is also sure to back up Perry’s brand of toxic monogamy by rapping, “I’m so possessive and up-echelon/Upper echelon rollin’ up in the shade/If you try to vibe with him, might catch a fade.” But the only one likely to catch a fade (even if solely metaphorical) is Perry as a result of yet another out of touch offering from 143. Which certainly doesn’t bode well for whatever lurks on the rest of the album. As for Doechii “proudly” saying, “I’m so possessive,” well, at least Beyoncé, another “monogamy queen” (who of course got cheated on), tried to make her own heteronormativity more “empowering” by flipping the script on what Jay-Z said in 2003 (“Got the hottest chick in the game wearing my chain, that’s right”) by announcing on “Formation,” “I’m so possessive so I rock his Roc necklaces.” Thereby saying that her man doesn’t “possess” her (it’s the other way around, as Perry is saying less successfully), as has long been the case with women being treated like property throughout history.

But with Perry’s ode to “possessing” a man, it comes across more like someone who wants to simply keep promoting 1950s ideals of hetero monogamous relationships. During which the man would often cheat on his girlfriend or wife anyway…so he wasn’t really “hers” at all—and this usually due to feeling too stifled by what Marcello in La Dolce Vita would call her “aggressive, sticky maternal love.” The kind of stiflement that is very much embodied in “I’m His, He’s Mine.”