Katy Perry Collabs with Pokemon for Single and Video “Electric”
One of the reigning queens of pop is jumping into the world of anime – sort of. Katy Perry announced
Ivy Griffith
One of the reigning queens of pop is jumping into the world of anime – sort of. Katy Perry announced a collaboration with Pokemon for her new single and video “Electric.” A lifelong fan of Pokemon, Perry is excited to be a part of the anime and video game franchise’s 25th anniversary celebration album, which will be released later this year. “There’s no reason that this life can’t be electric,” croons the pop star.
Katy Perry and Pokemon Make the Perfect Pair
This year marks 25 years for one of the world’s biggest anime, trading card, and video game franchises. The wildly successful game segued into an equally popular cartoon series, which has since launched other beloved spin-offs, and has now been dominating the world of entertainment and gaming for a jaw-dropping 25 years. So what kind of celebration do you have for a brand that stays consistently on top for 25 years? The absolute biggest, obviously.
Pokemon is teaming up with more than Perry – they’re also releasing collaborations with world-renowned DJ J Balvin, whose Resorts World lineup was recently announced, along with Post Malone. Another star, whose identity is being kept secret, will also contribute to the album that will be released this fall.
For the team-up with Perry, they’ve released a single and video titled “Electric” which is themed around pursuing a dream and the love of supportive friends. Since the original Pokemon pair of Ash Ketchum – “Satoshi” in the original Japanese version – and Pikachu is all about dream-chasing and friendship, the song embraces all things Pokemon.
Per Billboard via MSN, “The pop star shared in January that she will be partnering with Pokémon on a star-studded program to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the popular franchise in conjunction with Universal Music Group. ‘Pokémon has been a constant in my life from playing the original video games on my Game Boy, to trading Pokémon TCG cards at lunch, to the adventures of catching Pokémon on the street with Pokémon GO,’ Perry said in a statement earlier this year.”
A press release for the video describes, “The official video for ‘Electric’ – helmed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, who directed the Disney feature film Raya and the Last Dragon – received a YouTube Premiere with a fan watch party earlier today. The clip follows Katy and Pikachu as they take time out to enjoy nature and reflect on how they have evolved over the years. After a day of exploring, the pair stop at a lighthouse to meditate. Falling into a reverie, they’re taken back in time to the earliest days of Katy’s career. Thanks to encouragement from her friend Pichu, Katy goes from busking at a farmer’s market to her first club performance.”
Katy Perry is a Superstar
Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson on October 25th, 1984. The Santa Barbara, California, native was raised in a very conservative background, despite the raunchy and sometimes controversial subjects of some of her songs. With two parents who were pastors, Perry wasn’t allowed to listen to rock or popular music.
The budding young musician started taking vocal lessons at the age of 9, quickly showing an aptitude for performing. At 13, Perry picked up a guitar and a rebellious attitude, piercing her own nose to stick it to her restrictive parents. Perry’s mom brought her daughter to Nashville to record a gospel album, which flopped after the record label went under. Perry spent high school floating between friend groups and refusing to limit herself to a single stylized identity, eventually dropping out to get her GED and moving to Los Angeles.
At 17, the new LA resident worked with Glen Ballard, who had successfully helped craft the careers of stars like Christina Aguilera. In the beginning, Perry struggled to make ends meet in Los Angeles, barely scraping by and experience all the hardships of someone dreaming of stardom but not quite there. Three record deals fell apart before she signed her first deal with Capitol Records in 2007.
Perry’s first hit single, “Ur So Gay,” caught the attention of mega-star Madonna, but it was “I Kissed a Girl” that propelled Perry into her own superstardom in 2008. Perry would go on to produce hits like “California Gurls,” “Roar,” “Teenage Dream,” “E.T.” and others, earning the title of the second artist after Michael Jackson to have 5 number one singles from one album.
The press release for the Pokemon collab shares, “Since Katy Perry’s Capitol Records debut in 2008 with One of the Boys, she has racked up a cumulative 50 billion streams alongside worldwide sales of over 48 million adjusted albums and 135 million tracks with her albums One of the Boys, Teenage Dream, PRISM and Witness. Her summer 2019 single, ‘Never Really Over,’ off her latest album SMILE, is certified Platinum and was the biggest streaming launch of Katy’s musical career. 2020’s SMILE release has sold over 1.25 million adjusted albums, with nearly 2 Billion combined streams to date. Views of her 2013 video ‘Roar’ recently surpassed three billion views – making Katy the first female artist to reach this milestone, while ‘Dark Horse’ is close behind with over 2.9 billion views. Katy was also the first female artist to have four videos surpass a billion views each. Her videos for ‘Firework’ and ‘Last Friday Night’ have over one billion views. Katy’s 2015 Super Bowl performance is the highest-rated in the event’s history. She is one of only five artists in history to have topped 100 million certified units with their digital singles – and the first-ever Capitol Records recording artist to join the elite RIAA 100 Million Certified Songs club.”
Perry was known to be romantically involved with Russell Brand, Diplo, and Orlando Bloom, who she later became engaged to and had a child with in 2020.
Pokemon‘s 25th Anniversary
Pokemon‘s rise to fame across the world is somewhat of a Cinderella story. The genius creation of Tokyo native Satoshi Tajiri,Pokemon nearly drove its first developer company Game Freak to bankruptcy. The unlikely game, initially titled Pocket Monsters and later shortened to Pokemon, started out as two Gameboy cartridges and blew up into an international sensation. Pokemon Red and Green were released for Gameboy in Japan in 1997. A glitch in the game caused a hidden “secret” Pokemon to be revealed to a limited number of players. The intrigue and genius marketing around this secret Pokemon propelled the games from modest start to overnight success.
Physical trading cards joined the franchise in 1998, to wild acclaim, and an anime cartoon series that launched in 1997 went international in 1998 as well. There have been many successful generations of the game across several generations of consoles, and the cartoon series has launched countless spin-offs, each as beloved as the one before.
25 years ago, it was unimaginable that Pocket Monsters could become what it has become today, but when you team up with stars like Katy Perry to celebrate your milestones, you know it’s a big deal. The music video for “Electric” can be viewed on YouTube, and it’s worth the watch. The rest of the album will follow this fall, and the world is getting pretty hyped about it.