Pop singer-songwriter, Kesha, has proved more to herself about her own inner strength in the past three years than in the 30 years of her life. For certain, the same chutzpah that possessed the teenage girl who always had a song and her own style to take her grandpa’s Lincoln Town Car and her demo tape and stake out her future in LA is still alive. Her court battles against Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald) and her label Kemosabe, jointly owned by Dr. Luke, have dragged her name through the headlines in heartbreaking detail for three years, and literally prevented her musical voice from being heard.
Kesha has discovered support and newfound strength in that struggle, and come out on the right side of history, fans would say, with her new album, “Rainbow.” The singer-songwriter doesn't hold back on honesty, nor does she forsake hope through her new anthems. The truth always works, and staying true to her heart has set Kesha free, as she reflects in her August 10 “Note to Self” on “CBS This Morning.”
Never make the need to succeed fatal
Kesha definitely had a dream to go along with that demo tape, and in pursuit of that dream of “making it,” she describes that she “killed herself.” She became anorexic and bulimic and suffered from crippling anxiety in her efforts to conform to the image which she was prescribed.
The artist has never surrendered her claims that Dr. Luke “sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused” her, and because of ongoing legal constraints, the two are uncomfortably still joined in business, but that does not constrain Kesha from presenting her own truth.
Songs like “Bastards” and “Let Em Talk” lay out the pain of her personal saga, and not every wound inflicted came from a courtroom or the studio.
Kesha relates her delight in her songs “blowing up” on the Internet, and how quickly social media became “way less innocent.” Another of her new songs, “Learn to Let Go” applies personally. Her advice to anyone is to visit social media as a choice, but always skip the comments section, because it invariably becomes “a place of hate.”
The singer affirms to never be scared or shamed away from “what makes you different and interesting.” She admits that her $ tattoo is a forever choice that she will live with, and she is redeemed by the stories and openness from her fans.
Their truth and her own self-acceptance have helped her to love being simply Kesha Rose Sebert.
An open diary
Montages depict many moments with fans who tearfully tell how Kesha and her songs have helped them to find strength. For the artist herself, these interactions are still revelations of how “art can heal people” and give her solace when she feels the pressure to be “the Photoshopped model” that is still presented as the ideal in modern culture.
Kesha has kept Bob Dylan as her own musical hero, and her admonition that “as long as your music is honest and good” it will always find an audience, is one the icon would endorse. Kesha is most proud of the title song of her new album because it represents the “light and beauty after the storm.” Kesha is discovering that she indeed has her own audience, waiting to hear her authentic expression, on her own terms.
