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Ke$ha is the worst thing about the music industry. She embodies what’s wrong with popular music and stands against everything creative, original and artistic. She is a slap in the face to every artist that has ever tried to make anything unique. If this is where music is headed in the next decade, I am horrified.
If you’ve never heard of her, Ke$ha has been topping the charts and breaking iTunes download records with her hit singles, “Tik Tok” and “Blah Blah Blah.” Yes, there is an insufferable dollar sign in her name so that no one gets confused — she exists solely to make rich people even more money.
Ke$ha is unoriginal and mind-numbing. Her songs appeal to the lowest common denominator and are spoon-fed to the masses. Everything about her — appearance, musical style, demeanor — is a rip-off from some other artist.
The worst part however, is that her hit single “Tik Tok” is a blatant, copyright-infringing knock-off of a song written two years ago by the truly unique artists Uffie and Justice.
Let’s start with how she looks. She is a trying-too-hard Lady Gaga with gaudy make-up and clothes that could be found in any trashy party-girl’s closet. That would be forgivable if she didn’t have such a ditzy, self-deprecating attitude. She is a women’s studies major’s worst nightmare.
Watching any televised interview will make this pretty clear, but her attitude is reflected so eloquently on her MySpace page, it has to be included. All misspellings and grammatical errors have remained intact.
“I love south. and boys. and boots. and boners. and beer. and babes. balloons. barbeque sause. big balls. bonfires. babes. boobs. butts. bonnie rait. [fellatio]. BAD TATTOOS…….mmhmmm I sometimes wish I was a man…i would have the siickesT trash-stash….”
Also on her MySpace is a list of influences
a mile long, comprised of indie, electronica, ’80s giants and classic artists, many of whom are creative geniuses. How she calls Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones influences and makes the music she does is beyond me.
My biggest point of contention though, is that she got famous by copying somebody else’s work. When I first heard “Tik Tok,” I was positive it was a remix of “The Party” by female rapper Uffie and French electro duo Justice. When I found out that it was a completely different artist and song, I was appalled.
At the recommendation of my sister, I played the two songs simultaneously. Both choruses start at almost exactly the same time (roughly 0:35). Granted that both have simple pop structures and similar tempo, it’s still eerie when the songs are played together.
The worst part is the vocal delivery is identical. Uffie’s rapping was so unique and Ke$ha completely ripped it off. And to top it off, the lyrics are so similar. The two songs have the exact same theme and topic. Let’s look line for line, keeping in mind that both have the identical meter and syllables.
Uffie: “Let me tell you what I do when my day is over./After picking the right clothes for about an hour./Oooh, I’m turning orange from all the carats around my neck./Tonight, I’m takin’ out the bling and I’m dressed to impress.”
Ke$ha: “Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy/Grab my glasses, I’m out the door, I’m gonna hit this city/Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack/’Cause when I leave for the night, I ain’t coming back.”
The choruses are very similar as well. On top of that, Ke$ha’s chorus is dangerously close to Lady Gaga’s on “Just Dance” with both structure and theme.
Uffie: “Lets get this party started right/Let’s get drunk and freaky fly/You with me so its alright/We gonna stay up the whole night.”
Lady Gaga: “Just dance, gonna be okay/da da doo-doo-mmm/Just dance, spin that record babe/da da doo-doo-mmm.”
Ke$ha: “Don’t stop, make it pop/DJ, blow my speakers up/Tonight, I’mma fight/’Til we see the sunlight/Tick tock on the clock/But the party don’t stop, no.”
I find some solace in my belief that Ke$ha will leave as quickly as she came, but she still makes me cringe. Ke$ha did a parody of “The Party” and dumbed it down for the mainstream. I hope that there is some legal action taken against her for her copyright infringements; it is the only way Justice can be served.
Kegan Zema is the style editor for The Maine Campus.
Related Posts:- Op-Ed: Music industry problems not limited to Ke$ha’s flaws (January 20, 2010)
- Letters: Ke$ha, fraternities and TABOR (January 28, 2010)
- Beat Report: New music is always closer than you think (February 11, 2010)
- Food drive is music to soup kitchen’s ears (September 28, 2006)
- UMaine instructor is named 2006 Music Teacher of the Year (February 16, 2006)
Never heard this chick B4, but history shows older people commonly hate music that may be more popular with younger listeners- how many cornballs did you listen to when you were 12?
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To make it even worse… the music to Tik Tok is a rip off of Kylie Minogue’s “Love at First Sight”. If any of her “fans” saw her performing live, if they had any sort of judge for talent they would burn her CD. Also, she “co-wrote” the album, but I just saw an interview of her in which she went on and on about how she wrote the entire album all by herself. Kesha is so fake. Everything about her. I can’t stand to see a Lady Gaga comparison, to me that is an insult to Gaga. They are polar opposites if you ask me…
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Mike Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 10:00 am
You do realize that Lady Gaga is just a rip off of Roisin Murphy, right?
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Sam Reply:
April 19th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
I love Roisin Murphy but I don’t see how Lady Gaga would be considered to be a rip-off of her.
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Heh, the kind of disappointing part is that Uffie/Justice IS popular with younger listeners. I’m not a fan of Uffie but this song is even worse
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ONLY UFFIE PARTIES! HOW DARE THERE BE ANOTHER WHITE GIRL SINGING A POP SONG ABOUT PARTYING?
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Yep, another glitter pig with panty-waste between the ears…just another tell-tale cultural sign of Generation Dumb.
Way to go, modern youth of America: no taste, no guts, no originality…you and all your emo-fags need to go the way of the dinosaur…
good riddance, bitchas
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Princess Reply:
January 26th, 2010 at 5:48 am
you do know that she has a song called “Dinosaur” on her new album, all about how she hates old creeps. Oh irony.
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Ummm Sam? I’m all for your Kesha insults but please do not insult the all of the youth of America, it only shows your ignorance. I’m 23 and a university student and not only do I see straight through Kesha’s act, but I don’t listen to “emo” music and I’m also far from dumb. And so are nearly everyone I know my age. Of course there are definitely some “dumb” people in my generation but I mean were there not in your generation? I mean someone gave birth to and raised these people you talk about.
And please leave your fag comments to yourself and your superior generation, because the rest of us are way past that.
I guess I should be nicer to you, it must be difficult to carry so much hate around inside of you.
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When I first heard the Kesha song on the radio, my initial thought was “What the hell has Uffie done to her voice?”. True.
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Ha! I was literally talking about this at work (Hot Topic) yesterday, we just got her shirt in and I too was appalled, the co-workers and I were discussing how we all dislike her and put her next beside ICP in our trashy list.
I do love the whole girl power type muse like Alanis Morissette, Lilly Allen, The Cranberries and the new girls Uffie and Lady Sovereign (who are rightfully accepted in this strong sarcastic sound). Ke$ha (god do i hate typing her name, lol) is trying to be like them (mainly ripping Uffie and Feds’ hardwork off) but if only she had a brain.
So in conclusion; She is a fucking scarecrow.
-Judah
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Ke$ha fails. The way she raps is closer to Pop the Glock by Uffie (again).
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i too thought it was Uffie the first time i heard it and was so confused. Kesha is so watered down and generic but then you know, that’s what all the kids like these days. plus she’s so trashy. at least Uffie is pretty!
let’s all hope the world really does end in 2010 so then we won’t have to put up with anymore of this shit cos it’s not going to stop with her.
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Whoever wrote this is a tool. First of all, you waste your time bashing someone you don’t even know. You’re so caught up on “Ke$ha’s a their” that you don’t remember that Uffie isn’t the only white rapper there is. It’s called RAPPING everyone sounds the same. Fucking retard. Why were you accepted into college?
You sound like a whiny second cousin of Uffie, who is also bitter cuz apperently she’s the only white girl with the devine power sent from above who can rap and have electro-beats.
Gimme a break! Ke$ha’s been rap-singing since 2004… No one even knew of this bitch (Uffie) back then. She was a nobody, wait Uffie STILL is a nobody
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sydneycat Reply:
January 21st, 2010 at 12:15 pm
your joking!
UFFIE is a nobody?
look at all the people getting crazy when a DJ plays one of her tracks!
the point is, that people, knowing her and Ed Banger, do NOT favourite mainstreamshit! You see: Kesha is a commercial bitch, tying to be famous, but faster than I am able to flutter my eyelashes, she’ll be back in nowhere… *bye kesha-bitch*
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JD Reply:
January 21st, 2010 at 2:16 pm
“First of all, you waste your time bashing someone you don’t even know.”
….That’s funny considering you just bashed someone you don’t know whatsoever by calling them a “tool” and a “retard”.
Darwin, stop being a little bitch and get over yourself.
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Judah Reply:
January 21st, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Ha! I love drama, but this shit sucks really?
E.L.E. Everybody Love Everybody!
Ke$ha has her fans
and
Uffie has her
Let people have their blogs!
Over in Europe Uffie’s banging
and in America Ke$ha (i swear I hate typing her name, lol) is just helping America deplete in brain cells.
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Macy Reply:
January 21st, 2010 at 9:43 pm
UFFIE is amazing and 100% original. Kesha is a little copy cat. I am sure that she listen to Uffie and it influenced her sound majorly. BUT the bottom line is Uffie is much much better and I suppose some Americans are just shy of culture and don’t understand or hear any other music than what comes on the radio.
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Ahab Reply:
May 1st, 2010 at 1:25 am
You mean to tell me that she’s been rapping for SIX YEARS and her greatest achievement is sounding like an absolute fucking retard with absolutely NOTHING of ANY value to say WHAT-SO-EVER? To play in a band you have to play an instrument well. To be a good singer, your talent relies on having a good voice. Rapping isn’t so much about playing an instrument or hitting the highs and lows, it’s about fucking WORDS! So if your talent relies on your words, you might want to have something WORTHWHILE to say! Six years rapping and she gives us nothing but “Tick tock suck a cock, I’m a stupid fucking whore”. She won a popularity contest, not a talent show.
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Uffie is talented singer and shes been around for years. the sad thing is that even though she has a fan base she still is underground and with her new CD next month i was hoping she’s make it to mainstream. But because of Ke$ha BLATANT use of copy right infringement and unoriginality, people are going to assume uffie was a knock off and not Ke$ha. and no “Fray” Uffie isn’t the only girl that parties, but Uffie’s rapping style was TOTALLY unique and the similarities are such an embarrassment to her as well as the music industry
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Um seriously? Is your life just about talkin trash about Ke$ha? Y Not go into other artist like the BEP for stealing music? Everyone has the type of artists that they like. And seriously WHICH ARTIST HAS NOT TALKED ABOUT PARTING? SERIOUSLY? ARE U STUCK IN A HOLE LISTING TO NOTHIN but that other chick? in no way she is copying gaga. u say that they sound the same seriously? then y not talk about Beyonce’s Halo and Kelly Already gone?? Those are almost exact copies but seriously dude… GET A LIFE…
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hey ADRIAN Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
He’s not trying to compare the two at all. He was showing the structure and if you looked closely. You can see the bold knock-off. Of this “Kesha” girl or weirdo or whatever she is. Cos to me she looks like an abortion gone wrong. Like an even greasier and trashier Megan Fox.
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i see the comparison but it’s nowehere near as “ripoff” as you claim here… even the lyric thing… there are THOUSANDS of songs that are about partying and getting ready and getting drunk. and the music to kesha’s tik tok song is not even just a ripoff of that kylie song, because that kylie song was also a ripoff of madonna’s “holiday.” the closest i can see to kesha ripping off uffie (and i am very familiar with both of them) is the vocal style, not the music itself, and even with the vocal style i think, like many other people leaving comments here, that it’s just a rap thing. i think kesha is “ripping off” uffie the same way that leelee sobieski is “ripping off” helen hunt. there’s a similarity, but it’s just that.
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Oh, I see. So Ke$ha is making the same boring brand of shitty music as every other pop star and you are writing the same boring brand of shitty down-with-pop-music tirade as every other pretentious, music-snobby college kid.
It’s all so boring that it hurts.
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theodosius Reply:
January 21st, 2010 at 6:48 pm
well, except that he refers to Justice and Uffie both as “truly unique artists.” And doesn’t criticize anybody specific in this article, really, except Ke$ha. So, fail.
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if you have time enough to become enraged by the similarities in two songs, despite the fact that you are not being forced to listen the the song you feel is a crappy rip-off, then you need to re-evaluate your life.
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Uffie is original to the core. Thats how she came about. Feadz and the cats at Ed Banger brought her on board to rip it.
Shes got a track with Justice for one, and for two, she has way more swagger than Ke$ha.
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And you need to re-evaluate your life for caring about someones opinion
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u ppl r just jealous that her song is a hit n the other ppls song is not. to me all songs sound alike so why not just blame every single music artist for coping other ppl also. dont single out just 1 person. not the first n deff not the last time this will happen. n plus to me the songs dont even sound alike. get over urself n dont listen to or make up stupid stuff if u dont like a song. get a life ppl. luv tick tock such a cool party song much better then the others who she “ripped off”
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Ahab Reply:
May 1st, 2010 at 1:38 am
Real music; GOOD music, DOESN’T all sound the same. The type of “music” you’re referring to does all pretty much sound the same because, quite frankly, yes, most of them do just rip off other artists and songs and absolutely no thought is put into any of them. This music is written by money, and music written by money all sounds like shit. Music written by people sounds like music.
And just to be clear, I am not downing rap music. Real rap can be incredible. It is the genre of music, it is the commercialized perversion of the genre, which could pretty much be said for alternative rock, and so forth.
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Meh…I don’t mind Ke$ha. Sure, she’s completely trashy and fake, but I think that’s kind of her appeal. It’s all about escapism. And I like Uffie too, but I think that the comparisons between the two are completely wrong. Like, really, they don’t sound similiar at all.
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I think it’s a bit much saying that Ke$ha ripped off Lady GaGa or Uffie for using the same theme ‘let’s dance, let’s get drunk, let’s have a party’. It’s the generic stuff that makes pop music so universally liked.
She might sound a bit like Uffie, but this is business after all. Uffie, if she had wanted to, could have released her debut album years ago, but she didn’t, she wanted to be cool and underground. And now someone else got into that niche of electro rude pop, made it more accessible (mainstream) and has a lot of success with it.
Besides, having Ke$ha become huge is probably a blessing for Uffie, otherwise she would probably still be unknown. At least people are now talking about her.
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I don’t think anyone is jealous of Ke$ha!!!!!! HA! I think that the people here criticizing her are just disappointed that someone can make it big using others’ style, others’ music, not just as influences, but as direct rip-offs, and get away with it while the truly original artists are the ones who deserve the credit. Plus she stinks lol. Here are 3 videos that really showcase her talents if you can’t take my word 4 it
Ke$ha’s music originality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVt4lXxA5mI
Ke$ha’s live singing talent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RuC2I20EtU
Ke$ha’s charming personality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RuC2I20EtU
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For what my $0.02 is worth, “Tik Tok” completely lifts the verse from Chrissy’s “My Slushy” tune, which dates back at least four years. If I was an intellectual property lawyer in private practice, I’d be salivating over the lawsuit.
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What the cuss?
There are 29 entires written here and only 1 reply in an article on the alleged budget crisis. I hope all of you fall in a ditch and die, slowly.
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She copiest alot of people check out this sixteen year old girl sky ferreira she is trying to look like this young girl . The only difference is the young girl can sing and looks better >>>plus her hair is real.
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Uffie is definitely better than Ke$ha.
She needs to learn how to create her own beats and lyrics, and most of all, she needs to stop singing about being a prostitute.
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Real swagga can’t be jacked. Uffie’s swagga must be pretty weak if somebody can take it from her. Nobody is taken Elvis’s swagga and he’s been dead for thirty years.
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YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
Kesha really is a women studies majors worst nightmare! I’m a bug Uffie fan and have been waiting for her to finally release her debut album “Sex Dreams & Denim Jeans” for four years! When I first heard tik tok I thought Uffies album came out without me knowing and was doing really well, Nope, just some sleazy, trashy girl with no original thoughts spewing someone elses creativity. Uffie is a bad ass party girl and has a right to rap about it, Kesha ia boarderline disney and wouldn’t be caught dead partying cause it would make a bad image for her 12 year old fans. I hate Kesha with a passion so strong, it surprises me! Uffie and Justice (both artists signed with Ed Banger Records,) really should take some legal action, if not they should at least slip Kesha a roofie so I can have a moments peace.
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I’m not going to be checking back on this cause I got a paper to write, but i figured i’d throw this in…
Uffie, who I love, totally sounds like Afrika Bambaataa (spelling?) and other electro artists. To call her original is sick. Listen to some older stuff and you can totally hear the eerie similarities there. She may sound all new to you, but do some research on original electro. i believe that is why Uffie has not come out against Kesha. if uffie did press legal action, i doubt she could get far. look at avril and other artists who do some copying. they all get away with it.
Kesha does definitely sound like Uffie though. I too heard Kesha’s tik tok and thought it was Uffie- i freaked out and started screaming that uffie (finally) got on the radio in ny. but that’s the way the world is. it’s been done before, and will be done again.
in conclusion, it’s all the same shit.
“don’t hate the player. hate the game” could possibly fit here… not too sure though. i’m terrible with slang.
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While I do understand your contempt for Ke$sha, as I feel the same, there a few things to point out.
She is obviously a marketing tool, and thus similarities in other songs is not her own fault, but the recording industry’s. I’m sure that no legal action could be taken, because they’ve probably already thrown a severely large amount of money to Uffie or her producers and/or Lady Gaga and her producers to obtain rights to create these “songs.”
Furthermore, she is as mindless as anyone else under the spotlight for her “art.” How long will she last? God, I hope very shortly, at this rate it is evident her only appeal is to young teens, and those mindless enough to find this as tasteful, original music.
Poor girl, she’ll be sacking groceries one day without a cent of what she made the label she’s signed to. Dumb bitch.
Also, you may want to revise your article for syntax and punctation, just saying.
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Even my 65 year old father noticed that Ke$ha’s song; “Tik Tok” was a rip-off of “Tthhee Ppaarrttyy” by Justice (feat. Uffie). He also said that her voice distortion in the song reminded him of Cher (lol).
I also think it’s funny that the name of the song “Tik Tok” sounds like “Pop the Glock”. As for “Blah Blah Blah”, I can’t be bothered wasting my time listening to it unless I have to. The only reason I have heard Ke$ha’s song “Tik Tok” is because I work in fashion retail and they play it in the store -.-’ (along with Lady GaGa, Brittany Spears, Flo Rida and Jessica Mauboy – no offense to anyone who enjoys their music, but I do not).
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I fail to see how this is sudden revelation. Remember how Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” has an eerie resemblance to the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Maps”? Or Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” and The Rapture’s “House of Jealous Lovers”?
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Has anybody seen the movie “Idiocracy”? If you have, do you think we might be living a script? Could it be that our music is GIVEN to us by an upper elite that depend on us to MIMIC everything we see on TV, the Radio, and all things culture because it is US that is being CULTURED? George Orwell had it right, language is being targeted and we are being phased rather quickly into a stage of LINGUISTIC MINIMALISM so that we can not even vocalize the extent that we are NOT FREE and just the laborers, made SLAVES by unfair TAXES(our time and labor in the form of money)which are used to fund the PSYCHOPATHIC ELITE who are HELLBENT on culling off the majority of the “USELESS EATERS” (US) because they say we are less evolved and only take away natural resources that belong to THEM (Psychopathic control freaks who claim divine right to rule because they think of themselves as Gods on Earth)
They are promoting a promiscuous culture from prepubescence on up because when people have tons of sex partners early, they are less likely to form the kind of bonds necessary to form a family and have kids. In the near future, the only people who will be allowed to be born will be those that are needed for specific jobs, and they will be tailor made for those jobs.
With the family unit completely destroyed, no one will be there to stick up for the individual when the state claims that your whole basis for existence is to serve THEM.
When people get embedded with MICROCHIPS soon, the elite will be that much closer to their goal of destroying originality and individuality.
Go on, listen to Ke$ha. Soon you will be brain dead too!
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Why don’t you get mad at her producer and the sound engineer? They are the ones that made the song the way it is. Can almost guarantee she didn’t touch a single thing in the control room or the mix down. They knew what would sell and they obviously succeeded.
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I see what your saying Kegan, Ke$ha’s certainly nothing new and the whole sampling of other artists music are points of contention, but you can’t lay all the blame on her. Ke$ha isn’t the first person to do this and wont be the last, also the verses of these songs are similar in theme and construct, so it’s hard to say it’s a rip off when there basically variations on a theme, no offense to the artists but that what it seems like. Ke$ha may act and sound like a trashy skank but she’s far smarter than she seems Blah Blah Blah subversive subtext for example, she just happens to dress like a dumpster whore. While her brand of drunken trollop crossed with trailer park dominatrix pop does nothing much for the improvement of modern music trust me it can be far worse than what Ke$ha’s pumping out.
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Uffie is original, she grew up in hong kong, and now resides in France. Her music is one of a kind.
She may be underground by I first heard “Pop the Glock” in 2006 and her album drops this year.
Hopefully this fake retard ke$ha will bugger off back to obscurity. She has no staying power because she’s fake and rips off talented musicians (Which she can’t even do this correctly, as uffie is clearly more talented vocally). Uffie owns ke$ha inherent sleep!
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Great review man! I feel the exact same….and what is even greater was your parody follow up article in the crapus that mocked the vacuous haters on here. When it comes down to it, Ke$ha, Uffie, Lil’ Wayne, Lil’ Jon, and Lil’ I-dont-give-two-shits, and everything on today’s pop radio will be forgotten due to their failure to provide anything remotely valuable to society. The record industry is in shambles, which allows for unknown artists to utilize social networking sites to promote their underground, more artistically stimulating sounds which results in the proliferation of independent styles to emerge. The revolution of good rap music is upon us. Just be patient!
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Kesha is a great artist. I’m such a follower. I could only wish for that kind of talent. She is hot!.
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^
what the fuck is wrong with you, Kesha is a hudge tramp, why would you be attracted to something that has sings about alchol induced raging sex parties with pride. One word best sarcasstically sums her up and its CLASSY!
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djk Reply:
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:29 pm
yea,its plain to see that the worlds population is dumbed down so much its hard to beleive.whats that new statistic,like 16 year olds no the same amount of words as an eight year old once did?its obviuos that celebraty deaths and the mindnumbing new entertainers are either oppritives or being used to make people stupid and the art as well.50 cent,swisha house,camillion,lady gaga,ect.nothing like 2-pac,dj screw and the screwed up click,nas ect.nas was right,RAP IS DEAD,and so is about 6 billion stupid people,i wont feel bad when you all go to hell.im bitter,not jealous,im glad i dont have to pay radio stations to get fame and show off for a population of retards.
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