The new Ke$ha and Iggy Pop collaboration is embarrassing for everyone involved

by Aaron Zorgel

November 27, 2012

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Ke$ha has promised a “cock-pop” reinvention on her new album Warrior, meaning that her new sound aims to fuse the unbridled lasciviousness of eighties hair metal with the pre-defined glittery electro-pop template she’s been using since 2010’s Animal. Though it’s an anthemic pop radio triumph, “Die Young” is the only offering we’ve been able to sample from Warrior so far, and quite franky, there’s not a lot of “cock” in that pop. Aesthetically, it’s fairly identical to any other Ke$ha single released in the past three years.

Now that Ke$ha has made Warrior available to stream for free via iTunes, we’re getting a sneak-peek at the bigger picture. With collaborators like Patrick Carney from The Black Keys, Wayne Coyne, Ben Folds, and even the iconic rock gargoyle Iggy Pop, there’s gotta be an increased rock ‘n roll presence on Ke$ha’s new album, right? And if there is, is the genre amalgam successful?

Since “Past Lives” (produced by Wayne Coyne, co-written by Ke$ha, Wayne Coyne, Ben Folds, and Steven Drozd) is only available on the deluxe edition of Warrior as a bonus track, it’s not available on the iTunes preview. So, even though we’re insanely curious to see what that sounds like, we’ll have to reserve judgement for now. As far as the Iggy Pop collaboration goes, you can hear it in all its glory below. Brace yourselves. Skip to the one minute mark if you just want to hear Iggy Pop’s verse. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you “Dirty Love” by Ke$ha, featuring Iggy Pop:

So wrong on so many levels. Though their reckless ways and a common lust for life might make them kindred spirits (age is just a number, right?), Iggy Pop sounds depressingly out of place and out of touch on this bouncy, plastic faux-rock instrumental. It might have worked the other way around — maybe have Ke$ha wailing in the background on a song with some actual guitars in it — there’s nothing redeemable about this abomination. And we won’t even get into Iggy’s lyrics. To be fair, Mr. Pop’s track record for collaborations hasn’t exactly been spotless. Does anyone remember “Little Know It All,” featuring Deryck Whibley from Sum-41?

After a quick sampling of the Warrior iTunes stream, “Dirty Love” seems to be the only major departure from Ke$ha’s “Tik-Tok” palette. This should be no surprise, since Dr. Luke produced ten of the album’s twelve tracks, with Max Martin (Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, every pop song ever) stepping in for one, and Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen) for another. Unless Ke$ha has some successful cock-pop surprises on the deluxe edition’s bonus tracks, it’s looking like her dreams of reinventing herself were scrapped in favour of her tried-and-true formula for radio domination. And if “Dirty Love” is any indication, that might be a good thing for our ears.

Tags: Music, News, Dr. Luke, Greg Kurstin, Iggy Pop, Ke$ha, Max Martin

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