The party don’t stop for Kesha‘s biggest hit, “Tik Tok,” which has remained one of the most popular songs from the late 2000s more than a decade later. But according to the pop star, she originally thought the track was “too dumb” when she first wrote it.
While serving as a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show Tuesday (May 13), Kesha recalled being blown away by the success of “Tik Tok” after it dropped in 2009. “No, oh my god,” she said when asked whether she ever expected it to become such a big hit.
“When I was writing ‘Tik Tok,’ it was weird, because the dumber it got, the better it got,” the “Praying” singer continued. “Which was confusing, because I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent human being. But it just got dumber and dumber and better and better.”
Kesha added, “When I listened to the final product, I was like, ‘This is too dumb.’”
Regardless, there was nothing dumb about what the track would do for her career. “Tik Tok” would launch the California native to superstar status, becoming not just her first solo Billboard Hot 100 entry, but her first No. 1 on the chart. It would also remain in the top spot for nine weeks, her longest run at the chart’s summit, and helped Kesha’s first album, Animal, debut atop the Billboard 200.
Fifteen years later, the musician is gearing up to release her sixth studio album, . (Period), her first LP under her own label, Kesha Records. Her departure from Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records — the founder of which also produced much of Animal — comes after a yearslong legal battle with Dr. Luke over Kesha’s claims that he drugged and raped her in 2005, after which he sued her for defamation while calling the allegations “false and shocking.” Their ensuing legal battle continued for nine years before the two parties finally reached a settlement in 2023.
Of finally getting to release music fully on her own terms, Kesha told Hudson, “I’m really excited for the world to hear this, because I’ve been in control of everything.”
“It’s been all of my vision, all of my words, a lot of hard work, a lot of joy,” she continued, tearing up. “Really coming back home to myself and feeling what freedom really looks like, feels like, sounds like.”
Watch Kesha’s conversation with Hudson below.