If you're unfamiliar with Kesha, here are a few basic facts you need to know.
Kesha is the pop-music superstar who has given us hits like "We R Who We R"
"Your Love is My Drug"
and the ever iconic, "TiK ToK."
She is a music production powerhouse who has written hits for other artists including the only reason Brittney Spears is still relevant,"Till the World Ends."
She can even prove her raw vocal talent to all the haters with her Deconstructed EP.
<span id="selection-marker-1" class="redactor-selection-marker"> </span> She's a feminist, a trendsetter, and an artist with unstoppable momentum...but wait.
Her last album was released in 2012. So where has Kesha been?
In October of 2014, Kesha filed a lawsuit against her producer Dr. Luke accusing him of sexual assault, battery, and sexual harassment. Kesha is also locked into a contract with Dr. Luke and Sony music that mandates Kesha produce her next three albums with Dr. Luke, which is something she is clearly not trying to do. For the last couple of years, there has been little hope of Kesha's new album that she desperately wants to produce.
Early in 2015 Kesha filed an injunction against her contract to allow her to continue recording music without Dr. Luke, to which Dr. Luke responded by suing Kesha for breach of contract and defamation.
Meanwhile, during this entire legal calamity, Dr. Luke has gone on to produce for other stars including Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, and Wiz Kalifa.
The entire situation seems completely dismal. But this past week there has been a ~ glitter ~ of hope for Kesha's career. On the tails of Sony suggesting Kesha's "break" from the music scene may allow her to make an Adele-style comeback (a frustrating statement to which Kesha responded on Instagram emphasizing the fact that she never wanted to stop making music in the first place), Kesha held a secret concert in Nashville, Tennessee with her new band Yeast Infection.
The name choice for the ensemble could have been... different, but this is Kesha, what else would we have expected.
On December 23rd, Yeast Infection performed renditions of a handful of Kesha's classics with a revamped, punk twist.
Regardless of your opinion of Kesha, everyone must admit that she is a pop-culture icon who has not only given us countless party anthems, feminist anthems, self-love anthems, and break-up anthems, but she has also tried valiently to give a voice to the voiceless as she publically discussed her battle with eating disorders after she checked herself into a rehabilitation facility for two months in early 2014 and as she has come forward with the sexual assault allegations that too many women fear to bring to the light. Kesha is a warrior who will continue to fight against the system that has held her back while always preaching the radical acceptance of all people.
For all of us Animals who patiently await the release of Kesha's next album, we'll keep jamming out to "Gold Trans Am" and "Thinking of You" while we brush our teeth with a bottle of Jack.
#FreedomForKesha
