Ke$ha

Why Is She Famous?

Don't look now, but it appears as though 2010 has found its first bona fide pop star. With her boozy banger "Tik Tok" searing the charts, and her best-selling debut album, Animal, loaded with potential singles, Ke$ha (nee Kesha Serbet) is poised to become the music industry's next pop princess. Her unique brand of pop swagger is one part Britney, one part Lady GaGa and one part Katy Perry; a literal amalgam of the industry's most surefire tropes. But if you tell her she's no more than a manufactured pop pastiche, expect a bottle to the face and a closed fist to the gut. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Success

Ke$ha has come a long way since her days of living out of a car in L.A. After an uncredited guest vocal on Flo Rida's smash single "Right Round," the aspiring singer couldn't even afford a taco, but the stardom seed had been planted. Having already topped many international charts, her fist single "Tik Tok" became Billboard's first No. 1 song of 2010 and is currently the highest selling digital download ever by a female artist. Her debut album, Animal, fared even better, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts and toppling the juggernaut that is Susan Boyle. Though "Tik Tok" is the only single that's been officially released, several more songs have already begun charting. Ke$ha has also been making the rounds on late-night television and has been booked for the new incarnation of Lilith Fair. Oh yeah, she can now buy all the tacos she wants.

Sexiness

Don't expect her to hold your hand for a walk by the lake, and don't expect her to make you chicken soup when you're feeling under the weather. That's what Hilary Duff is for. But if you want to spend the night in a booze-soaked dream with a provocative, young blonde who may or may not leave you with a black eye, then Ke$ha is the girl for you. Her glammed up trailer-trash-meets-club-goddess look is the perfect elixir after a year dominated by the Taylor Swifts and Miley Cyruses of the world.

Quotes
"I just really wanted to embody the lifestyle that I live. We're all young and broke and it doesn't matter. We can find clothes on the side of the street and go out and look fantastic, and kill it. If we don't have a car that doesn't stop us, because we'll take the bus. If we can't afford drinks, we'll bring a bottle in our purse. It's just about not letting anything bring you down."
- Ke$ha
Biography
Born in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, Ke$ha and her brother were raised by a single mother whose singing and songwriting earned just enough for the family to stay afloat. In 1991, they moved to Nashville, where Ke$ha would spend quality time in the studio with her mother, learning to sing and write songs. The family played host to Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie for their reality show The Simple Life (Ke$ha would go on to puke in Paris' closet years later), before Ke$ha was convinced by super producers Dr. Luke and Max Martin to move back to L.A. to pursue a career in music.
ke$ha struggles in los angeles
If you watch an interview featuring Ke$ha, the odds are that the reason behind the dollar sign in her name will come up. So who are we to not partake in the decoding? The story goes like this: When Ke$ha dropped out of high school and moved to L.A. to pursue a music career, she adopted the life of a vagabond, living with her estranged father, a boyfriend, with some roommates in a Laurel Canyon house, and, at one point, even in her car. Though she sang backup vocals for Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, Ke$ha was unable to obtain the stardom she craved. Even when the rapper Flo Rida overheard her in the studio and enlisted her to sing the hook on his ubiquitous single "Right Round," Ke$ha still lived in relative anonymity and without a record deal. She famously said that although she would hear her voice on the radio all the time, it was ironic that she didn't have enough money in her pocket to buy food, hence the dollar sign in her name.
ke$ha releases "tik tok"
With the help of producer Dr. Luke, Ke$ha signed a deal with RCA records, and began work on her debut album. Her first single, the frisky party anthem "Tik Tok," in which she introduced the playful rapping style she's now known for, started charting overseas before gaining recognition in the States. Eventually, the infectious track about libation-fueled late-night shenanigans and the mornings after reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first song of 2010 to do so. "Tik Tok" also became the highest selling digital download by a female artist ever, solidifying its status as a genuine phenomenon. Of the songwriting process, Ke$ha has said: "One morning I just woke up, and I live in this house with I don't even know how many roommates -- it's this Laurel Canyon house with seven rooms and roommates fluctuating monthly. I woke up one day after we went to a party, and I was surrounded by 10 of the most beautiful women you've ever seen. And I was like, I'm like P. Diddy -- there's no man like this in the entire world."
ke$ha releases her debut album, animal
It's hard to believe that an album that details such events as puking in Paris Hilton's closet was seven years in the making, but that's how long Ke$ha's debut effort Animal has been gestating. Ke$ha claims to have written over 200 songs for the album although only 14 made the final cut. When Animal debuted on January 5th, it overtook Susan Boyle for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Album Chart, proving that irreverent party music still has a place in our culture. Duh.