The gospel according to Kesha
Kesha’s latest album could have been written by Hagar, Tamar, or Ruth.
Kesha emerges on a stage of women who sing her words in harmony, each wearing white in solidarity and protest. Sunday night at the Grammys she performed her song “Praying,” almost four years after she first filed a lawsuit against her music producer and alleged abuser. It was a perfect tribute to the #MeToo movement—for which Kesha has garnered little attention or credit.
Before Taylor Swift was suing a radio DJ for groping her backstage, there was Kesha. Knowing what happened to her, it’s difficult for me to listen to her 2010 debut studio album. Animal is super-pop fringed with vocal fry and adages about brushing teeth with whiskey. I’ve loved Kesha’s irreverent hype from the moment it first blasted onto my radio. But now when I hear these songs I’m reminded of the hell Kesha was living through as she recorded and toured Animal.
In 2005 Kesha signed to Kemosabe Records, a Sony imprint run by producer and songwriter Dr. Luke (Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald). She was still a teenager and a protégé of Dr. Luke, who helped launch her career.
