Yippee Kay-Yay: Kesha's New Era

Trigger Warning- Sexual Assault/Eating Disorder Mention 

“An Icon Named Kesha”

Kesha Rose Sebert, known in the music industry as Kesha (formerly with a dollar sign), has been an icon in the industry forever. Recently, she came out with three singles since she started her own label with freedom from her old record label called, “Kesha Records.” The three singles are called “Joyride”, “Delusional”, and “Yippee Kay Yay”. She has recently announced her new album called Period releasing on July 4, 2025, because it is her music independence day. Kesha has also announced her summer tour and tickets are available now. 

Kesha is very near and dear to my heart. She is my favorite artist of all time and I have been listening to her since I was 4 years old when she came out with her first single Tik Tok in 2009. (I have been a die-hard fan since 2018.) I am considered one of her Animals, which is a die-hard Kesha fan. She came up with that name in 2010 for her fans when her album “Animal” came out. Her music has been part of my journey in life, especially her album High Road, which came out in 2020. I have seen her live twice on tour in 2018 on the Adventures of Kesha and Macklemore tour (continuation of her Rainbow tour in 2018) and then again in 2021 on the rescheduled “High Road” tour turned into the Kesha Live! 2021 tour. I purchased tickets for her Philadelphia show on July 29, 2025, for the new tour.

“Kesha’s Pot of Gold” 

Kesha, as an artist and person, has been through a lot, and that is why so many people can relate to her and her new album. Period is very much about freedom. Kesha had a legal battle with her past label, Kemosabe Records, in 2016 for sexual assault allegations against her producer at the time, Dr. Luke. 

After 2016, she wrote her comeback album, Rainbow which changed her own life and the lives of many others. She wrote this album during her time in rehab for an eating disorder. Rainbow is very much about feeling free mentally and not letting the past haunt you. The three singles from the album are Praying, Learn to Let Go, and Woman. She toured for this album in 2017 and in 2018 with rapper Macklemore and then the new High Road era started. She dyed her hair brown and released a political tune called “Rich White Straight Men.” It never got any radio play, and not many people talk about it. High Road was really the start of something new for her, but got cut short because of COVID. High Road was released on January 31, 2020. She did some promo for it but not much because the pandemic started in March. Her makeup line called Kesha Rose Beauty was released around the album release date. She also had a tour set for this album for the summer of 2020, but had to cancel. 

“The Kovid Era” 

She had a COVID era of doing many online performances including a VR Kesha experience, interacting with fans (including me), and an Ebay store called Kesha’s Rainbow Collection. Fans could buy clothing items she wore. Fans bought some fun things she owned that are iconic and specific to Kesha from the Ebay store. I bought a pair of her pants for my birthday and it came with an autograph. (I really only bought it for the autograph hehe). The packaging was very Kesha. It had glitter in the envelopes. This lasted for about a year. Kesha did not do much until late 2021 with some virtual concerts and then the tour date release for the Kesha Live! 2021 tour to support the High Road album. 

“Freedom I’ve Been Waiting For You”

It wasn’t until 2023 that she had a big album comeback with “Gag Order.” This album was very much about her in depth thoughts throughout the years and how trapped she felt. Very introspective. This came out in June of 2023 and she toured for it in November. Originally the tour was called the Gag Order tour but she switched to the Only Love tour because the name was more fun. In 2024, she released her first single as a free artist called “Joyride.” It is a fun upbeat song about living life and just wanting to have fun. Very much old Kesha, it brought back a lot of nostalgia for many people. Kesha also called it the cousin song of her first single “Tik Tok”. Tik Tok started her career and JOYRIDE is where she is now. Pretty iconic. 

“Be Yourself Unapologetically Always” 

I will always love Kesha and her music. It is about nostalgia for me but also about growing up. Kesha’s music made me who I am today and being on that journey with an artist you’ve listened to since you were four is something special. I have always been one to express who I am as a person, and her music really brought that out for me. She will forever be my favorite and nothing will change about that. Listening to Kesha can change your life. It changed mine.