When “TiK ToK” first came out, Kesha changed our perception of “fun” by showing us what it meant to be the ultimate party girl. Covered in glitter, surrounded by guys—basically everything that our teeny 2009 selves worshipped. Little did we know that while we were bouncing around to “going to get crunk,” Kesha was dealing with Dr. Luke while he took advantage of her music career and her body.
In a recent interview for the New York Times Magazine, Kesha opened up about just how strong Dr. Luke’s influence was since the outset of her career with “TiK ToK.” “I remember specifically him saying: ‘Make it more dumb. Make it more stupid. Make it more simple, just dumb,’” she said, explaining how Dr. Luke wanted to capitalize on the fun part of her personality to really sell the song. “I was like, I am fun, but I’m a lot of other things.”
Literally if any man ever tried to pressure us into making our creative work “stupid” or “dumb” for the sake of selling it, we’d be like BOI BYE! Kesha thought it was a joke, too. She suggested lyrics like, “Boys try to touch my junk. Going to get crunk. Everybody getting drunk,” which Dr. Luke thought were just “perfect.”
Since then, Kesha has written 22 new songs that are truly original to her and what she wants her music to be. Once she’s free from Dr. Luke, we’ll get to see a whole new side of Kesha’s music, and honestly we just can’t wait.