It’s been two days and I’m still covered in glitter and trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I just saw Kesha play at the Intersection. Like. What is this world? How did Grand Rapids get our hands on her in such an intimate venue?

If you’ve been near a radio in the past decade, you’ve probably heard Ke$ha’s name, or seen the subtly ironic way she spelled it. Kesha Rose Sebert has been writing and performing music with heavy hitters in the industry for years, and has since dropped the dollar sign as she fights an iconic legal battle with her producer, Dr. Luke.

The Details:

  • For the past two years, Kesha has been locked in a lawsuit, unable to release new music or gain access to her previously recorded canon.
  • In 2014, Kesha sued her producer, Dr. Luke along with Sony Records to be released from her exclusive contract, as a result of years of alleged sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of Dr. Luke.
  • The exclusive contract prohibits Kesha from working with anyone other than Dr. Luke to produce/create music, which effectively traps her in the relationship or halts her music career altogether.
  • In February of 2016, the courts ruled in favor of Sony and Dr. Luke, continuing to trap Kesha in her contract/relationship.
  • The internet exploded with the #FreeKesha tag, and artists from Lady Gaga to Adele spoke out in support of Kesha and others who have suffered the same.
  • Early in July, Kesha dropped her suit in California and furnished Dr. Luke and Sony with songs for a new album, per their exclusive contract. She is still pursuing legal action in New York, but wanted to be allowed to release and create music.

This summer, she took her life back and toured smaller venues with her new Country-Rock band, Kesha and the Creepies on the F*ck the World Tour. And I’m so glad she did. She is still not allowed to play her new songs, but she has been returned the rights to play her previously released music, much to the joy of the sold out crowd at the Intersection.

I don’t know Kesha personally, but I’m so proud of her. I think we all were. I could feel it in the air when we all chanted “Free Kesha!” and cried and sweat and cemented all that dang glitter onto our bodies forever. I could feel it when we danced like it wasn’t a thousand literal degrees and screamed the lyrics to “TiK ToK” back at her, and when we all remembered how to spell “Dinosaur”. (That’s D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R a dinosaur!) She’s fierce, unafraid and completely emblematic of this generation of women who are increasingly bold and unapologetic and I just adore it all. After all, “We R Who We R”.

It was insane that Kesha played the Intersection. It just was. It was a rip in the logic of pop music. But if you weren’t there, it’s ok. You can still run through the glittered streets near The Intersection and take her attitude with you everywhere you go. Because, in the immortal words of Kesha Rose, “…Go insane, throw some glitter, make it rain…this place’s about to Blow.”

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