Written by Daniel Wright
I remember the first time I heard “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha, or rather saw the video on Much Music. I distinctly remember thinking, “is this the end of the hipster as we know it?” Usually, when the trends trickle down to the pre-high school age group, they are usually on their way out with the trendy elite (whoever they are).
Ke$ha, the 22-year-old female pop singer, borrows from about every “cool” trend from
the past three years, flips it and markets it towards the tweens (smart!). We get subtle autotune, flashy metallic, neon colours and sounds, banana seat bicycles, cheap 808 and snare beats. It’s like carrying an ‘80s style boom box on your shoulder so everyone can hear what you’re listening to, and spelling your name with a “$” (which hasn’t been cool since Too $hort; or your grade nine MSN name). So, if you’re thinking to yourself, “it sounds like a rip off of Lady Gaga who ripped off M.I.A who ripped off The Beastie Boys who simultaneously ripped off Run DMC and hair metal bands,” you would be pretty accurate. But as they say, there is no such thing as original, so why were people so surprised when “Tik Tok” beat out “Bad Romance” on the iTunes sales chart?
But just because you’re a pop star trying to make a buck by biting others’ styles, doesn’t mean you make bad music (re: the groups mentioned above) … unless your name is Ke$ha, then you make undeniably horrible music, but damn is it catchy! While she’ll probably never reach the heights of “Tik Tok” again, RCA will no doubt milk Ke$ha’s career into the ground.
Ke$ha’s lyrics tend to have that embarrassingly awkward feel, like high school dances where you were grinding up on each other in front of your teachers and volunteer parents. Often her lyrics simply make no sense, which may indicate that she actually attempted to write them herself. Has Ke$ha seen Mick Jagger lately? Please, I would like to know what it means to “Wake up in the morning, feeling like P. Diddy” and then subsequently realize you are of the opposite sex, race and 18 years younger. Unfortunately for Ke$ha, “Tik Tok” is about the only track in which she can get away with this sort of thing. The rest of the album continues to deal with getting really drunk and liking boys, which just starts to sound desperate and could possibly lead to a “stage 5 clinger.”
Unless her friends Katy Perry or Flo Rida can muster out another single for her, I smell a one-hit-wonder. Prove me wrong Ke$ha!
Notable Tracks: “Tik Tok”
Listeners may also enjoy: 3OH!3 – Want, Stereos – S/T
Next Sound Check: Vampire Weekend – Contra
I saw ke$ha live last month, shes such a cool artist