For her “disrespectful” lyrics in Dark Horse, which “romanticize” serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, Katy Perry is receiving criticism from the public.
This is Bad Reminiscing
Oh, to be 13 years old once more, bouncing around my room with a hairbrush in hand and singing along to the latest single from Katy Perry, “Dark Horse.”
However, until over 10 years after its debut, many of us were unaware that one of its lines has a more darker connotation and specifically refers to an American serial killer.
Dahmer’s atrocities have gained increased attention as a result of a new Netflix series called Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, and as a result, music lovers have been quick to criticize Perry for her contentious lyrics.
Perry’s fourth studio album, Prism, opened with the promotional track “Dark Horse,” which featured rapper Juicy J.
Although the song was first released in 2013, it has recently gained popularity once more in light of the Netflix series that highlights Dahmer’s misdeeds.
Juicy J sings the phrase, “She’s a beast/ I name her Karma/ She eats your heart like Jeffrey Dahmer,” in the song.
Between 1978 and 1991, Dahmer, a notorious serial murderer, killed a total of seventeen people.
He admitted to killing the men and boys as well as dismembering some of them and consuming their flesh, giving him the nicknames the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster.
Watch Katy Perry’s Dark Horse Music Video:
Since then, music lovers have used social media to denounce the “vile” line.
In a song, Katy Perry and Juicy J literally said, “she eats your heart out like Jeffrey Dahmer,” which one Twitter user found to be insulting asf to the family.
Another person commented: “Juicy J is sick for forcing people, especially young children, to chant that man’s name and Katy Perry is equally ill for permitting that phrase in her song. I didn’t know who Jeffrey Dahmer was until last week.
“She eats your heart out like Jeffrey Dahmer” is a line from the song Dark Horse that still makes me angry, and I have to force my daughter to change the station because it is so disrespectful to the families of the victims. I hope people remember them while watching Netflix. Sorry for their losses,” a third person said.
Apparently, there are more artists…
Dark Horse is not the only song to make mention of the Milwaukee monster, though.
He has also received criticism online for putting his name in the songs of Kesha, Eminem, and Marilyn Manson.
Use your finger to stir my tea, and for dessert, I’ll suck your teeth. Be too sweet, and you’ll be gone. Yeah, I’ll pull a Jeffrey Dahmer. That’s a line from Kesha’s song “Cannibal.”
However, some have suggested that the musicians shouldn’t be getting as much flak given how long ago the songs were published.
People are just now learning about Jeffrey Dahmer thanks to the Netflix series, and they’re offended by a line from Katy Perry’s song “Dark Horse” that was released ten years ago, one person wondered.
One person said, “Are Twitter users really attempting to cancel Katy Perry and Kesha for mentioning Jeffrey Dahmer on their songs almost 10 years after they were released? [They] truly only found out about Jeffrey bc of Netflix in 2022,” another said.
In addition to attempting to give the victims of the serial killer a voice, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has brought attention to the “systemic prejudice and police prejudices” that allowed Dahmer to get away with his murders for so long.