Music beefs have a certain way of defining the genre. Rap has Drake and Meek Mill, British rock has the Gallagher brothers, and pop has Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.
Their feud is as legendary as it is cagey. Swift’s 2014 chart-topper ‘Bad Blood‘ is widely believed to be about Perry, with the former telling Rolling Stone that the track was about another female artist who “basically tried to sabotage an arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me.”
Perry has never responded publicly, save for a few shady tweets during moments Swift found herself on the losing side of a public battle – with Nicki Minaj in 2015, with Calvin Harris in 2016, and Kim Kardashian / Kanye West in 2016. Hey, did you know that Swift also told Rolling Stone in that same interview that “hates conflict”?
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: “There are rumours that ‘Bad Blood’ is about you. Does this album have a reaction to ‘Bad Blood’?”
KATY PERRY: “Well that’s not my question to answer — if it’s about me. I think [my new album is] a very empowered record. There is no one thing that’s calling out any one person.
“One thing to note is: You can’t mistake kindness for weakness and don’t come for me. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. And that’s not to any one person and don’t quote me that it is, because it’s not. It’s not about that. Honestly, when women come together and they decide to unite, this world is going to be a better place. Period end of story. But, let me say this: Everything has a reaction or a consequence so don’t forget about that, okay, honey.”
So in summary of this very important update: Katy Perry avoided answering if any track was a rebuttal to ‘Bad Blood’, confirmed she couldn’t comment on Taylor Swift’s original intentions, but pointedly called out women taking down other women and noted that everything has consequences. THE SHADE, HONEY. I live for it.
“This record is not about anyone else!” Perry continued. “This record is about me being seen and heard so that I can see and hear everyone else! It’s not even about me!”
You… what?
“It’s about everything that I see out there and that I digest. I think there’s a healing in it for me and vulnerability. If people want to connect and be healed and feel vulnerable and feel empowered and strong, God bless and here it is.”
Her as-yet-unnamed album that’s not about her (but also not about anyone else) has no release date yet, either.
