If Kesha never released anything post-Rainbow, she’d still have one of the most triumphant careers in pop music history. Nevertheless, two years after her return to the industry, Kesha’s keeping her cadence with “Rich, White, Straight, Men,” maybe the weirdest and most truthful she’s been in her whole catalogue (and that includes the time she collaborated with 3OH!3 on a song that just tells you to shut the hell up).
Putting forth a pointed political message, the song dabbles in minimalism in a way that no other Animal, Warrior, or Rainbow song does; it’s a freaky ditty not intended for airplay or Spotify spins, but rather to make the astute observation of “What if rich, white straight men didn’t rule the world anymore?”, throwing matters of healthcare, bodily autonomy, and LGBTQIA+ rights into the mix.
The accompanying boomerang of her flipping off the camera repeatedly on YouTube echoes the dressed-down ethos of this one — this isn’t glittery album prep, it’s movement material.
Listen below.