The Meaning Behind Katy Perry’s New Track “I’m His, He’s Mine”

Katy Perry’s new album isn’t out yet, but it’s already shaping up to be her biggest (and most dance-pop-centric) celebration of womanhood and love to date. In all fairness, these themes have long been a backbone of the “Woman’s World” singer’s colorful and sardonic discography. But they seem to be the very crux of the soon-to-be-released banger “I’m His, He’s Mine,” which Perry previewed for fans in an Instagram Live on July 10.

Not only is the track an intriguing taste of her sixth album 143 — which drops Sept. 20 and is named after the ‘90s pager-era numerical code for “I love you” — but it’s also a collab with rapper Doechii that pays homage to a 1991 house-music chart-topper. If her lead single was telling the global population of men that “It’s a woman’s world / and you’re lucky to be living in it,” then this is her way of telling her own man that she’s the only one who matters.

“I’m his creep, I’m his freak / I’m every woman he wants and needs,” its lyrics go. The addictive chorus continues flexing on the roles Perry and Doechii play in their men’s lives, as “his dream,” “his drug,” “his boss,” “that b*tch,” and “every woman he knows exists.” While the 39-year-old’s past hits like “Teenage Dream” and “Birthday” lyrically revolved around performing for a man, the singer is now absolutely certain of her worth, asserting “I’m his, he’s mine.”

The growth stretches past the lyrics and into the production, which samples Crystal Waters’ dance classic “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless).” The seminal 1991 track is famous for its oft-sampled keyboard riff and a hypnotizing refrain of “La da dee, la dee da,” which Perry puts her own spin on for “I’m His, He’s Mine.”

As Perry told fans on Instagram Live, it’s the type of bop (and dance album) she’s always wanted to make. “The record is super high energy, it’s very summer, it’s very high BPM,” she said. “We just had a family dance party to one of the songs, and it’s just full of so much joy, so much love, so much light.”

On top of the Doechii team-up, she also previewed clips from 143 tracks “Nirvana” and “Gimme Gimme” featuring 21 Savage.