THE WILD ONE - Ke$ha interview [Rolling Stone (April 2013)]
Jacket by Diane Von Furstenberg; shorts by Boohoo; heels by Prada; bustier, belt and jewellery Ke$ha’s own
RS STYLE
Ke$ha
THE WILD ONE
Pop’s enfant terrible, Ke$ha, on getting baked sex with Bieber and her lady-wang
BY ROB TANNENBAUM PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAX DOYLE STYLING BY SHELBY SCUDDER
Vintage shirt and full piece by Shag; vintage tie by Zoo Emporium; heels by Prada; jacket, socks and jewellery Ke$ha’s own.
“WHENEVER A MAN CAME ON TO MY BUS HE HAD TO DROP TROU AND I TOOK A POLAROID, JUST TO EMASCULATE HIM”
“I WAS LIKE A WILDEBEEST, RUNNING around and breaking shit,” Ke$ha says of her attitude on her 2010 debut, Animal, a set of catchy, obnoxious dance-pop songs about partying and boys. Raised in Nashville by her songwriter mother, Pebe, Ke$ha is loud and provocative in a way that splits reactions into love her or loathe her. Her latest album, Warrior, isn’t a total departure. “It’s about the magic of life,” she says. “Part of that is getting super drunk, but I wrote about other stuff this time as well. I feel like I’ve grown up into a futuristic warrior goddess.” Does this mean the 25-year-old is – gasp! – mature? “A little bit,” she says. “Not too much. Don’t get worried – I still make a severe effort to get shitty as often as possible.”
I thought you were all about having fun. What’s with the “warrior” stuff? I went on a spirit journey before I made this record, and got in touch with my inner hippie. Not, like, an armpit-hair-growing hippie, but I’m very much into loving one another and acceptance. I was camping in South Africa, and I went into a past-life regression and went on this, like, hippie trip. But I came out of it a warrior. The word is representative of my energy at the moment – fearless, wild and ready to take over.
Uh, take over what? The world. Duh!
You tweeted that you have a new favourite word: “lady-wang”. What is that, and can you use it in a sentence? A lady-wang is a female. wiener. A vaginer. V-A-G-I-N-E-R. Here’s the sentence: “My lady-wang is becoming increasingly moist by the minute.”
Wow. Who taught you that word? I can't remember, so I’ll say it was my mum.
Your mum sounds awesome. People find it strange that we’ve written songs together about boys and cannibalism, but she taught me from a young age that if I want anything in this life, it’s up to me to go and get it. She also said, “Have sex, but use condoms. Drink, but don’t drive.” She made sure I knew that you can do wild things if you’re responsible about them. I’m not doing anything that most girls my age aren’t doing. Most chicks that are 25 get a little tail here and there and drink a couple of cocktails. So I’m just being honest, boo.
You released a memoir last year. Was there anything the lawyers made you take out of it? Yeah, I had to leave out the photos I collected while I was on tour for the past 18 months. Whenever a man came onto my bus he had to drop trou and I took a Polaroid of him, just to emasculate him and make sure he knew he was in the vagina jungle. That’s what I call my bus. Some of the guys were wearing man-panties – but even if they were free-balling, there were no exceptions; they had to pose for a photo. I tried, I really tried to use these photos in my book. But I think it’s illegal, technically.
Speaking of illegal, do you smoke pot? Fuck it, if I’m gonna tell somebody, I’m gonna tell ROLLING STONE. I do smoke, but I get super weird, so it’s not something I do all the time. Sometimes I go into the basement and body-paint, and sometimes I get weirdo-paranoid and hide under the covers. It’s just a bad scene.
Last year there was a rumour that you’d had sex with Justin Bieber, which you said wasn’t true. Now that he’s single, would you consider it? Sure. Wait, is he even legal? Could I go to jail for this?
Nah, he’s 18. OK, then, I would. We could go out and buy lottery tickets, vote, play putt-putt golf. All the things that are legal at the age of 18.
You don’t have to be 18 to play putt-putt golf. In Tennessee you do. They take it really seriously. But you can marry your cousin – I think that’s legal at any age.
What’s the worst song you heard in the last year? One of my own songs. It's called “I Ain’t Ever Gonna Be a Cock Block”. Because I only want to flow the cock, and cock blocks suck. [Sings] “Boy, I ain’t ever gonna be a cock block. No, no, no, no, no, no!” I liked it! But I was told, “It’s so good, it’s bad.”
Your birthday is March 1. What do you want? I want an adult baby stroller, so my managers can stroll me around to interviews while I drink Slurpees.
Really, Slurpees? No booze? I just love 7-Eleven. If the world was ending in 20 minutes, I’d walk across the street to 7-Eleven and hang out there with my cat, Mr. Peeps. 7-Eleven makes me really happy. It’s a one-stop shop, it’s open all night, and the green and red colours make me feel safe.
Is that why you want the stroller, too? I’m a diva in only the most ridiculous ways – such as wanting to be pushed around in an adult baby stroller.
Dress by Elliatt; jewellery Kesha’s own.
Opposite page: Jacket by Minty Meets Munt; vintage top by Shag; vintage tie by Zoo Emporium; pants by Lucette; heels by Prada; jewellery and belt Ke$ha’s own.
Translator's Note: I saw this in the Rolling Stone magazine that I was scanning Muse and David Bowie pages from it, and I remembered a mutual of mine being fond of Ke$ha, even though it's been years since they've last reblogged any Ke$ha content. Thankfully, they still love Ke$ha, so it was worth scanning these pages for them.
