In March I went to Paris (and Atlanta!) with Waka Flocka for a Spin cover story. It’s not up yet but an amazing video in which Waka invaded the Spin office is. (Above photo by Jason Nocito for Spin.)
But there’s a reason the song is called “N***** in Paris” and not “Super-Fortunate Dudes in Paris,” y’know? Because racism! They’re saying “n*****” because they know it still contains the actual N-word, and throws it like a shadow across the song; the fact that they have beaten odds that existed before they were born is what the song is about. Katy Perry has escaped nothing except the prison of marriage to the guy from the shitty Arthur remake, and I guess maybe that’s what Katy Perry is trying to tell us here: Being married to Russell Brand was as bad as being married to the legacy of centuries of racism.
— Alex Pappademas, excellently, on Katy Perry’s deplorable/cringey/entitled cover of Jay and Ye’s “Paris.”
