14 Years After ‘TiK ToK’, We Owe Kesha A Lot
Fourteen years ago today — August 7, 2009 — Kesha released her solo debut single ‘TiK ToK’, a song that would launch the careers of one of the most prolific voices in pop music.
We were first blessed with Kesha’s vocal prowess when she featured on the iconic Flo Rida song ‘Right Round’ but it wasn’t until ‘TiK ToK’ was released that Kesha took over the world. The song was the lead single of Kesha’s debut album Animal and reached number 1 in 14 countries, spending nine consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.
There was little room to question Kesha’s impact on music with ‘TiK ToK’ because while it was smashing the charts, so were many of her other songs from Animal. ‘Blah Blah Blah’ with 3OH!3 was in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot Shot Debut while ‘Your Love Is My Drug’ and ‘Take It Off’ entered the chart at Number 27 and 85 respectively.
Many were quick to misunderstand who she really was. With glitter eyes and lips, messy hair, and a IDGAF attitude Kesha mesmerised the masses and became a leading force in pop music. She was accompanied on the charts with iconic songs like Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’, Owl City’s ‘Fireflies’, and Iyaz’s ‘Replay’. You’re lying to yourself if you say you don’t immediately want to dance when you hear a Kesha song. I’m certain that if she released any of those songs today they would still have the same impact as they did back in early 2010.
I wasn’t old enough to dance to Kesha’s music in the clubs, but I was able to put on a spectacular one-person concert in my bathroom mirror. ‘TiK ToK’ played at every school disco, it was on every radio station, and played in shopping centres for years. I had both Animal and Warrior on CD and I religiously devoured all of her videos. Kesha quickly became a staple on my iPod Shuffle alongside P!nk, Kelly Clarkson, Beyoncé, Missy Higgins, Britney Spears, and Rihanna — can you tell I was a gay child?
One song in particular, ‘We R Who We R’ from her album Cannibal — also released in 2010 — became one of the many songs I attached my young self to. Too young to understand the concept of sexuality but aware that it was something I had to hide, I found solace in a lot of Kesha’s music. I still do. But with Animal, Kesha exuded an energy that I resonated with and made music about and for young people who just wanted to do their own thing. She let me be a little freak!
It would be remiss — and immoral — of me if I did not mention the presence of Dr. Luke in Kesha’s early discography. I won’t go into detail about everything that has unfolded between them but Kesha bravely put herself in the limelight — a bit before the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements kicked off — and opened a can of worms about the treatment of women in the music industry. Watching her suffer through intense public scrutiny was gut-wrenching and only made me fall more in love with her. She kept fighting for what she believed in and stood up for those who didn’t have the platform to do the same. This world needed Kesha’s voice and it still very much does.
The safety I found in Kesha only grew stronger after she released ‘Praying’ and again in her most recent album Gag Order. It’s filled with incredible music that’s expressive, experimentative, and raw. It’s all the things I’ve always loved about Kesha. Gag Order proves that Dr Luke was never the star. Kesha was.
Since 2009, Kesha has proven that she is a force to be reckoned with and a beacon of inspiration for the music industry. I owe a lot to Kesha. I think a lot of us do.
Ky is a proud Kamilaroi and Dharug person and writer at Junkee. Follow them on X.
Image credit: IMDb / Junkee