4.23.2010

Ke$ha.

Do you guys know about Ke$ha?

I'm not usually in-the-know about new pop stars, but for some reason Ke$ha seems to keep popping up in places where I am a regular. For example, shortly after her album was released she was interviewed on Npr.

For those not familiar with her or her work, I've posted a video of her most famous song at the bottom of this entry.

I find myself oddly drawn to this fiasco of an artist.

I am drawn, both out of curiosity and out of some actual, sincere appreciation of her music.

The content of her music is about as far removed as possible from things I like or the person I want to be, yet that is partly why I find it so enjoyable.

One thing good art can do, is it can make you feel things you otherwise would not. When watching a movie like 'Oceans 11' you can feel the excitement of robbing a casino, even if that is something, in real life, you not only wouldn't do, but would be strongly against.

This is the same sort of phenomenon that happens when I listen to a song like 'Tik Tok'.

While the things she sings about are far more repulsive to me than robbing a casino, she is able to make me experience, for a few moments, what it would be like to enjoy those things.
While listening to 'Tik-Tok', I can feel the pleasure and excitement of being a shallow and trashy young woman getting ready to go clubbing with her friends.

That she can not only make me see the world through her eyes, but also enjoy it, is impressive to me and I like it.

Rolling Stone magazine described her like this:
"repulsive, obnoxious and ridiculously catchy." Which I think is fairly accurate.

I don't know if I would ever buy one of her songs or albums, but I have, without any irony, looked her up online and listened to several of her songs several times over.









1 comment:

Heather said...

I don't like her, but I understand what you mean because this is exactly how I feel about Black Eyed Peas. I'll give my siblings mini lectures while listening about how this is just for fun, we don't really endorse these kinds of attitudes toward women/sex/whatever. And then I dance around like crazy.