Brian Gibbins – Country and philosophy are just two recurring themes on Kesha’s new release, Rainbow. Am I talking about the same Ke$ha? Yes, that one. But, let’s go back to the beginning, or at least the beginning of Kesha for me (and I’ll dispense with the “$” as she has).
Animal
In the beginning there was Tik Tok from her debut album Animal. Just in case you don’t remember it, here’s a link to the video on YouTube. If you somehow forgot how parents everywhere were totally freaked out because she was promoting underage drinking, then see the video and come back. I’m sure there are some thoughtful articles exploring both sides of the controversy — this isn’t one of them.
Tik Tok social drama and my teen daughters talking about Kesha spurred me to check her out more. After all, I bought 2 Live Crew’s album back in the 80’s simply because it was banned from purchase in Miami. I picked up Kesha’s Animal + Cannibal deluxe digital edition from iTunes because I was late to Kesha’s party (at the rich dude’s house). Kesha appeared, on the surface, to be what one might expect of a young white woman trying to make it in the music industry today. As it turns out there was a lot more depth to that statement.
The surprise was there were a number of lyrical gems deep within the dance-floor delivery and two very hysterical songs that I came to love, Dinosaur (which I’m decidedly not, ew) and Grow A Pear. I’ll leave it to you to research the songs knowing that they may be NSFW (for you).
If I don’t mention Backstabber as one of my favorite beats on the first release, my daughter will be sad. We’ve all known one, a friend turned enemy. Someone you erringly trusted and later find that they are going behind your back and talking about you.
Honestly, I think it’s kinda funny that you waste
Your breath talking about me
Got me feeling kinda special really (so this is what you’re all about)
Kesha’s music on the first album uses a number of sounds that are reminiscent of the video games I played in high school. Almost as if Kraftwerk stepped into the studio and said, “hey, let’s add this little computer sound here.” This 80sMusicGuy really enjoyed the flashback.
I always find it interesting to see which tracks are chosen as singles by the PTBs (Powers That Be). The deluxe version of Animal + Cannibal also came with videos for Stephen, Take It Off, and Animal.
General thoughts on the first album is that she had a lot of potential (who am I to judge, right?) and I looked forward to her next endeavor. I liked her song writing and felt that the music was catchy too. It made me want to get up and move… what more can one ask for? I enjoyed her first album such that I bought the followup remix EP too — I Am Your Dance Commander and I Command You To Dance. Everyone starts somewhere, perhaps she would be the next Madonna?
Join me in my next post where I dive into Warrior and Kesha’s hooks into me…
Following a Rainbow and Finding Kesha is part of a series by Brian Gibbins. Check out Part 2 and Part 3.
