Letter to the Editor: Creative Beats
By Greg Dona '10
Published on Thursday, March 4, 2010
To the Editor:
Arguing , as Dana Venerable ’13 does (“Ke$ha Album Lacks Variety, Novelty,” March 1), that Ke$ha’s debut album “Animal” “[focuses] purely on her party-girl image” is inaccurate. Accusing her of biting Lady Gaga and Katy Perry stylistically is equally unreasonable. And asserting that “Animal” lacks variety and novelty ignores Ke$ha’s creativity altogether.
Though “Animal” uses Ke$ha’s propensity to party as a selling point, many of the songs on the album stray from the path forged by “Tik Tok,” touching at times upon such anti-party-girl topics as enthusiastic, albeit immature love.
Furthermore, Ke$ha’s use of fast-paced beats is not a strategy for cashing in on the Gaga and Perry bandwagon as much as it is a reflection of contemporary pop music. The Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears and even Taylor Swift have songs around 130 beats per minute, which are easily included in club play while remaining mainstream enough to hit Billboard’s Hot 100.
Besides, Ke$ha’s affinity for Auto-Tune is more reminiscent of Ed Banger’s Uffie than it is of Gaga or Perry. And even here, Ke$ha takes an outdated hipster trend and makes it accessible — many people chalk up the re-release of Uffie’s hit “Pop the Glock” to Ed Banger cashing in on waves made by Ke$ha.
To say that “Animal” lacks variety and novelty is false. While neither Ke$ha’s lyrics nor her instrumentals are entirely unique, it’s important to recognize that Ke$ha isn’t simply regurgitating previous pop efforts. Instead, she is combining a variety of influences to craft a style that is very much her own.