Model Diaries with Kesha

What’s a fun fact people would be surprised to know about you?
I’m actually addicted to adventures. I love to do activities like going camping, scuba diving, and rock climbing.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on to date?
My favorite project I’ve worked on to date is a tie- my album Rainbow and my new album, Gag Order. Both were very healing.

Tell us about your new album. What was the meaning behind the title Gag Order?
My new album is something that feels like I put every fiber of my being into it so it’s so special to me. It’s so intimately me. The title itself felt like I was exposing sides of myself and sides of my emotions that I had previously hidden.

I’m very aware I’m an entertainer and a pop singer, and I’m really well known for brushing my teeth with Jack Daniel’s, so it was me leaning into my growth as a human, as a woman, and just being like, I’m going to expose all the things that I previously kind of muzzled myself about.

Where do you draw your inspiration from when creating your music?
I draw my inspiration from everything, everyone and every moment of my life. I’ll see a really beautiful sign and write down what it says or I’ll be reading a magazine and if something on the page jumps out at me, I write it all down. I never really know where the inspiration is going to come from. I think it’s almost like I try to lead a really present life because it’s everywhere.

How did you know you wanted to pursue a career in singing?
I knew I wanted to pursue a career in singing because I’ve been just singing since I could talk. And I used to enjoy the shit out of my family because I would just like seeing and try to learn to yell at all and come home from school and write songs.

I’ve always found songwriting to be the place I channel all my happiness, sadness, aggression, breakups, love, everything. I put these emotions in my songs. When I was in high school it developed into “am I going to go to college or am I going to do this?” Thankfully this worked out and I have never looked back.
Tell us about your collaborations with Rick Rubin. My God, collaborating with Rick Rubin has been such a dream fulfilled of mine, and I felt definitely like maybe I wasn’t worthy because he’s so iconic and I’m really well known for Pop, right? And he’s more well known for basically every other genre. But when we met, we just really got along and it was just the most beautiful, cosmic, divine collaboration.

I felt like I needed to work with someone like him. I’m so happy that he saw that in me too. I feel so lucky and so blessed and I still kind of can’t believe it. He’s a brilliant, brilliant human, so cool.

So you’re about to go on tour, which we’re so excited about. What do you love most about touring?
I’m about to go on tour, which is like my favorite. It feels like when you write music and you put out an album and you make the artwork and the videos, all of that. It’s building the foundation of this house. And so when you write the album, that’s the foundation, and you start building the walls with the videos and everything else that comes with it.

When you go on tour, it feels like the house is now livable, like it’s its own living, breathing entity and you’re sharing it with people and they’re having their own experiences. Two songs I wrote about my experience and I, I really just feel like it’s this beautiful fucking connection where you create something and it’s like you protect it so, like, passionately and then you give it away.

The moment of touring is when you get to share it. It’s so beautiful. I’m so excited to sing the new songs with my fans- I just miss them. I love them. It’s the best.

Can you just describe what it feels like to be on stage in front of thousands of fans?
Being on stage is the biggest adrenaline rush, and I feel like it just allows me to be the most audacious version of myself. And people just give you love for just being uniquely the weirdo that I am, which was not the case for a lot of my life. And, you know, growing up, I felt like I was just so too fucking weird. When I’m on tour and I’m on stage and I’m with my fans, there’s just so much love.

What advice do you have for aspiring singers?
The advice I give to aspiring singers or artists is you can’t be anybody but yourself.
I think there’s a lot of comparison or being insecure, unsure of yourself. If you’re doing something different just lean into who you are. Let yourself be who you are. Don’t fight it. Try with every fiber of your being and even love who you are. And if you’re different, like that’s so fucking refreshing and good.

I think just give yourself grace to explore who you are and be who you are. Don’t try to be somebody else.

What would you like people to remember most about you?
I hope people remember most about me that I really stand firmly in who I am, I know who I am, and I know what I believe.

I want to be remembered for really standing and who I am standing in my truth, standing in uniquely and uncomfortably the person that I’ve become. It can be really hard to stand in who you are and know who you are. There’s so many different ways and people that will tell you it’s wrong or second guess you and you start to question yourself.

But I really want to be remembered for being someone who stood up for people, for animals, and who was really desperately helpful in a world that can sometimes feel maddening. I really hope to bring a lot of people joy and a big word that comes to mind when you ask me about that is safety. I want people to feel safe. I want people to feel safe and who they are because I believe once you feel safe, then you can celebrate and you can become such a magical thing. I want people to feel safe. I want people to feel seen. I want them to feel accepted. So I really hope I’m remembered for making a beautiful place for people and also standing firm in who I am.

What’s something in your closet that you can’t live without?
I have a collection of vintage t-shirts that I’m obsessed with. It’s like 40 vintage t-shirts and a leather jacket I bought in Tokyo. I also think everyone should own a pair of Prada loafers.

Heels, flats or sneakers.
I think I have to go with cowboy boots!

Top things on your bucket list?
I really want to make a television show where I get to save animals, I would love to see a narwhal in the wild, I would like to go to Antarctica, and I really kind of want to marry a billionaire.