“Good news, I’m a free woman. And you know what I want to do? I want to play my first song in almost 20 fucking years as a free woman,” said singer Kesha (Los Angeles, 37 years old) in her latest album. singletitled Joyrideand the first as an independent artist, forever released from her contract with the record label Kemosabe Records. She did so, precisely, on a very symbolic date: July 4, Independence Day, excuse the redundancy, of the United States, at an event held at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a cultural center in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) where she shared the stage with the artist Ne-Yo. Until now, the artist remained contractually linked to the aforementioned label, belonging to the Sony record company, despite having accused its founder, Dr. Luke, of rape and emotional manipulation in 2014.
During these 10 years of legal battle, Kesha had the support of artists such as Adele, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. She released three albums: Rainbow, in 2017; High Road, in 2020; and Gag Orderin 2023, from which Dr. Luke —whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald— continued to benefit. In addition to Kesha’s lawsuit, there was a countersuit for defamation by Dr. Luke, who always maintained his innocence. The matter was finally resolved last summer, through an agreement that was not made public. They did issue a joint statement, published on their social networks, in which they both assured that the time had come to close this chapter and move on with their lives. A year later, the singer already has a title for this new chapter: Joyride.
“Kesha? This is Ke$ha,” they said. in Rolling Stone about his last singlereleased on her new label Kesha Records and which does indeed recall the light-hearted songs that made her famous during her early career. “Kesha’s latest single is a call back to her earlier synth-pop sound found on her hits Tik ToK and We R Who We R“, they declared, for their part, from NME; “Joyride It’s a festive anthem where Kesha embraces her bitch interior and shamelessly demands an exciting night with impudence and attitude.” In the homeland Jenesaispop, however, have been somewhat less enthusiastic about the artist’s new song, and ask directly: “Joyride“Another Kesha comeback or a painting?”
Whatever the opinion of critics and the public about the song, the truth is that there is a consensus that Joyride This marks the beginning of a new stage in the life and career of the artist who, in the last decade, has been seen more in the courts than on stage. In the coming months she will perform at the Lollapalooza festival (Chicago) and the Hera HSBC Festival (Mexico City), and she has already announced that she will soon announce new dates.
Since leaving Kemosabe Records after her contract ended, Kesha has used their social networks to update her fans on the new music she was creating. Earlier this year, she revealed that she was “furiously” working on new music and teased another song, a ballad, in a promotional video posted then. in his web pageLast month, she made her first appearance as a “free fucking woman” during Pride celebrations.
In an interview with the magazine Selfjust a few months before closing the Dr. Luke story in court, and on the occasion of the release of his album Gag Order (gag order, in Spanish) — a legal term that refers to a judge’s prohibition from speaking publicly about a pending criminal case — the artist gave numerous details about what her life had been like in recent years. Eating disorders: “I got to a point in my disorder where my anxiety was so high that I stopped being functional. It took up all of my head space, from morning to night. I was obsessed with how I looked, what to eat, clothing sizes and everyone’s approval,” she confessed. In her lawsuit, the singer also presented a series of emails in which her producer recommended that she control her diet, claiming that there were producers and lyricists who refused to work with her because of her weight. Health issues: “I almost died in January,” confessed the artist, who in 2022 was diagnosed with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), a primary immunodeficiency that can cause multiple lung infections, systemic bacterial infections, and gastrointestinal complications. But she also spoke of personal work and self-knowledge: “I have delved into my ugliest emotions and the parts of me that are less fun. Being vulnerable is very scary. The fact of having gathered a complete record of all these emotions (of anger, of insecurity, of anxiety, of sorrow, of pain, of regret), is stressful… but it is also healing.”
It had been over a decade since her audience had seen the fun-loving, party-loving Kesha they discovered through her first album, titled Animal and produced by Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Benny Blanco, and which brought her international fame. “I usually go out, have a night of partying, come home a little drunk and write some words… the next morning I wake up and say: ‘Wow! What happened yesterday has to be told!’” she told the magazine at the time. Esquire about her creative process, as casual as her lyrics. The singer answered in the magazine how she defined her style at the time Seventeen: “I don’t know, trash chicI like not trying too hard; I think girls need someone to look up to who doesn’t wear high heels and a bra. push up. I can’t walk in high heels, much less dance in them. I think it’s about having confidence and positive energy.” The composer, who when she released Tik Tok She had already written songs for artists such as Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus, and she knew exactly what she wanted with her music, and she confessed it in more than one interview: Kesha had simply come to have fun. It seems that she is finally doing just that. Good news: she is a free woman.
