Musically, it is an electronic and hip hop ballad which draws heavily from dubstep and techno, along with smaller amounts of drum and bass.

To promote the song, Perry and West performed on the tenth season of American Idol, the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, and at Madison Square Garden for Z100's Jingle Ball.

Floria Sigismondi directed the song's music video, which depicts Perry as an evolving alien drifting in outer space before landing on an abandoned litter-covered Earth, interspersed with clips of large felines hunting game.

She told MTV News: "I heard it and I always knew I wanted to write this futuristic, alienistic song, and they pulled it up and I was like, 'Wait, I can wrap my head around this.

"[3] The solo version of the song was released as a promotional single from Teenage Dream, first in the United States on August 17, 2010,[4] and six days later in Australia.

The announcement was accompanied with the single's artwork, which features Perry with "cat eye make-up, bangs, and a sequined top".

[22] To further promote the single, an additional set of remixes of the song were made available on digital retailers in March 2011,[23] followed by physical releases in the United Kingdom and Germany.

is an electronic and hip hop song, and draws heavily from dubstep and techno, along with smaller amounts of drum and bass.

[34] Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times noted a "hip-hop diva's stutter" in the song similar to that of Rihanna.

[27] Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone found the song sounded similar to hard rock ballads by Evanescence.

[40] West contributes a second verse to the track, before Perry's final refrain, with heavily auto-tuned vocals: "I know a bar out in Mars / Where they driving spaceships instead of cars".

"[38] Ben Kaplan from National Post noted West's presence on the track was similar to the work on his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008).

[36] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly felt that Perry shows strength on the song, comparing its sound to a combination of American rock musicians Lita Ford and Trent Reznor.

together with some other tracks from the albums is heavier sonically and lyrically, with a boom-boom-pow electro punch and Perry discussing more toxic relationships.

[36] Speaking for West's contribution on the track Brad Wete from Entertainment Weekly noted that the song was improved from a male perspective.

[44] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic commented that Perry "replicates Ryan Tedder's glassy robotic alienation on 'E.T.

[46][47] PopMatters' staff writer Steve Leftridge called the song "neither strong nor edgy nor clever nor sonically interesting enough to lend any genuine credibility to Perry as a serious artist with anything to actually say".

Club gave the song a C−, saying that while its lyrical content was "borderline-embarrassing", it did earn "a couple bonus points for showing a relatively darker side" of Perry, while A.V.

Club editor Steven Hyden was more critical of both Perry's and West's lyrics, saying that "borderline-embarrassing" was too generous and that "the whole concept of the song is so beyond either side of sanity" that it was impossible to grade.

[4] Following its single release featuring West, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on March 5, 2011, at number 28 with 110,000 copies being sold.

[51] It ended the six-week run of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and made Teenage Dream the ninth album in history to yield four number-one singles.

It was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and sold 10 million copies only in the United States, becoming her fifth song reach this status.

[53] It topped the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart for seven weeks, the longest since Eminem and Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie" in 2010.

[84] A backstage picture of West wearing street clothes along with Perry in a pastel-colored makeup and a giant braided headpiece was shown on MTV.

[87] In the video, Perry, as an alien, drifts through outer space while slowly evolving into a humanoid appearance before landing on an abandoned Earth filled with trash.

[91][92] The video also alludes to a presumable future, as Perry finds a box containing a skeleton of a pigeon (a species said to have gone extinct in 2030) and a pair of Vogue sunglasses, which she later wears.

Throughout the video, Perry wears heavy cosmetics,[93] including blue and pink make-up, catlike and reptile-like eyes, and braids resembling those of Medusa.

[97] In a more negative review, Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine criticized Perry, saying she looked like an "animated video-game character" while saying West was a "non-presence".

Cinquemani later went on to say: "It's a step up from bras that shoot whipped cream and fireworks, but this is ultimately Sigimondi's vision, and it's far from her finest five minutes.

[107] On June 27, 2011, the video of a stripped-down cover of the song by the American pop punk/alternative rock band Yellowcard was featured in Billboard's Mashup Mondays series.