trials and tribulations

Kesha Reflects on Dr. Luke Ordeal: ‘It Was Definitely a Mind F*ck’

2016 Global Citizen: The World On Stage
Kesha. Photo: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

After spending the better part of a year enmeshed in an ugly legal battle with Dr. Luke, Kesha is finally rearing for a comeback. But despite putting the courtroom fight behind her, Kesha is hardly treating the ordeal, in which she accused her former producer of sexual assault, as bygones. As the singer reveals in an interview on music show NOISEY (per Billboard), the prolonged matter took its toll. “When you work really hard at something, then to have it taken away from you is pretty devastating … I worked my ass off for a lot of years to be able to do it: I sang backup vocals, and the first couple songs I was on, I didn’t give a fuck, because I just had this one vision. Once you earn that and make that happen, then to have it taken away from you is pretty devastating,” she said. In a succinct summation, Kesha called the experience “definitely a mind fuck.”

As for how she goes forward, Kesha says, “I think I am just like finding my voice in the world and so the past three years has been me taking my center and myself back and my voice.” Genre-wise, Kesha has a story to tell and she plans to dip into some country music inspirations to tell it. She explained, “I’ve always loved country music and listened to it a lot growing up, so now I’m like kind of allowing myself to just tap into like my music roots a little more recently … Here, it really is the utmost importance to tell the story, and that’s really what Nashville songwriting is about — the song is the most important thing.”

Kesha Calls Dr. Luke Ordeal a ‘Mind F*ck’