One of the Boys (Katy Perry album)
Encyclopedia
One of the Boys is the second studio album
by American recording artist Katy Perry
and her major-label
debut. Her change in record label and adoption of a pseudonymous surname accompanies a notable shift from the Christian gospel rock of her self-titled debut album
. The album was released on June 17, 2008 by Capitol Music Group
. The album features the Billboard Hot 100
number one single "I Kissed a Girl", as well as top 5 hit "Hot n Cold
", top 10 hit "Waking Up in Vegas
", and top 40 hit "Thinking of You
". The album earned Perry two Grammy Award
nominations in 2009 and 2010. One of the Boys has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.
, Dr. Luke
, Dave Stewart
, and Max Martin
among others on the album. Perry co-wrote every song on the album as well as writing three of the songs herself.
Once signed to Capitol, label head Jason Flom
started work on a new album by convincing Dr Luke to go back into the studio with Perry, with the two having already worked together on the abandoned Columbia sessions. Together with Max Martin they wrote and cut "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold". Perry then collaborated again with Greg Wells, who she'd also worked with on the Columbia album, creating the songs "Ur So Gay" and "Mannequin". According to Perry's A&R Chris Anokute
they ended up with five new songs and then chose the six best songs from the shelved Columbia album to compile "One of the Boys".
When talking about the songs on the album Perry said that she released the single "Ur So Gay
" as an introduction to the album:
Although Perry's musical style, and way of composing
ironic, and bawdy songs has been heavily compared to the style of singers Avril Lavigne
, and Lily Allen
, the singer was actually influenced by artists, and bands like Queen
(Freddie Mercury
in particular), The Beach Boys
, Heart
, Joni Mitchell
, Paul Simon
, Cyndi Lauper
, and Alanis Morissette
. All songs on the album were written by Perry, assisted by musicians Greg Wells, Max Martin
, Dr. Luke
, Cathy Dennis, Desmond Child
, Andreas Carlsson
, Sam Hollander
, Dave Katz
S*A*M and Sluggo, Ted Bruner, Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, Dave Stewart
, and Glen Ballard
. The album includes several tracks that tell stories - a balance of sad songs and happier tunes. About these opposites, she said, "I think people can appreciate a songwriter who shows different sides... I’ve put everything into [this album] and I feel like it’s my baby.". Her first EP
, which belongs to the album, "Ur So Gay
", was composed as a tool of revenge by the singer on her ex-boyfriend, where Perry satirizes his exaggerated emo style
, and metrosexual
attitude. Her first single "I Kissed a Girl" generated some controversy, dealing with the subject of lesbian homosexuality
. The song was inspired by actress Scarlett Johansson
. In the second single "Hot n Cold
", Perry discusses the theme of uncertainty, and the ups, and downs of relationships. Other songs like "I'm Still Breathing", and "Thinking of You
", both ballad
s, recounted failed relationships. According to the singer, "Lost" is the most personal song on the album, because its theme is similar to the biographical events of the singer. "Waking Up in Vegas
" deals with eccentric, and crazy trips with friends to Las Vegas
. Just like "Ur So Gay", and "Hot n Cold", the songs "Mannequin", and "If You Can Afford Me" are mocking, and critical of relationships with ex-boyfriends.
and contains four bonus tracks; and the Japan re-issue. Europe; Japan; and iTunes editions contains bonus tracks.
Upon its release, the singer has been heavily criticized for her song, "Ur So Gay", considered by the site The New Gay to be homophobic
. The author of the publication added, "It's time to Katy Perry to stop talking nonsense" because "the song trots out a number of tired gay stereotypes to condemn one of Perry’s ex-boyfriends and includes a paradoxical chorus". The editor of British magazine content lesbian Diva Jane Czyzselska, commented in an article in The Guardian
that "Perry's song is a rather sweet, refreshing antidote to the avalanche of overtly sexualised boy-grinds-girl songs." She promoted the song in Portugal, and it was not very well received by the public. Her first single, "I Kissed a Girl" became a huge controversy worldwide.
Despite the context, Perry is heterosexual. She has been strongly criticized by the LGBT
community, who believe that the singer used music to make money and not on behalf of homosexuals, and by some supporters of traditional moral values who claim that music leads the girls to be lesbian. The song was criticized by the local headquarters of the evangelical Havens Corners Church, which has set the following sentence in its garden in September 2008: "I kissed a girl and liked it. So I went to hell." To promote the album Perry embarked on three tours, Warped Tour 2008
, and his first solo world tour Hello Katy Tour
with 89 shows performed, and as opening act in Summer Tour 2009
.
The second single, "Hot n Cold
", made it onto the chart after the album came out due to digital downloads. It was released in early September, and peaked at number 3 on the U.S. charts, making it Perry's second consecutive top 5 single. On November 14, the song became Perry's first number 1 on radio airplay. It is officially one of the ten best-selling digitally downloaded songs of all time after its initial run. It has sold over 5 million digital downloads in the U.S. as of August 2011.
"Thinking of You
", the penultimate single, was originally planned to be the first single from the album, but was scrapped for "I Kissed a Girl" due to its surge in popularity. "Thinking of You" received a video in late April 2008, but the video was removed from YouTube and replaced by a new video after the single was re-released as the third international single from the album. Perry shot the second video with director Melina Matsoukas
in the first week of December 2008. The video for the single was released on December 23. The track peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week of February 12, 2009 where it remained for the next two weeks before declining to #31 in its seventh week on the chart. As of September 2011, the song has sold 953,000 downloads in the United States.
"Waking Up in Vegas
" is the fourth and final single from the album. It went for radio adds on April 21 in the U.S. It was released to Australian radio on March 23, where it became the fourth most added song in its release week. Perry performed it on American Idol
in May, resulting in a surge of sales for the song. The music video was shot by Joseph Kahn
during March 2009 in Las Vegas
and officially premiered on the iTunes
store in the U.S. and Australia on April 28, 2009. As of September 2011, the song has sold 2,053,000 copies in the U.S.
The album's singles, digital tracks, and mobile products have sold more than 22 million copies worldwide.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an score of 47, citing "mixed or average reviews".
Despite some unfavorable reviews, the album did receive some positive reviews, such as from Billboard
magazine who claimed, "not since Jagged Little Pill
has a debut album been so packed with potential hits." Blender
described the album as "Perry’s creative-writing-class punch lines don’t always justify her self-congratulatory drag-queen tone. But she hiccups quirkily enough, and myriad big-name producers (from Dr. Luke
to Glen Ballard
) keep the new-wave synth hooks hopping."
More often, critical reception ranged to generally negative reviews, plus some mixed. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
of Allmusic gave the album two out of five stars noting that the album "sinks to crass, craven depths that turn One of the Boys into a grotesque emblem of all the wretched excesses of this decade." On the album, Uncut
wrote "Gwen Stefani
should be nervous" while Slant Magazine
wrote that "Perry doesn't possess the grit or vocal prowess to follow through, and the title track is like No Doubt
's 'Just a Girl
' sans personality and conviction". The NME
wrote that "Madonna
and Perez Hilton
may be fans, then, but if you’ve got even a passing interest in actually enjoying a record, don’t buy this one".
with 47,000 copies sold in the first week released. The album has shipped and has sold nearly 1.4 million copies, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America
. The album has been on the chart for 84 weeks. In Canada, the album debuted at number 10 and peaked at number six, It has since been certified double platinum by Music Canada
.
In the United Kingdom, the album debuted and peaked at number eleven on the UK Albums Chart
. It has since been certified Platinum. In Australia debuted at number eleven, the album has been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
, denoting over 70,000 copies sold.
In New Zealand, the album debuted and peaked at number seventeen. It has since been certified Gold, shipping over 7,500 copies.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American recording artist Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
and her major-label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
debut. Her change in record label and adoption of a pseudonymous surname accompanies a notable shift from the Christian gospel rock of her self-titled debut album
Katy Hudson (album)
Katy Hudson is the eponymous, gospel rock debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Katy Hudson, who would later adopt the familiar stage name of Katy Perry. It was released on October 23, 2001, as a Christian music album by Red Hill Records two days before her seventeenth birthday. This...
. The album was released on June 17, 2008 by Capitol Music Group
Capitol Music Group
Capitol Music Group is a major record label, a wholly owned subsidiary of EMI.-History:It was formed in February 2007 as a merger of Virgin Records and Capitol Records in an effort by EMI to restructure and save an average of $217 million yearly...
. The album features the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
number one single "I Kissed a Girl", as well as top 5 hit "Hot n Cold
Hot N Cold
"Hot n Cold" is a song by American singer Katy Perry. The song was written and composed by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Perry for her major mainstream debut album, One of the Boys. The track was released as the album's third single...
", top 10 hit "Waking Up in Vegas
Waking Up in Vegas
"Waking Up in Vegas" is a song by American recording artist Katy Perry, taken as the fourth and final single off her second studio album, One of the Boys. It was written by Katy Perry, Desmond Child and Andreas Carlsson. It is produced by Greg Wells and co-produced by Perry. Wells is credited with...
", and top 40 hit "Thinking of You
Thinking of You (Katy Perry song)
"Thinking of You" is a song by American singer and songwriter Katy Perry from her 2008 album One of the Boys and the fourth single from the album. It is one of three tracks from the album written solely by Perry and the first single since "Ur So Gay" to be produced by another producer other than...
". The album earned Perry two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations in 2009 and 2010. One of the Boys has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.
Background
Perry has stated that she had been working on the album since she was eighteen years old. During the making of the album Perry was dropped from two record labels and went through two canceled albums. During this time, Perry had written close to seventy songs. Perry collaborated with notable producers Greg WellsGreg Wells
Greg Wells is a multiple Grammy nominated musician, record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Wells has produced and written hits with Adele, Weezer, Pink, Theophilus London, Deftones, Katy Perry, Rufus Wainwright, The All American Rejects, OneRepublic, Mika, Aerosmith, Burt Bacharach,...
, Dr. Luke
Dr. Luke
Lukasz Gottwald , better known as Dr. Luke, is an American songwriter, record producer, and remixer. Luke performed with the Saturday Night Live Band for ten seasons until 2007. He has co-written and co-produced a string of commercially successful songs...
, Dave Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
, and Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
among others on the album. Perry co-wrote every song on the album as well as writing three of the songs herself.
Once signed to Capitol, label head Jason Flom
Jason Flom
Jason Flom is an American music industry executive. He has served as the Chairman and CEO of music labels including Atlantic Records, Virgin Records, and the Capitol Music Group. In 1995, he founded Lava Records...
started work on a new album by convincing Dr Luke to go back into the studio with Perry, with the two having already worked together on the abandoned Columbia sessions. Together with Max Martin they wrote and cut "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold". Perry then collaborated again with Greg Wells, who she'd also worked with on the Columbia album, creating the songs "Ur So Gay" and "Mannequin". According to Perry's A&R Chris Anokute
Chris Anokute
Chris Anokute is an A&R executive. While at Capitol Records he oversaw artists including Katy Perry, Joss Stone and Varsity Fanclub. He is currently Senior Vice-President of A&R at Universal Motown.-Career:...
they ended up with five new songs and then chose the six best songs from the shelved Columbia album to compile "One of the Boys".
When talking about the songs on the album Perry said that she released the single "Ur So Gay
Ur So Gay
"Ur So Gay" is the song released by pop singer Katy Perry, produced by Greg Wells and engineered by Drew Pearson. The song was Perry's first major label release, and was later placed on her major label album, One of the Boys. Capitol Records offered the song as a free download on their website...
" as an introduction to the album:
Themes and style
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
ironic, and bawdy songs has been heavily compared to the style of singers Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
, and Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...
, the singer was actually influenced by artists, and bands like Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
(Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
in particular), The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, and Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
. All songs on the album were written by Perry, assisted by musicians Greg Wells, Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
, Dr. Luke
Dr. Luke
Lukasz Gottwald , better known as Dr. Luke, is an American songwriter, record producer, and remixer. Luke performed with the Saturday Night Live Band for ten seasons until 2007. He has co-written and co-produced a string of commercially successful songs...
, Cathy Dennis, Desmond Child
Desmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
, Andreas Carlsson
Andreas Carlsson
Andreas Carlsson is a Swedish music producer, composer, and pop songwriter.-Biography:Carlsson was part of the Cheiron Studios team until the studio was closed down in 2001....
, Sam Hollander
Sam Hollander
Sam Hollander is an American songwriter and record producer. He has written and/or produced hits for the likes of Train, Boys Like Girls, Gym Class Heroes, Good Charlotte, Carole King, Neon Trees, Cobra Starship, 3OH!3, Coheed and Cambria, All Time Low, Metro Station, We The Kings, O.A.R., Uncle...
, Dave Katz
Dave Katz
Dave Katz has co-written and/or produced songs for The Cab, Hey Monday, All Time Low, Boys Like Girls, Gym Class Heroes, Kelly Rowland, The Academy Is..., Mandy Moore, Cobra Starship, Roger Daltrey, Coheed and Cambria, Metro Station, We The Kings, Blake Lewis, Hollywood Undead, and others.In 2005,...
S*A*M and Sluggo, Ted Bruner, Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, Dave Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
, and Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
. The album includes several tracks that tell stories - a balance of sad songs and happier tunes. About these opposites, she said, "I think people can appreciate a songwriter who shows different sides... I’ve put everything into [this album] and I feel like it’s my baby.". Her first EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, which belongs to the album, "Ur So Gay
Ur So Gay
"Ur So Gay" is the song released by pop singer Katy Perry, produced by Greg Wells and engineered by Drew Pearson. The song was Perry's first major label release, and was later placed on her major label album, One of the Boys. Capitol Records offered the song as a free download on their website...
", was composed as a tool of revenge by the singer on her ex-boyfriend, where Perry satirizes his exaggerated emo style
Emo
Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...
, and metrosexual
Metrosexual
Metrosexual is a neologism derived from metropolitan and heterosexual coined in 1994 describing a man who spends a lot of time and money on shopping for his appearance...
attitude. Her first single "I Kissed a Girl" generated some controversy, dealing with the subject of lesbian homosexuality
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
. The song was inspired by actress Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
. In the second single "Hot n Cold
Hot N Cold
"Hot n Cold" is a song by American singer Katy Perry. The song was written and composed by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Perry for her major mainstream debut album, One of the Boys. The track was released as the album's third single...
", Perry discusses the theme of uncertainty, and the ups, and downs of relationships. Other songs like "I'm Still Breathing", and "Thinking of You
Thinking of You (Katy Perry song)
"Thinking of You" is a song by American singer and songwriter Katy Perry from her 2008 album One of the Boys and the fourth single from the album. It is one of three tracks from the album written solely by Perry and the first single since "Ur So Gay" to be produced by another producer other than...
", both ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s, recounted failed relationships. According to the singer, "Lost" is the most personal song on the album, because its theme is similar to the biographical events of the singer. "Waking Up in Vegas
Waking Up in Vegas
"Waking Up in Vegas" is a song by American recording artist Katy Perry, taken as the fourth and final single off her second studio album, One of the Boys. It was written by Katy Perry, Desmond Child and Andreas Carlsson. It is produced by Greg Wells and co-produced by Perry. Wells is credited with...
" deals with eccentric, and crazy trips with friends to Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
. Just like "Ur So Gay", and "Hot n Cold", the songs "Mannequin", and "If You Can Afford Me" are mocking, and critical of relationships with ex-boyfriends.
Release and promotion
The album was first released on June 17, 2008. It was released in separate editions: the standard edition; the Australia Tour edition, which contains the standard CD plus a bonus CD with exclusive songs, an acoustic version of "Thinking of You" and remixes; the special edition, which is packaged in a digipakDigipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
and contains four bonus tracks; and the Japan re-issue. Europe; Japan; and iTunes editions contains bonus tracks.
Upon its release, the singer has been heavily criticized for her song, "Ur So Gay", considered by the site The New Gay to be homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. The author of the publication added, "It's time to Katy Perry to stop talking nonsense" because "the song trots out a number of tired gay stereotypes to condemn one of Perry’s ex-boyfriends and includes a paradoxical chorus". The editor of British magazine content lesbian Diva Jane Czyzselska, commented in an article in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
that "Perry's song is a rather sweet, refreshing antidote to the avalanche of overtly sexualised boy-grinds-girl songs." She promoted the song in Portugal, and it was not very well received by the public. Her first single, "I Kissed a Girl" became a huge controversy worldwide.
Despite the context, Perry is heterosexual. She has been strongly criticized by the LGBT
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
community, who believe that the singer used music to make money and not on behalf of homosexuals, and by some supporters of traditional moral values who claim that music leads the girls to be lesbian. The song was criticized by the local headquarters of the evangelical Havens Corners Church, which has set the following sentence in its garden in September 2008: "I kissed a girl and liked it. So I went to hell." To promote the album Perry embarked on three tours, Warped Tour 2008
Warped Tour 2008
Warped Tour 2008 was the 2008 installment of the annual Summer Warped Tour music festival. Vans Shoes was again the tour's primary sponsor.-Main stage:*The Academy Is...*Against Me! *All That Remains...
, and his first solo world tour Hello Katy Tour
Hello Katy Tour
The Hello Katy Tour is the first worldwide concert tour by American pop singer-songwriter Katy Perry that supported her debut studio album, One of the Boys...
with 89 shows performed, and as opening act in Summer Tour 2009
Summer Tour 2009 (No Doubt)
The Summer Tour 2009 is the fifth concert tour by American rock group, No Doubt.-Background:On December 3, 2008, the band announced on their official website plans of a tour and a new album . They stated, "As most of you saw from our little iChat , we have decided to go on tour next year while...
.
Singles
The album's lead single, "I Kissed a Girl" was released in early May and soared up the charts. "I Kissed a Girl" was a commercial success. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the 1000th chart-topper of the rock era. The song has since become a major worldwide hit, and along with the United States, it has topped the charts in more than 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. It has sold over 4 million digital downloads in the U.S. as of March 31, 2011.The second single, "Hot n Cold
Hot N Cold
"Hot n Cold" is a song by American singer Katy Perry. The song was written and composed by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Perry for her major mainstream debut album, One of the Boys. The track was released as the album's third single...
", made it onto the chart after the album came out due to digital downloads. It was released in early September, and peaked at number 3 on the U.S. charts, making it Perry's second consecutive top 5 single. On November 14, the song became Perry's first number 1 on radio airplay. It is officially one of the ten best-selling digitally downloaded songs of all time after its initial run. It has sold over 5 million digital downloads in the U.S. as of August 2011.
"Thinking of You
Thinking of You (Katy Perry song)
"Thinking of You" is a song by American singer and songwriter Katy Perry from her 2008 album One of the Boys and the fourth single from the album. It is one of three tracks from the album written solely by Perry and the first single since "Ur So Gay" to be produced by another producer other than...
", the penultimate single, was originally planned to be the first single from the album, but was scrapped for "I Kissed a Girl" due to its surge in popularity. "Thinking of You" received a video in late April 2008, but the video was removed from YouTube and replaced by a new video after the single was re-released as the third international single from the album. Perry shot the second video with director Melina Matsoukas
Melina Matsoukas
Melina Matsoukas is an American music video director.-Life and career:Matsoukas is of Greek, Jewish, Jamaican and Cuban descent. Both her name and surname are Greek: Μελίνα Ματσούκα. She is a graduate of the American Film Institute and New York University...
in the first week of December 2008. The video for the single was released on December 23. The track peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week of February 12, 2009 where it remained for the next two weeks before declining to #31 in its seventh week on the chart. As of September 2011, the song has sold 953,000 downloads in the United States.
"Waking Up in Vegas
Waking Up in Vegas
"Waking Up in Vegas" is a song by American recording artist Katy Perry, taken as the fourth and final single off her second studio album, One of the Boys. It was written by Katy Perry, Desmond Child and Andreas Carlsson. It is produced by Greg Wells and co-produced by Perry. Wells is credited with...
" is the fourth and final single from the album. It went for radio adds on April 21 in the U.S. It was released to Australian radio on March 23, where it became the fourth most added song in its release week. Perry performed it on American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
in May, resulting in a surge of sales for the song. The music video was shot by Joseph Kahn
Joseph Kahn
Joseph Kahn is an American music video, advertising, and feature film director.-Early life:Kahn was born in Jersey Village, Texas, a suburb of Houston. He is of Korean ancestry. He spent part of his childhood growing up in Livorno, Italy until his family moved to Texas...
during March 2009 in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
and officially premiered on the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
store in the U.S. and Australia on April 28, 2009. As of September 2011, the song has sold 2,053,000 copies in the U.S.
Other songs
The title track "One of the Boys" peaked at number #40 in Australia Singles Top 50 for five weeks until January 2009. The song is the second to be performed on the shows of the tour Hello Katy Tour in 2009 and was also performed on live during the recording of KISS-FM Live. "If You Can Afford Me" peaked at #28 in the Top 40 New Zealand, where it remained for three weeks.The album's singles, digital tracks, and mobile products have sold more than 22 million copies worldwide.
Critical reception
The album received mixed reviews from critics. On MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an score of 47, citing "mixed or average reviews".
Despite some unfavorable reviews, the album did receive some positive reviews, such as from Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine who claimed, "not since Jagged Little Pill
Jagged Little Pill
Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette. It was Morissette's first internationally released album, and her first studio album after the three year hiatus following her break with MCA Records. The album marked a shift from her style...
has a debut album been so packed with potential hits." Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
described the album as "Perry’s creative-writing-class punch lines don’t always justify her self-congratulatory drag-queen tone. But she hiccups quirkily enough, and myriad big-name producers (from Dr. Luke
Dr. Luke
Lukasz Gottwald , better known as Dr. Luke, is an American songwriter, record producer, and remixer. Luke performed with the Saturday Night Live Band for ten seasons until 2007. He has co-written and co-produced a string of commercially successful songs...
to Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
) keep the new-wave synth hooks hopping."
More often, critical reception ranged to generally negative reviews, plus some mixed. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of Allmusic gave the album two out of five stars noting that the album "sinks to crass, craven depths that turn One of the Boys into a grotesque emblem of all the wretched excesses of this decade." On the album, Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
wrote "Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
should be nervous" while Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
wrote that "Perry doesn't possess the grit or vocal prowess to follow through, and the title track is like No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
's 'Just a Girl
Just a Girl
"Just a Girl" is a song written by Gwen Stefani and Tom Dumont for No Doubt's third album Tragic Kingdom. The song was released in 1995 as the album's lead single and helped the band break into mainstream music, peaking at number 23 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.Upon release in the UK in 1996 the...
' sans personality and conviction". The NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
wrote that "Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
and Perez Hilton
Perez Hilton
Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. , better known as Perez Hilton , is an American blogger and television personality. His blog, Perezhilton.com , is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities...
may be fans, then, but if you’ve got even a passing interest in actually enjoying a record, don’t buy this one".
Chart performance
One of the Boys debuted at number nine on the U.S. Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
with 47,000 copies sold in the first week released. The album has shipped and has sold nearly 1.4 million copies, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. The album has been on the chart for 84 weeks. In Canada, the album debuted at number 10 and peaked at number six, It has since been certified double platinum by Music Canada
Music Canada
Music Canada was a Canadian music television miniseries which aired approximately monthly on CBC Television from 1966 to 1967.-Premise:This series featured various special productions of music and dance, from classical to modern styles.-Scheduling:...
.
In the United Kingdom, the album debuted and peaked at number eleven on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. It has since been certified Platinum. In Australia debuted at number eleven, the album has been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
, denoting over 70,000 copies sold.
In New Zealand, the album debuted and peaked at number seventeen. It has since been certified Gold, shipping over 7,500 copies.
Track listing
- All songs written by Katy PerryKaty PerryKaty Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
, unless otherwise noted.
Charts
| Chart (2008/2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
11 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 6 |
| Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
24 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
23 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
6 |
| Czech Czech Republic The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest.... Albums Chart Chart A chart is a graphical representation of data, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart"... |
33 |
| Danish Albums Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
4 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
32 |
| European Top 100 Albums European Top 100 Albums The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100... |
10 |
| Finnish Albums Chart Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... |
13 |
| France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... Albums Chart Chart A chart is a graphical representation of data, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart"... |
10 |
| Greek International Albums Chart | 2 |
| Greek Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... Albums Chart Chart A chart is a graphical representation of data, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart"... |
11 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
7 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary.... |
37 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
10 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 23 |
| Mexico Albums Chart AMPROFON Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas is a non-profit organization integrated by multinational and national record companies in Mexico. Established on April 3, 1963, it groups phonographic companies that represent more than 70 percent of the market in Mexico... |
9 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
17 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... |
7 |
| Polish Albums Chart OLiS OLiS is the official list of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The list exists since October 23, 2000 and is provided by ZPAV.... |
7 |
| Portuguese Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... Albums Chart Chart A chart is a graphical representation of data, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart"... |
18 |
| Spanish Albums Chart PROMUSICAE Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry... |
51 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
19 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
6 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
11 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
9 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums | 3 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 30 |
| UK Albums Chart | 47 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
| Australian Albums Chart | 49 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
46 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 32 |
| UK Albums Chart | 84 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
| Australian Albums Chart | 94 |
| UK Albums Chart | 98 |
Certifications
| Country | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|
| Australia Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
2× Platinum |
| Austria IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
Platinum |
| Belgium IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
Gold |
| Brazil Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos The Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos is an official representative body of the record labels in the Brazilian phonographic market.- About :... |
Platinum |
| Canada Cria A cria is the name for a baby camelid such as a llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. It comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, crya , was coined by British sailors who explored Chile in the 18th century and were quick to describe the camelids onomatopoeically... |
2× Platinum |
| Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
Gold |
| Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
Platinum |
| France | Platinum |
| Germany IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
Gold |
| Ireland Irish Recorded Music Association Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:... |
Platinum |
| New Zealand | Gold |
| Sweden | Gold |
| Switzerland IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
Gold |
| United Kingdom British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Platinum |
| United States | Platinum |