Pop Corner: Yes, you can afford Katy Perry's shoes

The pop star turned cordwainer pledges to keep her footwear “affordable”; elsewhere Father John Misty blubs about his collaboration with Beyonce


TRACK OF THE WEEK
Sampha - Nobody Knows Me Like The Piano
Sampha's debut album Process is finally out, and it's tender beyond belief. This new single is a good introduction: a ballad about learning who you are, bit by bit. But it's not as facile as that. The beautiful hook "nobody knows me like the piano in my mother's home" is as spare and telling as his melodies. As he sings: "You would show me I had something some people call a soul", you wonder who he's speaking to – is it to the piano, or to his mum?

Hero of the week is Katy Perry, who pledged to keep her new footwear line affordable. Retailing at $59 (and then going upwards to $299), she told Footwear News: "Everybody has more important things to spend their money on – whether it's their children, or their family or their health. At the end of the day, your personality shouldn't be so expensive to display."

Meanwhile, Father John Misty has opened up about working with Beyoncé on Lemonade. He told Zane Lowe: "With Hold Up, they just sent me the beat and the hook. I wrote that first verse and the 'jealous and crazy' part. After we recorded, I was like 'We cannot send this to her. This is ridiculous.' I just couldn't. My voice is not ... the song is not intended to be sold by me. But it was never an ambition, it was never anywhere near. It's completely absurd that Lady Gaga and Beyoncé are my only co-writes."

Zero of the week is being recognised on the street, according to Jennifer Lopez. She told W magazine that her ultimate dream would be to go incognito. "Everything I do has to be rushed, because there's a limited amount of time I can be out before things get crazy. My dream would just be to walk down the street in Milan and take my time, shopping, walking... Sit outside, without feeling I have to hide."