Katy Perry - California Gurls ft. Snoop Dogg

What this video is

Released May 7, 2010, as the lead single from Katy Perry's third studio album Teenage Dream, 'California Gurls' was explicitly framed by Perry as an answer song to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' 'Empire State of Mind' — a West Coast counterpoint to New York's cultural dominance in mainstream pop. The song debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and climbed to number one for six consecutive weeks, becoming Perry's…

Why it matters

A defining artifact of 2010s electropop maximalism, 'California Gurls' represents the commercial apex of the disco-pop and electropop crossover produced by the Dr. Luke / Max Martin / Benny Blanco hit-factory pipeline. Its music video codified a template for big-budget concept pop videos —…

The director

Mathew Miguel Cullen is an award-winning American film, music video, and commercial director born and raised in Inglewood, California. He co-founded Los Angeles-based production company Motion Theory and later co-founded Mirada Studios with filmmaker…