And so it's come to pass that, Ke$ha, pop's latest booze-swilling tartbox from the sorority Alpha Gamma Hooker has wrapped her wobbly thighs around the iTunes Albums chart (Animal has been #1 there since Tuesday) and stubbed her lipstick-stained cigarette (she only smokes when she's drunk, y'all!) out on the digital store's Singles chart.Yes, Ke$ha's "Blah Blah Blah," which features the vocal "talents" of the S-U-C-K-tastic 3OH!3 for a grand total of about 17 seconds, has now replaced "TiK ToK" as the country's most-downloaded tune, while the latter single has been perched at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 for three weeks.
It was actually in these January weeks a year ago when another raucous blonde dance-pop flooze bunny hopped into the bigtime, as Lady Gaga's (remember her?) debut single "Just Dance" reached the top of the chart after a long and grueling promo slog through the majority of 2008.
So is Ke$ha the new Lady Gaga? We'll have to wait for time to tell—but till then, dare to dream, kidz. Both gals pen their tunes. Well, they pen parts of their tunes. Or maybe they have really good agents who get them writing credits while they're actually lounging by the pool at The Standard and snorting horse out of a bucket through a Crazy Straw.
Perhaps the real question is this: Could one have happened—and happened so big—without the other? To be fair, the mythology of Ke$ha states that she's been at it just as long as Gaga. The daughter of a failed country singer single mom, Kesha Sebert apparently hauled her cookies from Nashville to L.A. as a teen after Dr. Luke and Max Martin heard her demo and lured her with promises of sparkle and stardom. (Luke and Max, I'm ready, too, and won't need half as much Auto Tune! I'm already here in SoCal, readymade to exploit!)
Plus, technically, Ke$ha first trip to the top of the chart came last February, when she sang (uncredited) the chorus on Flo Rida's hit "Right Round." And the single that bumped that jam from #1? "Poker Face."
So what's the point in all this? I'm not quite sure. I think I just felt that a broad who doesn't seem to have a single song on her album that fails to mention being wasted deserved me wasting 20 minutes of my time on a Saturday afternoon writing about her.
Maybe we should celebrate the fact that, in 2010, pop is finally back in the public consciousness in a big way. And with that, I'll end on this—a quote from Ke$ha from an interview with the Los Angeles Times' Pop & Hiss blog:
"Certain songs on the album are serious, but people really need to take themselves less seriously in pop music. I come out on stage and do cartwheels in laser gloves with a cannon that shoots condoms and confetti."I think it's love. Preach it, girl.