Nine First-Name-Only Female Artists Not Called Ke$ha

I love Aslyn from the Atlanta area.

You have wasted Paste supporters time by writing a blog about a short term pop artist that will ultimately be rapidly consumed and shat out by the 'Hot 100' followers.

I take back that last comment I left. Started writing before I got down to the female artists that you highlighted. Sorry, I guess even reading about Kesha makes me upset..haha..keep on blogging.

The closest thing I've seen to Ke$ha praise is here, though that's if you consider "this generation's Britney" to be words of praise: http://www.theawl.com/2010/01/what-is-the-deal-with-keha

notable omissions

Céu (technically a pseudonym) - from Brazil
Aşa - from Nigeria
Dezarie - from St. Croix

Blair is awesome. I've loved her stuff since I heard "Mona Lisa."

As an avid music lover and musician I can't believe you would belittle such a talented artist. Just because her sound is unique and not "cookie cutter" like many Paste musicians it does not need to be mocked. I think if Paste considered expanding their musical horizons they wouldn't be in the financial trouble that they are. Thank you.

rachel maddoix youand pate magazine are nogood about musicanymore keshia is excellent anybodythatreplace susanboyce at thetop of billboard has agood chanceof going somewhere jan212010 william weems

I love Ke$ha's Tik Tok. Pronounced(ke sh uh) It's a silly play on words that you obviously don't like from the sounds of your tone. Congrats to her. What an amazing amount of success in such a short time. Saw her at Lollaplooza this summer in the shade over at the BMI stage. It was her first live show. She's a talented writer and a hell of a performer out of Nashville that got with producer Dr. Luke and wrote a bunch of great songs that fit perfectly for top 40 radio. Who cares about if you like her or hate her. Kids love it. I heard her track 15 times in one day on in Orlando and Miami over Xmas. That's called a HIT SONG!

In reference to where she came from, well that's the beauty of radio. A catchy song w/ solid production goes a long way with the masses. People still listen to radio despite what some believe. Top 40 is top 40, it is what it is. Music one can dance to and remember easily. Same goes for Country. Can't tell you how many times I've heard girls on facebook or in the crowd quoting "Kick em to the curb if they don't look like Mick Jagger."

"Hate hit"? Come on Rachael. That's silly. You write for PASTE Magazine, notorious for it's distaste of anything poppy or often in the Top 40. Then again, I only read your boring article bc you tricked me with the title. LOL

I love Aslyn too. Let's hope she breaks out this year with her awesome duet that she did with another Atlantan having massive success at radio right now: Zac Brown

Forty, thanks for reading my boring article and answering my boring request.

I call "Tik Tok" a "hate hit" because most of what I'd heard about this girl—from people in real life and online—had been absolutely negative, even among people who do really like Top 40 music. It generally takes more than just kids liking a song to get it up there. I'm curious, though—what, specifically, do you like about the song? Even aside from her name and its name and all that, I found the song itself absolutely unpleasant, mainly because her voice was so gratingly garbled and distorted.

Also, you praise her songwriting abilities, which is fine—but can you give me an example of her work that is perhaps more representative of her skill than "I'm talking about everybody getting crunk, crunk / Boys trying to touch my junk, junk / Gonna smack him if he getting too drunk, drunk." I know that sounds like a sarcastic request, but I'm interested...

One more thing: Your impression that Paste is "notorious for it's distaste of anything poppy or often in the Top 40" strikes me as kind of funny, actually—a few of my fellow editors and I recently got reamed by some readers for expressing our love for a Miley Cyrus song (you can read more about that here). I could link you to thinks I've written about Beyonce, and things other Paste writers have done on Taylor Swift, John Mayer, Jay-Z and dozens of other mainstream artists, but that would appear patronizing, I'm sure. Radio hits aren't our bread and butter but we've never taken an active, categorical stance against "anything poppy"—often the best "pop" music is made far beyond the mainstream, but hell, Vampire Weekend is the #1 album in America this week and the band's lead singer is on our cover as we speak.

It made me really angry when she refused to eat pancakes with her family in the music video. They looked delicious.

Apologies for referring to your article as boring. Perhaps I should have said, great job, you got me to read it along with a few others and guess what, that means more page clicks for you :-)

I understand your term hate hit now so thanks for the explanation. I just didn't think it fit though. I could be wrong. In all fairness, I met Kesha this year backstage at a show and she was dope. She was comical, very respectful and loving every bit of her opportunity to perform her own songs live in front of the masses. I wanted to dislike her when she covered herself in glitter and beer but she was hilarious and an unforgettable act. Not to mention she was personable back stage.

I don't think she takes life as seriously as you do. She writes pop songs that are tailor made for tweens and the college market. One can clearly see that her label gets it too just look at her results in the ringtone and download marketplace. Shall we refer to her writing style as “shock pop/rock” I don’t know, but when I was down in Florida and heard her song everywhere I totally got it and kept smiling because she's winning in a very tough industry. Sometimes we have to visit other markets to truly understand what people enjoy listening to. We can debate payolla and all the BS behind the scenes in the radio biz: How is a hit really made etc; but really is it necessary? Tik Tok is a hit for Kesha. It's all about the song and in this case Tik Tok has great production with a killer beat and the lyrics and melody are extremely memorable and laughable. Gaga is in a slightly similar vein. I laughed when I saw her live show and her thousand odd suburbanite fans dressed in their lingerie at her concert!

Kesha's a young entertainer and knows it may be short lived. The fact is though she's on to something with some of her songs. Look around next time you go to a mall, Walmart or a movie theater. It's really sad how many women do only care about "boots and boys” I can spot them a mile away. They usually travel in groups followed by gum smacking, snickering and they are dressed in pairs of UGGlieS :-) Have you seen Jersey Shore? Explain why it’s such a phenomenon? People actually are like that!

Ok agreed her music is not deep or life changing hence your tone in the article, but my point is Kesha is probably not aiming to be serious. She took a risk with her writing style but found her audience and won! There’s always chance involved along with some marketing brilliance and in her case it all works together.

Music is subjective we can agree on that. What you and I like may be totally different but I can fairly say that the sole reason Kesha has a hit is because tons of kids and folks like myself actually like the song. It makes one laugh and most of all it’s laiden with memorable hooks that perhaps offer a satirical slant on US culture. Perhaps the character she portrays is really what you hate in her hit with Tik Tok?

The only reason I said what I said in reference to PASTE's mainstream coverage is that your magazine does have a stigma as geared more to "indie" content. That's one of the reasons why I'll occasionally read it. A quick glance so I can catch up on what your Editorial staff deems is hot from your “indie intellectual" side of the world.

I appreciate the links. I'll go read them shortly. It was great when you put Kanye and Michael Jackson on the cover a while back along with covering emerging talents like Janelle Monae.

PS Sorry I wrote a book.