"This is How We Do." - Katy Perry- Pop Song Review

Pop Radio play: 18

Katy Perry singles from Prism seem to be hit or miss with me and the general public.  There is a continuous up and down pattern from this album era from the number one hits of “Roar”, and “Dark Horse."  However she had two top 20 hits with “Birthday”, and “Unconditionally.”  Her odd number singles seem to hit number one as oppose to her even number singles. If the pattern is correct than this next single should be huge.

Number 24 was the peak?! Darn the pattern isn't correct here.  It could go up a little higher with more radio play and more sales since it has only been out for two months. Generally pop songs usually peak around 12 to 18 weeks on the Hot 100 chart. The only problem I foresee is she has the temperatures of the seasons going against her, as the song life span on the chart continues on.  I doubt any of you want to hear this song in the winter time.

 Katy Perry’s Prism album has unrealistic expectations of trying to live up the chart, and radio success of her most successful album Teenage Dream.  The original version of the album produce five number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The album reissue of Teenage Dream  produced a number one hit with "Part of Me", and a number two hit with "Wide Awake"

Katy Perry’s hit  “This is How We Do” sticks with the formula of her biggest party hits like “California Gurls, Last Friday Night, and I Kissed a Girl.”  That is not necessarily a problem since I have enjoyed many of Katy Perry's party singles before, so I promised I will go into this single with an open mind. 

The production goes with the dancepop formula we are all very accustomed too from Katy Perry, but it is slow down to 95 BPM.  It is good to hear Katy Perry's voice at different speeds. I have been so accustomed to hearing it at 120 BPM for so long you forget she can sing at different speeds. It is at the same speed of Lady GaGa’s “Do What U Want” for comparison sake. The song adds some  hip hop flavor synths washes, to make it sound more distinctive. 

Katy Perry voice on the song  is the final  deal breaker if you like the song or not.  She sounds like a 21 year old who just found out about the bar scene. Personally, I don’t mind her voice on the song too much. The bridge part where she talks and gives "shout outs" is pretty annoying though.  Vocally, she seems very  interested in the song unlike “Birthday” which is a complete bore fest where her vocal range does not change. 

The chorus is pretty catchy. It has a nice walking down the city as if you own the street vibe to it. It is best part of the song lyrically. 

 The lyrics of the song sounds like a paper list of things that Katy Perry does for fun.  The song goes on to describe a perfect evening with her friends in California.

Slow cooking pancakes for my boy,
Still up, still fresh as a daisy.
Playing ping pong all night long,


Here Katy Perry was up all night long playing ping pong, but the morning after she is still awake after a fun night. She still has  plenty of energy to make some Katy Perry branded pancakes. Coming soon to your nearest Wal-Mart. One last thing Katy Perry, make those pancakes faster. I’m starving.

Chanel this Chanel that, hell yeah,
All my girl's vintage Chanel baby.

I hate when artists include product placement in their songs.  If there is clever way of doing it in the lyrics, then I am usually okay with it. The song's attempt is not even trying to hide it. I'm sure Katy Perry had a deal in place with her friends, that at the end of the song; she would get her purses back.

It's no big deal, it's no big deal.
It's no big deal, this is no big deal.

This is the pre chorus to the song. Katy Perry states that she likes to party for the thrill of it, and doesn’t care.  What would be a big deal is if you didn't complete Chanel endorsement earlier in the lyrics.  You probably lose out on that deal endorsement.  

I’m going to skip the chorus because there really isn’t much to it. It is mostly the repetition of the song's title. 

Big hoops and maroon lips,
My clique hoppin' in my Maserati.

We find out here that Katy Perry likes the hipster guy; however, I doubt he would like the expensive car, Maserati, because they were popular with the underground pop singers first.

 Santa Barbara chic at La Super Rica,
Grabbin' tacos, checking out hottie's.

It is reference to one of her favorite places to eat  in Santa Barbara where Katy Perry grew up.  I believe Katy Perry is trying to make me hungry with every verse of the song. First pancakes, and now tacos. I wonder what would happen if you combine those two foods together? Get on that internet.

Now we're talking astrology,

That sounds incredibly boring thing to talk about, especially at a party too.  Next line of lyrics please.

Day drinking at the Wild Cat,
Sucking real bad at Mariah Carey-oke.

Katy Perry doesn’t mess around with her parties. Day Drinking too? When does she sleep? 

 This one goes out to the ladies, at breakfast,
In last night's dress. Uh-huh, I see you.

Katy Perry is embracing the walk of shame at breakfast.  I hope Katy Perry is paying for the pancakes. The reviews for the home made pancakes were not great from what I saw on Twitter. 

Yo, this goes out to all you kids that still have their cars At the Club Valet, and it's Tuesday.

I would think you would get your car back on Sunday. Those parking fees might be high enough for the rent you pay for an apartment out in California.  At least she isn’t advocating drinking and driving here, so congrats on that one, Katy Perry.

Yo, shout out to all you kids buying bottle service
With your rent money, respect.

Well, that is where the rent money went too, bottle service. LA party folks are pretty smart with their money.  I did some research on the matter and from what I saw online bottle service prices are 200-500 bucks per weekend. If you multiple number that by 4 weeks you get 1400 dollars. That is about the average cost for an apartment in California. 

What? Wait, no no no no, bring the beat back.
That's right.

In my opinion, the song could have ended have ended 28 seconds earlier than the original length. It just drags out the beat a bit longer than needed. 

I feel like this song is about Katy Perry doing Katy Perry things. For instance here a few changes to the  lyrics I made. The song could still work with these changes.

1. “Cleaning dishes, and vacuuming floors,

      My clique hoppin on my Netflix. “

2.  “Now we're talking school work”

3.  “Gettin' my DVDs sorted all reverse alphabetically.”

See, that song is a guaranteed hit from the lyric changes I made. Watch it fly up the charts now.

The music video is very simple, but as stated in previous reviews, simple is better.  She uses a short video showing off the all the things she does with her friends when she parties. Anyway, here are a few highlights I noticed.

Twerking Ice Cream. 

I hate it when ice creams cones decide to twerk. How am I supposed to eat it now? It is covered with ice cream booty. 
Katy Perry- Making the good ice creams cones go bad.

The next cereal outage. Thanks to Katy Perry.

"This is How We Do"  is a bland song that anybody could have sang, but having Katy Perry singing it bothers me. Katy Perry is going to turn 30  this year, and while I wouldn’t mind her singing this in her 20s, I feel like it is a bit immature.  I feel this song was originally written for Kesha in mind ,because of the sing talk style of the song, but she rejected it. 

One last side note before I give out the score. I feel this song should have been the fourth single from the album. It is clearly made to be blasted down the road in your car with the windows down. It sounds like a summer song by the way the lyrics are constructed. Additionally, the beat is fun and lighthearted.  On the other hand, “Birthday” is bland, boring, and forgettable.

Final score: (3/5)

Production: Neutral on this song.  It rides a simple dancepop beat, but it never really changes up.

Vocals: Katy Perry's voice on this song is either a highlight or it is not.  It didn’t bother me that much given the subject matter, but I can see why people would hate it.

Lyrics:  I never got a complete story out of the song. It is more about what Katy Perry does for fun in a written word list that was turn into a song.

I like to see Katy Perry release “Walking on Air” as the next single. I enjoy that song.