Ke$ha is confusing. When I first heard “Tik Tok,” I thought it was a joke. An unfunny morning radio jingle, in which a white girl was “rapping.” When I realized it was an actual song, I was incredulous — is this what people like now? I was bewildered by the human race. A year ago, I wrote the words, “her music is fucking terrible.” As her songs became impossible to ignore — blaring out of radios, dance parties and movie trailers — I tried to assure myself that she was a one-hit wonder, a novelty, soon to be seen in a light-hearted I Love The Early 21st Century special on VH1. But Ke-dollar -sign-ha has stuck around, and, unlike some other pop stars, she seems to realize she’s ridiculous. We’ve had hints that she’s in on the joke before — like when she said she wanted to do a duet with Oscar The Grouch. But now that we’ve seen the glitter guns, unicorns in tuxedos and the “‘instruments” she plays, it’s gotten to the point where it seems like maybe Ke$ha knows what she’s doing. Which is: Making crappy, cheesy music and having fun doing so.
Lousy cornball acts are not new, silly female-driven novelty tracks are not new. It is possible to enjoy JJ Fad’s “Supersonic” or L’Trimm’s “The Cars That Go Boom” while recognizing that they are not well-crafted, high-quality recordings. Good fun? Yes. Good, technically? No. But those acts produced memorable songs and then disappeared. Ke$ha has two albums, a tour and has been nominated for six Billboard awards. Upsetting — unless you accept the fact that she was never trying to make high-caliber, hall-of-fame worthy music.