She may wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy, but Ke$ha has now surpassed the rap star who is now so two decades ago by appearing on the two most downloaded songs ever: Flo Rida's Right Round and her own TiK ToK.
The young singer became the most downloaded female artist over a seven-day period last week when 610,000 people used their shiny new iPods to play her unabashedly entertaining single - topping even the previous record holder - the phenomenon known as Lady Gaga.
Throughout her debut album, Animal, Ke$ha makes no secret of the fact that she is a girl who just wants to have fun. Her approach works sometimes, but other times comes off as little more than a poor woman's Gaga.
Animal features an appearance by 3OH!3, as well as tracks produced by Benny Blanco and Dr. Luke, both of whom have been involved with many recent pop music stars. Unfortunately, Ke$ha seems as disconnected to her music as many of those once and now failed stars.
On tracks like Backstabber and Hungover
the young singer tries to convey disappointment and anger with former friends and lovers. Those songs lack any trace of sincerity, feeling like mere fillers between tales of drunken exploits.
The album's saving grace is that those stories, typically written the day after each incident occurred, are extremely entertaining, in part because Ke$ha actually sounds like she cares about the subject matter.
On Party at a Rich Dude's House for instance, the young singer relays a story about throwing up in Paris Hilton's closet.
Ironically, Hilton, Lady Gaga and Ke$ha all seem to understand how to exploit the cultural obsession with celebrities better than any other current personalities. Audiences don't actually care about what did or didn't happen, only that someone famous was involved and that the average person couldn't possibly have the same opportunity.
It's when Ke$ha is telling these stories, showing a willingness to surrender everything for her own entertainment, that Animal is at its best. When she tries to take on heavier issues, though, the songs crash faster than an elephant trying to fly.
3
Culture
Adam Wagner
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