Case Analysis of the Life of Ke$ha

Kesha Rose Sebert

Introduction

Kesha (often written as Ke$ha) is a singer/songwriter famous for her up-beat songs with outrageous lyrics. Her fun style and self-confidence has made her one of the most eccentric artists in Hollywood today. She pulls off her crazy, messy style with grace and integrates it into every part of her image. The music she creates sounds like something you would hear at an out-of-control party or during a dance rave, but the world has embraced Kesha with open arms. Although her intense energy and intentional music only appeals to a certain type of person, it has been enough to make her an icon of the decade. What is it that made Ke$ha into the top-selling artist she is today? A look into her childhood and career beginnings may hold the answer.

Childhood

Kesha Rose Sebert was born during a party in Los Angeles, California on March 1, 1987, to a single mother, Pebe Sebert. Her mother was a singer and songwriter who co-wrote the song “Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You” which was sung by artists such as Joe Sun and Dolly Parton. Pebe’s career became successful in the late 1970’s, but nearly 10 years later when Kesha was born, her career was headed downhill fast. For a time, they had to survive on welfare payments and food stamps to get by and oftentimes, Pebe would have to watch over the newborn while she was on stage at rehearsals. Although Pebe was a loving mother, her approach to parenting was controversial to say the least. Kesha remembers being in Target with her mother at the age of 3 and wanting her mom to buy her a kitty cat stuffed animal. Her mother replied to her pleading by saying, “If you want something, you just have to take it.” This is an example of the hands-off style of parenting Kesha’s hippie mother provided.

When Kesha was 4 years old, Pebe moved her and her brother, Lagan, to Nashville, Tennessee for a songwriting deal she had landed. Shortly after moving to Nashville, Kesha’s second brother, Louis, was born. Kesha and her brothers grew up in recording studios, but she didn’t know life any other way and thought this was standard for children across America. Her mother encouraged her to sing, telling her she had a great voice and to practice singing. Pebe would even let her daughter sing on some of the tracks she was working on for other artists. Kesha also learned the art of songwriting from her mother. Most mother/daughter relationships consist of baking cookies, shopping, and watching popular television shows. For Kesha and Pebe, it consisted of writing songs and singing together.

Pebe enrolled Kesha in a music school in Tennessee. This was a liberal type of school in the countryside, where some of the students didn’t even wear shoes. Love of art was emphasized and things such as materialism were discouraged. This is where Kesha’s love for music was further incubated. She elected to take songwriting classes at this school and started to see the magic in telling stories through song.

Career Beginnings

During Kesha’s senior year of high school, she decided to drop out and earn her GED instead. This seemed like a crazy move at the time, because she had been accepted into an International Baccalaureate program at Columbia University and was set to study psychology and comparative religion that fall. She wasn’t satisfied with this course of life however. Her dream was to move to LA to pursue a career in music. After being contacted by the recording artist, Dr. Luke, her decision to move to Los Angeles was final. Dr. Luke had heard her demo through some of Pebe’s contacts in the industry and was very impressed with Kesha’s sound. Kesha was merely 17 years old at the time, but was encouraged by her mother to pursue her dreams in the one city that had the potential to make them all come true, LA, California.

Kesha’s musical beginnings were not a walk in the park. Although she was signed right after moving to LA by Dr. Luke’s recording label, Kemosabe Entertainment, she had to work hard to survive on her own in the city. She moonlighted as a waitress to help pay the bills. Once she was done recording in the music studio each day, she would rush off to her second job until her shift was over, only to do it all again the next day.

She was adamant about earning everything she had and did not want anything to be handed to her. She even went so far as to trespass on Prince’s property (the recording artist and music producer) to get what she wanted. Kesha wanted Prince to produce her first album, so she found out where he lived and decided to pay him a visit in person. Once she arrived at his house, she attempted to squeeze under the gate to his property but got stuck in the process. She had to bribe a gardener five dollars to pull her out. After trekking up the long purple velvet-laced driveway, she found Prince’s front door to be unlocked, which she took as an invitation and let herself in. She then rode the elevator up to the top floor and found Prince jamming out with a few friends down the corridor. She called her mom, suddenly panicked about the situation, and asked what she should do. Her mom replied by saying, “I guess give him your CD.” So Kesha sat in a purple chair in the room Prince was in until he noticed her. Once discovered, Kesha was escorted out by a security guard, but not before she could leave her CD wrapped in a purple bow on Prince’s table. Kesha never heard back from Prince, but was satisfied to have at least met her icon.

For five years, Kesha’s life consisted of waitressing, working with low level producers, and singing background and writing songs for other more popular artists. She had many minor accomplishments during these five years, but nothing ground-breaking. Some of these accomplishments included co-writing “This Love” for the Veronicas, singing background vocals for Paris Hilton’s “Nothing in This World”, and appearing in Katy Perry’s music video “I Kissed a Girl”.

Kesha lived in the shadows of Hollywood stars until one fateful night when she was hanging out at the recording studio with Dr. Luke and one of his clients, Flo Rida. Dr. Luke and Flo Rida were working on a track called “Right Round” for his second album. Flo Rida told Kesha he wanted a female voice in the song and asked her if she would give it a try. As any other struggling musician would do, she eagerly agreed. The song released in February of 2009 and quickly became number 1, reaching over 636,000 downloads in the first week alone. This crushed

the all-time one-week digital single sales record up to that point. Although the success of the song was sky-rocketing, Kesha didn’t receive any reward or credit for her work on the single, and she refused to appear in the song’s music video. She explained to a reporter that she knew they would want her to be some booty-shaking sexpot in the video, and that was not the image she wanted portrayed of herself. This was a very strange time in Kesha’s life, being that she was still struggling to make ends meet while at the same time hearing her voice played everywhere she went.

Soon after the debuted success of “Right Round”, Kesha was signed with RCA Records through Dr. Luke. Her first single “Tik Tok” was released digitally in August of 2009, and set a new record for the most downloads of a female artist and became the second best-selling single in a week, right behind the song she worked on with Flo Rida, “Right Round”. Her next 3 singles, “Blah Blah Blah”, “Your Love Is My Drug”, and “Take It Off” received similar success.

Her first album “Animal” was released in January of 2010. It received mixed reviews everywhere, being that her sound was unique and something the world hadn’t heard before. Some critics enjoyed the up-beat, carefree nature of the album and loved the fun use of Auto-Tunes to alter Kesha’s voice in certain parts of the songs. Others, however, thought the album seemed juvenile and insincere and found the use of Auto-Tunes irritating. Despite all of this controversy, “Animal” reached platinum status, selling over one million copies in the United States and over two million worldwide.

Recently

Kesha’s recent success in the past two years is astonishing. Although her music doesn’t appeal to everyone, her loyal fans appreciate the transparency and entertaining compositions of her music. They relate to her music through lyrics that are based on her past life experiences of love,

heartbreak, douchy boys, backstabbing best friends, late nights at crazy parties, and the early morning hangovers that follow. Kesha’s life is an open-book that she is more than willing to write, and her fans love her for it. She is unashamed of who she is and isn’t afraid of any challenge that comes her way.

She recently released an EP (extended play) of “Animal” and re-titled the album “Cannibal”. This deluxe edition of the original album includes hit singles such as “We R Who We R” and “Blow”.

Reflection

It is clear to me that Kesha’s success can be attributed in large part to her upbringing. As controversial and unconventional as it may seem, it is her upbringing that made her into the musical icon she is today. It doesn’t matter how creative or unique an individual is born to be, if that creativity is never harvested or put in the right environment, it may never reach its full potential. Pebe created the perfect environment for Kesha’s creativity to soar. It was the late nights in the studio, the mother-daughter song-writing sessions after school each day, and her mother’s encouragement and belief in her that allowed Kesha to reach the type of success she marvels in today. Thank goodness for moms.

Mother's day is coming up, so HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!!! I'm so thankful for all you do. Your support and encouragement in my life has been so comforting, and although it's overwhelming when you tell me I can do anything, it is so nice to know you believe in me. I love you mom! :)

When times get tough, I remember this.

A few months ago, as the spring semester of my sophomore year was coming to an end, God gave me a vision I hope to never forget, especially in these next few years of my life. At the time this vision occurred, I had been talking to a few different guys. I know this probably wasn't the best idea, but it seemed fun at the time. I was seriously considering making things more concrete with one or two of them...another bad idea of mine. Anyways, one night when I was almost asleep, God have me a vision that shifted my way of thinking:

I saw hills of black, barren dirt everywhere. For as far as I could see, there was nothing but lifeless, dart dirt. Buried under this land were bodies of the dead. I saw a figure pulling part of a man's arm out of the ground, the rest of his body still covered by dirt. I heard God say to me, "This is what you're dealing with. And if this is what you want, go ahead. I'm not going to stop you. But I have something so much better for you."

Whenever I feel frustrated or discouraged about my circumstances, I remember that vision. I'm done wasting my time and energy on spiritually dead and lifeless guys. God's best is out there somewhere, and I will wait for him.

In the meantime, I will continue to fall madly in love with the God of this universe! He amazes me more and more every day! :)

Some examples of why my calves have hurt all summer!

These past couple weekends have been consumed with some very fun activities. With the summer sadly coming to an end, we're all trying to fit a ton of plans into a short amount of time.

Last weekend we went to the sand dunes. It was probably the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. I experienced miles and miles of sand surrounded by a forest on one side and mountains on the other. I don't know how God comes up with these landscapes, but it was such a beautiful sight to see, and I had a blast climbing up the dunes all day.

Alyssa, Rachel, Me, Jill

Ben :)

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This weekend we climbed the incline, a mile of stairs straight up the back of Pike's Peak. It was definitely challenging, but very rewarding. My calves hurt really bad, but it is a great reminder of all the calories I burned that day. :)

The Incline

On the way down from the incline with Darren

Romans 13:9

The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

- Romans 13:9

Last week, I had the wonderful privilege of hearing Shane Claiborne speak. He is the author of Irresistible Revolution and one of the founders of his community The Simple Way. Shane is a radical Christian and totally unashamed of his faith. His words during the short time I got to listen to him completely changed the way I think and inspired me to live out my faith in a more radical way.

One of the verses he quoted was Romans 13:9, "Love your neighbor as yourself". Most of us have heard this verse multiple times during the course of our lives. It is one of the most famous verses in the Bible, and the secular world has even adopted this philosophy with the golden rule, "Do to others as you would want them to do to you". I, like you, had heard this idea a million times before, but it never clicked like it did when Shane spoke of it.

"Love your neighbor as yourself..." This verse isn't just talking about a feeling. It isn't saying to simply be civil towards everyone and to not stay angry for too long. This verse is talking about a genuine concern and passion for others and a lifestyle that demonstrates that concern. How can we love our neighbor as ourselves if we do nothing to show them that love.

God calls us to take care of one another. 1 John 3:17 says, "If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion - how can God's love be in that person?" It's hard for me to fathom the reality of that verse. I have been blessed in so many ways, yet there have been so many times I have not shared those blessings with others. It's overwhelming as I sit here and think of all the times I kept God's love and care to myself, simply because I didn't want to be inconvenienced. The Bible never once says we were chosen as God's children to live an inconvenienced life full of comfort and prosperity.

We have been called to something so much bigger than just enjoying the comforts of this overrated lifestyle we call the American dream. Who am I to judge the situations of others and how they got there? Personally, I have to stop judging and start doing. There are so many individuals in need around me whether they're miles away or halfway across the globe. I have been blessed to be a blessing to others, and that's exactly what I'm going to start doing.

Baseball Hot dogs

I usually hate hot dogs and do everything possible to avoid eating them, but I do make one exception...baseball games! I don't know how much baseball would mean to me without the hot dog. It definitely makes the whole experience way better, and it's exactly what I associate baseball with. For example, as soon as someone says the word "baseball", I think of the words "hot dog". I'm pretty sure my mom has something to do with that. Growing up, every time we'd go to a Rangers game, my mom always talked about her favorite part being all of the food my dad would go get her. So, now my favorite part of any baseball game is the food...I was just trained that way! :)

On Friday night I got to experience this baseball hot dog for the first time all year! All of us went up to Denver to watch the Rockies play. I can't remember who they were playing, and to be honest I don't think I ever knew, but I had such a fun time eating delicious baseball food (and by delicious I mean disgusting food you would never eat in any other situation) and talking to my favorite people!

Sage...one of the coolest girls on the planet!

Some of my favorite people right after the Rockies won!!!

The Most Adventurous Weekend of My Life!!!

Last weekend was so interesting. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to jump off cliffs and climb ridiculously high mountains during the 2 days I had off. I don't know what came over me when I was planning my life that weekend, but it was definitely a weekend to remember.

Saturday was cliff jumping day. We all headed out to the place where we could hike to the cliffs and begin jumping to what seemed like our death at the time. After a 2 hour car ride and a 15 minute hike, we arrived at our destination. Much to my surprise, the water we were supposed to jump into wasn't a large area at all. As if jumping off cliffs wasn't bad enough, I now had to worry about landing in the exact spot where the water would be deep enough to not injure me! So much fun. After about 20 minutes of watching almost everyone else jump, I decided to join them. Honestly, the thing I was most upset about wasn't the fact that I was going to be jumping over 35 feet into a small area of water, it was that I was going to have to get my hair wet! Seriously, that's exactly what I was thinking about right before I jumped.

When I landed in the water, I was shocked by how cold it was and found it surprisingly hard to breath. I quickly swam to the edge and was congratulated by my friends who were watching nearby. It was a fun experience, but I'm not sure that I'd do it again...not anytime soon at least. Below are some pictures of my experience.

Alyssa and Annie...notice one's in a hoodie and one's in a bathing suit.

Becky...she's so precious!

After this experience was over...some of us headed out to our intern coordinator's house. Ela and her husband, Josh, live on the side of a mountain, an hour and a half away from Colorado Springs. We stayed the night there because the mountain we would be climbing the next day (Mt. Shavano) was closer to them. Mt. Shavano is one of the 14ers in Colorado. A 14er is a mountain above 14,000 feet elevation. They're some of the most challenging mountains to climb, not only because there is more to hike, but also because there isn't much oxygen towards the top of the mountain.

The whole night, I was thinking, "Why am I even here?" The reality of what I had signed up for finally hit me...I was going to be climbing up this crazy tall mountain all day. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well that night. We woke up the next morning at 3AM to head to out and arrived at 5:30 to begin our trek up. My hiking partner (Sage) and I had made a decision to take our time hiking and try our best to enjoy the day. This was a little challenging for me, mainly because I was wearing hideous man pants and I still hadn't fixed my hair from the day before when the snow water ruined it! We were on this terrible mountain for almost 10 hours! I wasn't motivated enough to make it to the top of the mountain, but we did make it above the tree line. The view from the mountain was absolutely beautiful! I've never seen something like it before. Although hiking up the mountain was one of the longest and hardest experiences of my life, it felt like such an accomplishment once I was done. I'm glad I joined everyone on this hike, but I can honestly say I will probably never attempt to climb up a 14er again!

At the beginning of our hike...yes, it's still dark outside!

Me and Sage during one of our many breaks!

Me and my stick...I had this the entire time! I'm so cool...

Just above the treeline...the view was so amazing!

An Inspiring Day

I've been here for a little over 3 weeks now. Compassion International is an incredible place to work. Each day I spend here, I'm inspired more. It's not a rare occurrence to randomly start crying during my workday because of the magnitude of what we're doing here.

I feel like yesterday especially was an inspiring day. We had the amazing opportunity to hear 2 influential world changers speak. First, we (the interns) had a meeting with Wess Stafford, the CEO of Compassion International. As he shared his testimony and his heart for children in poverty, he had nearly every girl in the room in tears. His passion for what he does is amazing, and anyone who encounters him can see the joy he has from God. His book, Too Small To Ignore, tells a lot of what he shared with us. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

That afternoon, we heard from Gary Haugen, the CEO of IJM (International Justice Mission). IJM is an organization commited to eliminating injustice around the world. Some of the things he spoke of were so hard to believe. He told of widows getting their land taken away from them, leaving them without any means of providing for their children; orphans living on the streets, getting beaten and bullied by government officials...the very people who were appointed to protect them; girls who were promised a job in a nearby town, only to discover that they were being sold into the world of sex trafficing; and young boys who were forced into slavery, having to work 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week. I found myself getting furious about these terrible acts of crime, and as I sat there I continued to cry for the better part of his talk. I cried for the child on the streets with nowhere to turn, for the widow who has to sit there and watch as her children suffer from hunger, for the girls who unknowingly get trapped in a world of rape and abuse, and for the children who worked harder and longer than any adult ever has to work in the United States.

These things shouldn't be happening, especially to people so undeserving of it. Thankfully, all of the stories he told had a happy ending. The lawyers at IJM were able to convict the criminals and free the victims from their terrible situations. It is organizations like IJM and Compassion that are changing the world daily, but there is still so much to be done.

Being here has so clearly confirmed God's calling on my life. My passion for relieving children from terrible situations and showing them the hope and love of Jesus Christ grows stronger every day. I now know that God has placed me here to see a glimpse of what the rest of my life is going to look like. There is no way I could sit back and do nothing. The world needs change, and I will be a part of creating that change.