Kesha Talks New Music And Achieving Her Independence: ‘I Am Coming To Change The World’

Breaking out onto the music scene 15 years ago with the release of her first hit song “TiK ToK,” pop superstar Kesha has experienced the highs, the lows and everything in-between throughout her career so far, while continuing to fight on and rise above the obstacles that she has been faced with.

From her decade-long legal battle with her former music producer, Dr. Luke, to recently creating her very own label, Kesha Records, the 37-year-old music artist and business leader is now speaking out about her truths, through her new music, as well as front-and-center on the biggest stages in the world.

Jeff Conway: Kesha, you did such a lovely job with your TED Talk.

Kesha: Thank you. I’m so proud of it! I have done so many things that I’m so proud of recently and like, the TED Talk is a dream I never thought I could actually dream to do, so it’s beyond a dream come true. It’s wild that a girl who – you know, I was going to go to Columbia University but then I ended up, due to record label requests, dropping out of school and getting my GED. So, it’s wild that a girl with her GED, that never even technically got the diploma – I was in the International Baccalaureate program. I wanted to go to Columbia to study Psychology and Comparative Religion, but you know, per request, I dropped out, got my GED, moved to Los Angeles.

Looking back at the music that I started with, which was full of irony and kind of went over people’s heads, I feel like I got labeled as a party girl and very unintelligent, and that’s a stigma I’ve been trying to fight against my entire career. So, for the TED Talk to come in the same week as my first single [“Joyride”] feels like the world is finally getting a real view of the person I am, which is very multifaceted.

Conway: How did the TED Talk initially get on your radar?

Kesha: Well, I love TED. I always watched TED Talks and I just reached out to them and they said they would love to have me for a talk, which of course, induced panic because it’s like the most prestigious talk one can give. I worked on it for six months. I would walk around, just talking to anybody who would listen. I must say, I’m really proud of the way it turned out. It’s really like – playing the Grammys and doing a TED Talk are the two highlights of my life – of my career.

Conway: You bring up in your TED Talk too, Kesha, you said what drives you most is to write pop songs. So, in what ways would you say that your career choice and being the singer-songwriter that you are, has brought the most value and satisfaction to your life?

Kesha: Oh my god, I love this question! Well, let me start at the beginning. I started writing songs to deal with my emotions. I’m a highly sensitive person – I’m a triple Pisces, so these emotions come up very intensely and people can do a lot of things with them. If you feel rage, people can people go bash a window of a car, but for me, if I feel rage, I take it to the studio and I currently surround myself with incredibly safe people that help me take my emotion and we alchemize it into song.

So, it’s become the way I process life and the beautiful part of writing music or making any art of any kind is that you get to process something in, hopefully, a safe way. Once it has come out of your body and onto the page or into the microphone, if you choose to share it, that healing that you experience, then can possibly help to heal other people. The reason music relates globally is because we’re all just talking about our emotions and it humanizes all of us. You see yourself in a song. You see an emotion that you have in a song – it’s relational, it’s connective – and it’s for me, very spiritual because I believe we’re all one and music is one of the most beautiful ways to feel that. We’re all connecting to the same human emotion because we really are all connected.

Conway: So, what does it mean then to you now, being an independent artist, and having the rights to your voice back? Has it changed the way you choose to navigate through your work and through music moving forward?

Kesha: It’s wild that a human being can lose the rights to their recorded voice in perpetuity in the universe. First of all, changing litigation around that is something that’s on my radar, so if this makes it into the interview – if anybody’s reading this – I would love to connect because it’s atrocious that’s part of the business of making art. That’s my first thought – and second of all, I have to say, currently I’m really excited to build a safe space for artists because creation and fear cannot co-exist. When you’re in a state of fear, you cannot create, and I know this from personal experience.

I’m really excited for Kesha Records to expand and grow in all the ways that people would think, but also in unexpected ways because I’m currently looking into the tech space and I’m looking to find partners who have the values that I align with. So, in addition to the traditional record label model, I’m also looking to the future and I’m looking for some really creative, boundary-pushing, innovative tech creators that want to change how the music business works and bring a new level of transparency to the whole business. So, I’m in a really exciting space right now.

Conway: Also, at the end of your TED Talk, Kesha, you sang “Cathedral,” which is such a beautiful ballad. I’m curious, what is the primary meaning and message that you hope listeners take away from that new song of yours?

Kesha: I love that song! I wrote that song in the same week of when I actually wrote my TED Talk and ideated the TED Talk, so it’s a special week. I think I want people to take away from the song “Cathedral” that you can go through so much, but it’s never going to abandon you. It’s holding you – and again, I’m very spiritual, so everything that’s inside of me, I want to encourage people to harness their power because you are your own savior.

What makes you, you, gives you the drive to be who you are. It’s always in you, even if you feel like it’s covered up with trauma. It’s always in there – and so, I just want to encourage people to like think of yourself as a cathedral and treat yourself with all that love and awe and respect and just appreciation.

Conway: You also have such a big single out right now. “Joyride” is such a fun song. I’m sure you know it’s doing so well – it has so many streams on Spotify. So, what are your feelings and thoughts about the huge response “Joyride” is having?

Kesha: Like the most gratitude, happiness – I feel free for the first time since I was 18 years old and I so appreciate every single person that has streamed it, and I love the videos that are being made. I’ve spent almost 10 years in litigation and millions of dollars in legal fees. This joy has been hard-fought for me, so I love that people are ready to “Joyride” with me.

Conway: What has it meant to you to be performing live in front of specifically the LGBTQ+ community, that continues to appreciate and value your artistry and your inclusive stage presence today?

Kesha: Oh my gosh. Playing shows is so much fun because I get to go and just play with people who want to just come and play, and the LGBTQ+ audience – are you kidding me? There would be no pop stars without the Queer community. Period. A big thing that drives me in this life is justice and the thing makes me the most angry is bullies. I want to protect all people and always fight for equal rights until the day I die. The LGBTQ+ community has just provided me my home – provided me my safe space, so I will do anything within my power to fight for the LGBTQ+ community forever, but when we’re not fighting, I also want to provide a really fun place for us to celebrate ourselves.

Conway: How would you say that your overall mindset towards the business of it all has changed or evolved most since your early days of coming out with songs like “TiK ToK” and “Your Love Is My Drug”?

Kesha: Well, I’ve really seen the problems – I’ve seen a lot of problems and I’ve had a lot of people come to me privately, really big artists, and talk to me about the issues with this business. I think it’s really evident that there’s a problem. I’m working currently, actually as we speak, to try to find the right collaborators within the tech space because I have a plan and I’m going to fix this.

Conway: So, what’s next, Kesha? More music? I love the “Freedom” track. Is there any album title – a release date status? What can you share with me and your loyal fans right now? What can we expect?

Kesha: Well, thank you and I love “Freedom.” Hopefully that will come soon. “Cathedral” is in the TED Talk, as we talked about, and I love that song. I can’t wait for people to hear the actual studio version because it’s sick! I would say it rivals “Praying” as my favorite slower song, but this time, it gets to just be about me and that feels really good.

Conway: Kesha, what would you say to other people in our world right now, who have lost or have had their own voices taken away from them in one way or another – and seek to find the same freedom you have found for yourself? What advice or words of encouragement would you share with them, following your own hard-fought journey?

Kesha: I would say, first of all, get a good lawyer – that’s step one. And step two, I just want to tell you that I believe that should be illegal and I will do everything in my power to try to change the litigation around that. I’m also working – you know, like I said, in the tech space. I started my own record company and I am coming to change the world, honey, so just hold on tight – keep writing songs. It’s really f— up that in this country, you can lose the rights to your voice but you will never lose the rights to your truth and the truth will set you free. I’m working really hard to change everything in my power in this world, so that never happens to anyone ever again.

Conway: Kesha, what do you want to say to your very vocal and very passionate fanbase, people who have stood by you through highs-and-lows and continue to support and admire your music, every time you choose to share a new track?

Kesha: I just want to say that I’m not sure I would’ve made it through the past 10 years of my life without the people that have stood by me and supported me. Especially, I was thinking about this last night – I was in bed thinking about it. There have been some high-highs but there have been really, really hard-fought moments and that this joy in “Joyride” – it’s been really long and hard-fought for all of us. So, I just want to say thank you and that I appreciate my animals and my soon-to-come animals and my newly found animals and my animals from day one. I appreciate every single one of you so much and when I stay up late at night, I just go on my fake Instagram and stalk you guys, so it’s really cute and keep up the videos because I’m obsessed with the videos you’re making for “Joyride.” They bring me so much joy – I just sit in bed and like “LOL” all night.

Conway: Lastly Kesha, if you could go back to the Kesha that was just emerging in music with “TiK ToK” and could give her advice, a warning or a comforting message, after everything you have experienced and achieved up until now, what would you say to that 2009 Kesha, if only you could?

Kesha: I wish I could give her a big hug and I would say – Listen, it’s going to be hard but you’re going to make it and then you’re going to change the world because of this.