The diva shows off a new, polished look. In real life, she says, "my makeup is usually left over from the night before." (Ha!)
If you've been on a dance floor—any dance floor—since 2009, then you're familiar with Ke$ha, she of "TiK ToK," "Your Love Is My Drug" and all that tribal makeup. Also glitter. Lots and lots of glitter. But when we busted out the makeup remover for this shoot, we discovered: There is a real girl underneath. And she has freckles! And hates it when people stiff waitresses. Hard at work on her upcoming rock album, this 24-year-old icon-in-the-making (born Kesha Sebert, no dollar sign, and raised in Nashville) turned down the insanely loud volume that is her life to talk, really talk, with us.
GLAMOUR: You were cranking some rock during your Glamour photo shoot. I've heard your new album is going to be much more rock 'n' roll.
KE$HA: People say that rock 'n' roll is dead, and I am making it my mission to resurrect it. I have rock 'n' roll pumping through my veins.
GLAMOUR: Do you think it's harder to succeed in rock as a woman?
KE$HA: I know that I have balls. I have bigger balls than a lot of the men that I meet. I'm just a ballsy motherf--ker. I'm not afraid of pushing boundaries. That's what you have to do to become an icon.
GLAMOUR: Women seem to be taking over pop music right now: you, Gaga, Rihanna, Katy Perry.... Why do you think that is?
KE$HA: I definitely think women are running it right now. We are not afraid to speak our minds. It's exciting because that's what I stand for, for people to be irreverent and to be themselves.
GLAMOUR: How big's the gap between Ke$ha in real life and Ke$ha onstage, drinking men's blood and dancing with a giant bouncing penis?
KE$HA: I'm just very amused by five-year-old humor. Don't get me wrong: I do destroy men on a weekly basis. It's like a hobby. I'm like a praying mantis. They f--k me, and then I eat them. But who isn't amused by a giant, dancing penis? Sometimes when I'm sad, I make my assistant put on the penis outfit and bounce around my house.
GLAMOUR: You generate such strong reactions—positive and negative. Your Twitter handle, @keshasuxx, is a joke on that, right?
KE$HA: I'm just taking the piss out of all of it. You have to have a sense of humor about life to get through it.
GLAMOUR: You've said you're attuned to people. What turns you off?
KE$HA: I was dating a guy once who spoke rudely to a taxi driver. I got out of the cab and walked home. Treat people with respect. I've waited tables, and that's why I just exceedingly overtip. It's exhausting work.
GLAMOUR: Why do you usually break it off with a guy?
KE$HA: I'm in the middle of writing a new record. I'm taking so many different instrument lessons. I'm also designing animal-friendly jewelry and a fake-fur line. So if a man is not, like, the second coming, then what's the point? I have other s--t to do.
GLAMOUR: What instruments?
KE$HA:: Guitar. I need to be badass.
GLAMOUR: Your fans have such a crazy dedication to you.
KE$HA: The people who come to my shows have dollar signs drawn all over them. They have blue lipstick. I call them my animals because they just go totally mental.
GLAMOUR: Are you going to keep rocking the body paint?
KE$HA: Oh, the body paint stays. It's my favorite thing to do. Sometimes I have parties at my house in Nashville and it's clothing-optional, and we just body-paint each other and run around, and I have a giant bed. I'm very much in touch with that side of myself.
GLAMOUR: So maybe you're not all that different than you are onstage?
KE$HA: It's not a weird sex orgy thing. You can wear a bathing suit!
GLAMOUR: What do you say to all the moms who have kids running around the house singing, "Brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack," from "TiK ToK"?
KE$HA: Parents should not let them listen to my music if it's offensive. I wrote these songs for me.
GLAMOUR: Who are your style icons?
KE$HA: I would love to embody the attitude of Iggy Pop or Keith Richards: a ballsy mentality. Stylistically, I love Vivienne Westwood—those capes! I'm obsessed.
GLAMOUR: Your tattered American-flag shirt is very cool.
KE$HA: I wear it all the time. It represents my freedom to speak about exactly what I want to, whenever I want to.
GLAMOUR: For this photo shoot, your look is very natural. When you're not performing, how do you feel about going outside without makeup and knowing you might get photographed?
KE$HA: My makeup is usually left over from the night before. I'm not really worried about the photographs because if I tell my fans not to give a f--k about the haters, then I have to practice what I preach. I embrace the imperfections and celebrate them.
GLAMOUR: What are your favorite beauty products? Let's start with the body paint.
KE$HA: I'm coming out with my own line. And I found Bumble and Bumble dry shampoo that is like God's gift. You don't have to shower. You just put it in and instantly look like the eighties.
GLAMOUR: So what's next?
KE$HA: Eventually, I would love to be on my deathbed and looked at as an icon. Right now I'm still at the baby stages of my career. But that is the goal.
