A few weeks ago, Brandon and I drove up and back from DC in our limited ~36 hours together over the weekend for the Macklemore and Kesha concert. I also saw Ke$ha in concert five years ago yesterday (not planned when I started writing this post). I have been a big fan of hers over the years. I bought the Warrior album the day it released and it was my one of three top listened to album (along with Beiber’s Believe and One Direction Take Me Home – don’t judge) in my music library with somewhere over 1000 plays per song. (I literally only listened to those three albums on repeat for months.) I digress. So I was a fan, but for a little while, I almost forgot about her. Why? She’d stopped releasing music during the period that she was in the middle of her lawsuit with her former producer. I had followed the lawsuit and knew what was happening, but she wasn’t a core focus in my musical interests. So off we went to see her in concert, and I was reminded how f$#king amazing she is. And I’m sad and mad at myself for ever letting her drop off my radar. After the concert, I started doing some research and I have realized that, even if I don’t want to follow in her footsteps and be a pop superstar (five year old me just gasped), I want to be like Kesha when I grow up. I want to be a “mother f$#king woman.”
Eight reasons Kesha is my new role model
One – she is not afraid to be herself
“I get distracted by sparkly or colorful things.”
– Kesha, mid-concert, noticing someone’s outfit in the audience
Anyone who knows me, knows that my favorite color is pink glitter or gold glitter or any glitter (yes, that’s a thing), so obviously I’m draw to the sparkles and glitter that is Kesha. I have never seen so much glitter on one stage, and it was beautiful. She’s a grown, successful woman, who isn’t afraid to love the things she loves and be herself. Her love of sparkly and colorful things is just one tiny example.
Two – she writes her own music
Three – she’s not all about the money
“I was so happy being broke. And I’m happy not being broke. It really doesn’t affect me either way.
– Ke$ha explaining the dollar sign in her name [[[finish quote and confirm]]]
Four – she followed her dreams
She is ridiculously smart, but made a brave decision to follow her dreams instead of choosing a more “safe” option. She had almost perfect scores on her SATs and was accepted to Barnard College at Columbia University. Instead, she dropped out of high school, earned her GED, and pursued a music career.
Five – she persisted
Kesha dropped out of high school in 2004, after her music producer convinced her to drop out of high school to pursue a music career. She was signed to a label in 2005. She didn’t sign an album deal until 2009. TWO THOUSAND NINE. After dropping out of high school.
Six – she sought help
In 2014, Kesha’s life was turned upside down. She checked into rehab for an eating disorder and filed a lawsuit against her producer for sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, and emotional abuse.
Seven – she spoke out
After a fairly long hiatus, Kesha released her album Rainbow, which was unlike anything we’ve seen from her before.
Praying
I’m proud of who I am
No more monsters, I can breathe again
And you said that I was done
Well, you were wrong and now the best is yet to come
‘Cause I can make it on my own, oh
And I don’t need you, I found a strength I’ve never known
I’ll bring thunder, I’ll bring rain, oh
When I’m finished, they won’t even know your nameYou brought the flames and you put me through hell
I had to learn how to fight for myself
And we both know all the truth I could tell
I’ll just say this is “I wish you farewell”
Eight – she came out on top
After everything that she’s been through, she was able to get back to what she loves doing. After the release of Rainbow, she began her Rainbow tour and was better than ever. She looked and sounded AMAZING. She is a queen, there is no denying. On stage, she was happy, crazy, and flashy, but she was also raw and real and relatable. She was choked up when performing Praying (can you ever truly detach yourself from all of the emotions associated with something that meaningful to you?). She’s human. And she’s been through a lot of shit, but she hasn’t let that stop her from doing what she loves, sharing her story, and following her dreams. 