After the seriousness and gravity of track like “Praying,” fans and casual listeners of Kesha (though there’s really no such thing) alike might have been led to believe that the former raucous party girl image was completely shed. But, evidently, Kesha isn’t one to forget her roots–or one to lose her defiant ability to have a good time. The anthemic second single and video from the forthcoming Rainbow album, “Woman,” features The Dap-Kings Horns and shows that, in spite of the trauma she’s endured, Kesha’s spirited independence is stronger than ever.
As she drives down the road to cliche-sounding “I wanna be your baby…” lyrics, the music cuts after Kesha, cowboy hat and all, screams, “Okay shut up!” and proceeds to tell us, Destiny’s Child-style, “I buy my own things/I pay my own bills/These diamond rings [though in the video, they’re turquoise], my automobiles/Everything I got/I bought it.” Pulling up to the Oddity Bar as night falls, Kesha gets out of the car and winks as she declares, “I’m a motherfuckin’ woman” and then sanctions the three men in the back of her ride to follow her inside.
Performing onstage with an intractable aura of confidence, Kesha reveals that the girl we knew from the “Tik Tok” and “Blow” days (or rather, nights) has evolved into a woman who still knows how to have a good time, except now, that good time is rife with even more meaning in its rebellion. It’s an act of effrontery to the men who think the only reason a female leaves her house is for the purpose to 1) attract him and 2) apparently use him for some greater long-term financial gain. Jumping about in her shiny gold jumpsuit and cape as streamers float above her, Kesha’s usual knack for getting the party started emanates from her very core. Her love of animals also continues to make itself known with the playful use of a taxidermied raccoon in the bar (which, yes, is far less sinister than the human-pig hybrids in the “Praying” video).
Taking shots at the bar in between singing and declaring, “I’m a motherfucker,” she proves she’s still got the same chutzpah as before. And so, what it comes down to is that Kesha, for as extensive as her evolution has been since Warrior came out in 2012, has still held on to all the best aspects of her artistry: chief among them a self-assurance that no one can suppress.
