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Here are some photos from Ke$ha’s appearance last week on the “Today” show where some mime put his hand on her butt while she performed. Quite odd, yes, and I never thought it would happen, but Ke$ha has gotten under my skin. Her interviews have always been pretty entertaining and witty, but I never really gave her music more than a moment of recognition at the gym before slipping on my iPod earbuds. Now things have changed, and I’ve actually downloaded a few of her singles because they’re motivating me to run faster on the treadmill. Today’s entire workout was actually set to the tune of “Die Young” on repeat. I don’t know what’s going on here because usually Top 40 music slowly drives me insane. Maybe it’s some Illuminati spell or something.
To promote her upcoming album, Warrior, Ke$ha has sat down with Financial Times Weekend for an interview. She talked a lot about her desire to obliterate sexism in pop music and rap, and here are some excerpts via Contact Music:
Ke$ha’s goal with her music is to end sexism in pop.
The 25-year-old singer found worldwide fame with her single “Tik Tok” – which was criticised for promoting drinking and promiscuity – and she doesn’t think it’s fair that men are allowed to sing about getting drunk and women aren’t.
She said: “If men can talk about drinking in every awesome rock ‘n’ roll song and every awesome rap song, why can’t a woman? Just because I drink doesn’t mean I’m a drunk. Just because I have sex, and I’m not embarrassed doesn’t mean I’m a wh-re.
“If men can do it, why can’t a woman do it? I really feel one of my main reasons for being on this earth is to level out the playing field just a little bit.”
The “Die Young” hitmaker – who is just about to release her second album Warrior – considers herself a feminist and insists she is determined to push the boundaries of what women can do.
When asked if she’s a feminist, she told the Financial Times Weekend magazine: “In some ways. In the ways that I feel I can do the same things men can do, and be just as rock ‘n’ roll and bad ass and not feel shameful or be shamed for it.”
[From Contact Music]
She does have a point. If Eminem can rap, “Now where’s the rubbers? Who’s got the rubbers? I noticed there’s so many of them and there’s really not that many of us” and be celebrated for his lyrical genius, why can’t Ke$ha do it too? Still and the way I see it, sexism goes both ways in pop music. Just as a recent example, Christina Aguilera’s “Your Body” video features her sleeping with random dudes and killing them. Because she’s a chick, she can (sort of) get away with the video under some strange “empowerment” justification. But if Eminem did that? He’d be crucified if he made the same sort of video. So I guess the grass is greener when it comes to gender and getting away with certain things as a pop artist.
Here’s Matt Lauer watching Ke$ha perform on “Today.” He doesn’t look very impressed, but he’s a tool anyway.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet
Written by Bedhead
Posted in Kesha, Matt Lauer
- Friends reunion on Ellen [Popsugar]
- Lindsey Vonn watches Tigers kids [Lainey Gossip]
- George Michael fell out of a car going 70mph [D-Listed]
- Real Housewives of Orange County recap [Reality Tea]
- New Man of Steel trailer [Pajiba]
- Jared Padalecki’s hot bod [Buzzfeed]
- Doctors confirm Taylor Swift’s new boobs [Evil Beet]
- Catherine Zeta-Jones finished treatment [CDAN]
- Anna Paquin hates the paps [Celebslam]
- Lance Armstrong is gross [The Blemish]
- What is Barbara Palvin wearing? [Moe Jackson]
- This is Petra Nemcova? [SVC]
My eyes are burning….
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She’s standing on some of the dudes below (a “human pyramid” of sorts).
The mime is holding onto her so she doesn’t fall. It’s not a gratuitous “butt grab”.
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Yep, I was about to say that he was holding onto her…
I am impressed with the fact that she didn’t freeze to death… lol
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I like drinking and I like sex. That’s all I have to say for now.
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+ me
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If she wants to act like a d*ck, I don’t think anyone’s stopping her (or anyone else in that matter). I think generally people who think it’s distastefull, think it whether it’s a man or a woman.
But women like this, they always need to justify their actions. It doesn’t change them any smarter or glamorous. Idiotism is idiotism, no matter what.
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agreed. perfectly sums up how I feel.
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What do you mean “women like this”? Overt sexuality isn’t a bad thing, and neither is drinking. It doesn’t make a person an idiot either. Though I’m not a fan of Ke$ha or her music, I’ve heard that she actually has a high IQ and had the opportunity to get into great colleges.
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Salt n’ Pepa, Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown , etc are all female rappers that did just that years ago, so she’s not doing anything new. Lil’ Kim already did the over the top, vulgar lyrics that men get away with, so if Kesha wants to be innovative she needs to do something else/ evolve the message from were the 90′s female rappers left off. Otherwise she’s just a sad copy that doesn’t even come close to those early rappers talent.
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She’s still being criticized for her lyrics, so there is some work left to do.
And where is she copying Lil Kim? Do you think Adam Levine copies Mick Jagger because they can both hold a microphone?
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Just like Lil’ Kim she uses over the top, sexually charged lyrics that are typically found in male rappers work. That’s the similarity between the two. She was making it seem as if she’s doing something that wasn’t already done before by female rappers. I wasn’t talking about their personal fashion/style.
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Lil Kim and Ke$ha are nothing alike lyrically, thats like saying Selena Gomez is like Celine Dion because they both sing about positive messages.
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I KNOW. That girl needs to take several seats.
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I think Ke$ha’s point, however (and lord, do I hate typing that “$”), isn’t that she’s trying to break NEW ground with her lyrics, but that she’s trying to continue the work of leveling the playing field. By that token, hell, join the club. There IS a lot of work to be done in terms of gender equity, PARTICULARLY in pop culture, and if $ wants that to be her token battle, by all means, fight away.
I don’t think she needs to blaze NEW trails in order to call gender issues her pet project.
P!nk (oh no — more punctuation. these women — geez!) was similar, but probably did it better. Played the tough/sexy/take no bull card that defied the traditional “pop star with bleached extensions” pigeonhole…..
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I like Ke$ha. I do not like seeing her vagina.
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Ugh, that leotard trend is horrible. It doesn’t look good on anyone.
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This. The only vagina I need to see is mine.
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hahaha, I have really got to quit drinking while reading this sight, I just snorted water through my nose.. anyway, completely agree..
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+1
I don’t mind people wearing leotards but there are ones that cover the WHOLE vagina. I can see her labia and that is not okay on national television. I would have preferred camel toe at this point.
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Fashion tip of the century: Cover the WHOLE vagina!
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YES! : Say no To Vulva Cleavage, People!!
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“Vulva cleavage”..lol!
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+1
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Kesha wouldn’t be my first choice of strong, confident female.
Somehow, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling and Amy Poehler have more to say than sex and booze.
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that’s probably the best point I’ve seen made so far.
that said: they appeal to different audiences. I’m all in favor of the booze and sex target audience having a shot at equity, too (by whatever means it smacks ‘em in the face — whether by crotch, or by “Bossypants.”
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Everything about her offends me, from her music to her lyrics to her ‘dance moves’ to her hideous style. Why is nobody mentioning the inverted cross on her clothes? That’s been a trend with her lately and this illuminati crap is getting on my last nerve.
She thinks she’s empowering women? What a JOKE.
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She is trash. If you saw her interviewed at the end of New Year’s Rocking Eve last year you would have seen she’s worthless. Empowering women? You’ve got to be kidding! If you look and act like her your going nowhere. Drink and have sex all you want but don’t emulate this total looser.
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It’s LOSER not looser and who do you think you are calling anyone worthless?? What a horribly “trashy” thing to say
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She has the best workout music!
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You’ve got that right. I put on ‘We Are Who We Are’ and I can run circles around everyone at my gym! Serves a purpose there.
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She is nasty and looks like a man.smh.I don’t like her,don’t think that will change.
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It’s really cute that she thinks she’s leveling out the field. Umm chpicks have been tipping the. Back and effing around for quite some time. . . But then those girls have music to push and sales.to rack up this holiday season.
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Btw what do you call her style of music? She doesn’t really sing or rap. She just kinda talks. Yak yack yaaak shimmy pelvis thrust dip blah blah blah twist … Tada!
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Eminem has had many lyrics that are MUCH MUCH more violent and misogynistic than anything Xtina’s put out. Pretty much the entirety of his second-to-most-recent album Relapse is about murdering women, and he caught basically no flack for it. His early work was even more violent, and that catapulted him to stardom (though those songs were protested). So I disagree that he would be crucified if he were to parallel Xtina – he might be mildly criticized, but he would also make millions.
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Yeah was going to comment the same thing. Like he had a song about killing his ex-wife Kim. But god, Eminem is so talented.
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The Ting Tings – Talent + Try-harding =Ke$ha
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I just dont agree with the math, specifically the Ting Ting’s, they’re just such different styles – the rest of the math problem can stand though.
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If men can look like talentless idiots, so can women! Puleaz.
She looks as bad as Madonna does now, but isn’t as good as Madonna was. WAS.
Check out the mannequin on the bottom; he needs a better body if he wants to go shirtless. Reminds me of mimes, which have always freaked me out. Jason!
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Agree lesliem why are we wasting time on this talentless poser; i’ve seen her “live” it’s like a junior high school talent show performance; she can’t dance to save her life, and she doesn’t sing, kinda talk/sings.When you’re entire cd is autotuned you really have no talent, Actually she’s another example of how pop music (and perhaps much of pop culture), is just running on empty and repeating itself on lower and lower levels.
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I think her point is that she WANTS to look trashy, gross, and sound (to me) stupid. I know that rubs a lot of us the wrong way, but honestly, she has a point. Men say the trashiest grossest things, can get tattooed (I like those but others don’t) and greased up and go shirtless, and women will be swooning. If she does that, we all point fingers and call her trashy. Yeah, she does look trashy. But so do they, and they become sex icons. Even people on this site I’ve seen trash Rihanna for her number of partners, and women are always supposed to lie or lower their amounts when talking to potential partners or other girls. I don’t know if she’s going about it the best way, but her point is entirely valid.
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yawn. Peaches did it better.
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My thoughts exactly! Peaches needs to come back and show allllllllllll these wannabes how it’s really done.
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True dat.
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Gosh, Peaches. She is totally channeling Peaches.
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I love her music. I don’t know why but it makes me happy.
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I’m with Lauer on this one. No amount of crazy costumes and “edgy” (cough cough) interviews is going to give this woman talent or make her attractive.
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I dig her, I think she’s fun and her music works for me. I’d hang with her for a crazy night.
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like her music.
the BEST workout CD is Britney’s BLACKOUT ALBUM. try it!!!!!
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her writeup in the latest rolling stone actually made me appreciate her a little more.
still not going to listen to her or go to shows or anything, but I don’t actively hate her right now.
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Kesha (please), only comes across to me as epic fail. I also think a couple of her songs are catchy. But let’s face it, those songs were written by others, she was contracted to sing them, and then alot of is is electronic, not even her own voice. Not uncommon in the industry. As far as her wanting to break new ground somehow, by being so liberated, please. She can’t be Madonna, or Lady Gaga or Niki Minaj, not even. Not that I really go for any of those girls, but I do give them credit and like their songs. I literally lol’d when Kaiser said that she might have been sucked into some Illuminati spell, because Kesha (IMO) would have loved, loved that possiblity, since she seems so bent on trying to get into that clique. Madonna, Gaga, and Minaj, literally are puppets of that, Kesha ..who knows, why not, except that she is simply still just so trashy that I am not sure she is all the way on their radar, but more of a wanna0be. I promise you she wants in. But, the thing that most of us that are now finally middle age know, is that you can be pretty, sexy, all that..but guys still know the difference in trash, and they honestly don’t find trash attractive. Please ask any guy you know if they like Kesha. She’s like the girl that tries too hard, but looks good at 3am. The dumpster trash vomit look doesn’t look sexy to men, only at 3am maybe, but even those guys would chew off their arm if they found it under her head in the morning. Sorry, truth.
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Actually, Kesha has a flourishing career as a songwriter for not just herself, but other artists. She wrote Britney’s last single, for one.
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Oh, ok. I guess I have to take the “writing songs” back. well, good for her there. Guess part of me kicked into mom mode a little. Thanks for being polite in your fact checking.
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I can’t help but like her a little bit. I think she’s fun.
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Matt Lauer’s face is priceless!XD
I can read his thoughts loud and clear.
His face is like ‘This girl scares me’.LOL
Ke$ha, you’re hella late girl. Just hush and sing your illuminati wanna-be heart out. Or whatever you do to keep quiet.There are many great female rappers,r&b, soul singers,disco queens that did that already and shouldn’t this topic be laid to rest already?
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I wasn’t aware that Ke$ha existed until I saw this article … classy name, classy look – I don’t think.
In answer to the article title; men can also scratch their genitals in public without being aware of what they’re doing – why on earth would a woman want to ape anything else they do?
Try originality Ke$ha, it will serve you better and last longer.
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Did anyone notice the Satanist symbols on her costume ?
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“Christina Aguilera’s “Your Body” video features her sleeping with random dudes and killing them. Because she’s a chick, she can (sort of) get away with the video under some strange “empowerment” justification. But if Eminem did that? He’d be crucified if he made the same sort of video. So I guess the grass is greener when it comes to gender and getting away with certain things as a pop artist.”
as far as i remember kanye made that monster video which had decapitated women and a lot of people still “respect him”-so no dont think there is a double standard.
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You’re not ‘leveling the playing field’ by stooping to that level, though. You’re just being an ass. If it’s wrong when guys do it, it’s wrong when girls do it.
I agree her music is great to work out to, but I hate ‘Die Young’ and I think her voice sucks…
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Love Ke$ha even more after reading this! And I agree with the writer, Die Young is definitely one of the best Top 40 songs. The video is awesome too http://bit.ly/RYZ4VW
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