Ke$ha Vs P!nk

The world changed forever on Friday when the lead single from Ke$ha's "Animal" re-release was unveiled. I fully expected the voice of our generation to deliver the goods but "We R Who We R" raises the bar of musical perfection even higher than I thought possible. Ke$ha's new anthem offers a riveting insight into the human condition with its touching message of acceptance and revelatory lyrics about social mores. But it's not all deep and meaningful. The diva's angelic vocals and Max Martin or Dr Luke's (it's still unclear who oversaw this masterpiece) crisp production make "We R Who We R" more infectious than herpes and a late contender for single of the year. It's official. Ke$ha is the new Queen of electro-pop! I was originally going to write about the fact that Gaga and Robyn have both been made redundant in one fell swoop but I thought I'd compare "We R Who We R" with P!nk's latest single "Raise Your Glass". Both tracks were apparently conceived by the same producers and examine similar themes - yet Ke$ha takes pop music to exhilarating new highs on her sure to be #1 smash hit, while P!nk's stillborn party anthem covers the same ground as her last ten singles. It was always going to be hard for P!nk to compete with a living legend but I honestly didn't think the outcome would be this one sided.

In the name of scientific research I've decided to break this down into categories. Starting with:

1. The Cover Art

The "We R Who We R" cover is truly iconic. It vividly captures Ke$ha's raw beauty and brooding sex appeal, while P!nk looks like a slightly more masculine version of Adam Lambert on hers. I note she's also hired Mariah's army of photoshop experts, while the realest girl in pop since Mutya wears her freckles and glorious rat's nest as a badge of pride. Ke$ha is such an inspiration!

2. Lyrics

As I mentioned earlier both songs cover similar territory. For want of a better description, they are both party anthems that urge the listener to embrace who they are and just have fun. However, the execution is quite different. P!nk promotes the irresponsible consumption of alcohol to convey her message on "Raise Your Glass", while Ke$ha not only finds religion ("Got Jesus on my necklace") - she also gives her fans a step by step guide to having a good night out. Take her stunning fashion advice:

I’ve got that glitter on my eyes
Stockings ripped all up the side
Looking sick and sexy-fied

She then outlines the perfect night out:

We’re sellin’ our clothes, sleepin’ in cars
Dressin’ it down, hittin’ on dudes (HARD!)

Amazing! On the other hand all P!nk can offer is this:

Don’t be fancy, just get dancey

EPIC FAIL. I think "Raise Your Glass" is the party anthem for nanas who want to sit at home and swig Sherry. Ke$ha is so down with the youth of today!

3. Production

"We R Who We R" is a different sound for Ke$ha. It's more dance than the heavy electro of her previous singles. Some deluded H8TRZ have compared the song to Usher's "DJs Got Us Falling In Love" but Queen Ke$ha would never lower herself to jumping on someone else's bandwagon. She is the last great innovator in pop! I partiuclarly love the ingenious use of autotune and subtle splashes of rave and techno. Unfortunately, "Raise Your Glass" sounds like every other song Max Martin and Dr Luke have written for Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson. That's not necessarily a bad thing but P!nk has been recycling this sound since "I'm Not Dead". I miss the "Try This" days when she was still creative and real. As a result....

Ke$ha Wins!

Beyoncé, Britney & P!nk - Pepsi Promo

2004 was a good year. Ashlee Simpson unveiled her seminal classic "Autobiography", Gwen Stefani went solo and there was still some hope that La Toya would actually start over. It also delivered one of my favourite promotional campaigns of all time. Pepsi had been pouring millions of dollars into advertising to bridge the gap with Coke since the mid-80s. Michael Jackson was their original poster boy, the Spice Girls took over in the 90s and Shakira brought in the new millenium. You would have thought the only way was down but the soft drink giant went all out in 2004 by hiring the services of Beyoncé, Enrique Iglesias and a couple of down on their luck has-beens (Britney & P!nk).

The concept was completely ridiculous. My future husband played a Roman emperor who sits down to watch his gaggle of busty beauties fight it out in the Colosseum. However, the tables are turned and poor Enrique ends up being attacked by a lion - that is, of course, after being treated to an impromptu rendition of Queen's "We Will Rock You" by Honey B and her backing singers. They should have turned this shit into a feature film! I love the way Beyoncé steals the show with her raw sex appeal (despite that fugly headpiece) and vastly superior vocals. It was so nice of the charitable diva to carry the other hacks who were struggling with flop albums at the time. Better yet were the promo CDs. Pepsi released four that I'm aware of - one for each of the girls and a fourth with the whole group. Hell, Solange even got a look in on the Bey edition! Check out the commercial (below). Time has not wearied its fabulousness.

Wasted Singles - Vol. 2

I guess it's a bit pointless to talk about wasted singles from a multi-million selling smash hit album but that's never stopped me in the past. So here goes. Contrary to popular belief, I love P!nk. In fact, I was a full blown stan circa "Try This" but - as is often the case with me - I started to lose interest when she blew up. That didn't stop me buying all the singles from "I'm Not Dead" and "Funhouse", not to mention seeing her in concert half a dozen times. Of those two career making blockbusters, I vastly prefer the former. To my ears, "Funhouse" is a lazy re-hash of "I'm Not Dead" for the countries that missed out on the "I'm Not Dead" hysteria that swept through Australia like a bushfire in January. It worked a treat but there are only a handful of songs that made my P!nk playlist. The singles were particularly hit and miss. I like "So What", love "Please Don't Leave Me" and outright worship "I Don't Believe You" but the rest left a lot to be desired. "Sober", "Bad Influence" and "Funhouse"? Bitch, please. Why bother with that shit when you have a gem like "It's All Your Fault" gathering dust on the album?

It's all your fault, you called me beautiful
You turned me out and now I can't turn back

I don't know where to start with "It's All Your Fault". It's one of those tracks that cuts a little too close to the bone and drifts in and out of my life depending on my mood and general level of crazy. P!nk eloquently captures a sense of frustration and confusion that is rarely expressed in popular music. "It's All Your Fault" isn't an angry fuck off anthem or a pathetic plea to be loved. Girlfriend just wants to know where she stands. Not that it's all deep and meaningful. Produced by Swedish maestro Max Martin, this gem is every bit as catchy - if not more so - than the singles that were lifted from the album. The simple "da da da" hook does the trick and she tears the chorus up. I love P!nk's voice on this. She sounds amazing when she rocks out instead of pulling back as she does on lo-fi crap like "Crystal Ball" and "Glitter In The Air". Leave that for the lesbian singer-songwriters who don't know any better! I have no idea why "It's All Your Fault" was ignored by the record company. Maybe they wanted to leave at least one good song on the album, so people didn't demand a refund. As such, there is no video but I found this fan made clip on YouTube and it does the trick. A couple more tracks like this on her next opus and I'll happily jump back on the bandwagon.

NEW VIDEOS

Paramore - Decode ( Rage Rip ) ( 64.3MB )
Paramore - Decode ( Rage Rip ) ( 64.3MB )

P!nk - Sober ( Rage Rip ) ( 36.6MB )
P!nk - Sober ( Rage Rip ) ( 36.6MB )

Craig David - Insomnia ( Rage Rip ) ( 41.0MB )
Craig David - Insomnia ( Rage Rip ) ( 41.0MB )