Ke$ha @ Comerica Theatre

Contrary to common belief, pop starlet Ke$ha isn't worthless. However oversexed or perceivably vacuous the 24-year-old might be, her electro-rap debauchery is one of the more redeemable sounds on commercial radio. Let's face it: The predominating trend in pop music these days is a lack of mirth and imagination. Most...

By M.T. Richards

September 15, 2011

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Contrary to common belief, pop starlet Ke$ha isn't worthless. However oversexed or perceivably vacuous the 24-year-old might be, her electro-rap debauchery is one of the more redeemable sounds on commercial radio. Let's face it: The predominating trend in pop music these days is a lack of mirth and imagination. Most of the women reigning over the charts, from Britney Spears to Demi Lovato to Colbie Caillat, are entirely expendable. Sure, Lady Gaga and Rihanna make good albums, but can the same be said about shrill, masturbatory singers like Katy Perry or Nicki Minaj? Adele and Beyoncé have pipes, but their records are as dull as dishwater. Ke$ha, in sharp contrast, is far more animated. She can't sing or rap particularly competently, but the woman knows a stadium-ready hook when she hears one. What her 2010 album, Animal, lacks in literate, Taylor Swift-style songwriting, it makes up for with blaring synths and fluorescent disco grooves. Her defining hit remains "Tik Tok," that ever-timeless ode to drinking too much Jack Daniel's and seducing hipsters that was oppressively ubiquitous two winters ago. Even better is "We R Who We R," an anthem of self-acceptance that leaves Lady Gaga's similarly themed "Born This Way" in the dust.

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