Animal (Kesha album) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Animal is the debut studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

by American pop singer Kesha

Kesha

Kesha village is a small village nestled in the mountains of Yongshun County, northwestern Hunan province, China, located at latitude 29 05' 50", longitude 109 57' 9". The name is pronounced in Standard Chinese. The official language is Manderin Chinese....

. The album was released on January 1, 2010, by RCA Records

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

. Kesha worked with a variety of producers and writers such as Lukasz Gottwald (Dr. Luke)

Dr. Luke

Lukasz Gottwald , better known as Dr. Luke, is an American songwriter, record producer, and remixer. Luke performed with the Saturday Night Live Band for ten seasons until 2007. He has co-written and co-produced a string of commercially successful songs...

, Benny Blanco

Benny Blanco

Benjamin Levin , better known as Benny Blanco, is an American songwriter and producer from Reston, Virginia. He first came to the attention of Internet blogosphere producing a collaborative EP with Spank Rock. Working with producer Dr...

, David Gamson

David Gamson

David Gamson is a keyboardist/musician . He has worked with, among others, Ke$ha, Adam Lambert, Chaka Khan, Meshell Ndegeocello, Green Gartside, Sheila E., George Benson, Luther Vandross, Donny Osmond, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau and Roger Troutman.He is perhaps best known for his distinctive...

, Greg Kurstin

Greg Kurstin

Gregory Allen "Greg" Kurstin is an award-winning American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009 Kurstin received a Grammy Award nomination for Producer of the Year. That same year he won three Ivor Novello awards for his work with Lily Allen, including Songwriters of the Year for "The Fear"...

, Max Martin

Max Martin

Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...

, and others. Kesha had been recording demos for several years when one eventually ended up in the hands of Samantha Cox, senior director of writer/publisher relations at BMI. Cox passed along the demo and it ended up in the hands of Gottwald, who decided to have Kesha perform on the song "Right Round

Right Round

“Right Round” is a song performed by American rapper Flo Rida featuring pop singer Kesha from R.O.O.T.S., his second studio album. It was released to radio as the album's lead single on January 27, 2009 and was digitally released on February 10 by Poe Boy Entertainment and Atlantic Records...

". Within two months, the song became a hit in multiple countries around the world. The event led to Kesha being sought after by many major labels, and she eventually signed a multi-album deal with RCA Records.

The album received mixed reviews from music critics. Some appreciated its fun, carefree nature, while others dismissed it as juvenile and said that it seemed insincere. The use of Auto-Tune

Auto-Tune

Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...

on the album to alter Kesha's voice was called fun by some critics, while others found it irritating and said it made it difficult to tell if Kesha could actually sing. Lyrically, the majority of the album's songs are based on Kesha's past life experiences of love, heartbreak, boys, and having a good time. Musically, Animal draws from the dance-pop

Dance-pop

Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...

genre, while incorporating elements of electro and electropop in its production and beats. The album attained chart success, debuting at number one in Canada, the United States, and Greece, while charting within the top ten in seven other countries. Animal was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

(RIAA) for shipments of one million copies and has sold over two million copies worldwide.

Four singles were released from the album. Its lead single, "Tik Tok", was released on August 7, 2009 and was a worldwide hit, reaching number one in eleven countries. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

and stayed at the top for nine consecutive weeks. The song sold 12.8 million digital copies worldwide in 2010, making it the best selling single of the year; it sold 5,633,000 downloads in the United States alone, making it the sixth best-selling song in digital history. The album's second, third and fourth singles, "Blah Blah Blah

Blah Blah Blah (song)

"Blah Blah Blah" is a song by American recording artist Kesha from her debut album, Animal. Produced by Benny Blanco, and co-written by Kesha, Blanco, Neon Hitch and Sean Foreman, it was released as the album's second single on February 19, 2010, and features 3OH!3...

", "Your Love Is My Drug

Your Love Is My Drug

"Your Love Is My Drug" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her debut album, Animal. It was released as the album's third single on May 14, 2010. The song was written by Kesha, Pebe Sebert, with Ammo, who co-produced the song with Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco. "Your Love...

" and "Take It Off

Take It Off (song)

"Take It Off" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her debut album, Animal. The song was written by Kesha Sebert, Lukasz Gottwald and Claude Kelly and it was produced by Dr. Luke with vocal editing done by Emily Wright. It was released as the fourth and final single...

" all achieved similar success reaching the top ten in multiple countries including Australia, Canada and the United States.

Background

Kesha had been recording demos for several years, when one of her demos ended up in the hands of Samantha Cox, senior director of writer/publisher relations at BMI

Broadcast Music Incorporated

Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...

. Cox, who had worked with Kesha before, passed along the demos to a friend at BMI, who passed it to the manager of Lukasz Gottwald, known as Dr. Luke

Dr. Luke

. At the age of eighteen, Kesha signed to Dr. Luke's label, Kemosabe Records, and his publishing company, Prescription Songs. Luke was busy with other projects at the time, and Kesha ultimately wound up signed to David Sonenberg

David Sonenberg

David Sonenberg is known for being the founder of the music management label DAS Communications. Sonenberg also dabbled in the film industry as the producer of the Academy Award winning film When We Were Kings....

's management company, DAS. While at DAS she worked with several top writers and producers, but rarely worked with or even spoke to Luke. DAS searched for a label deal for Kesha despite her still being in a signed contract with Luke. Kara DioGuardi, an artists and repertoire (A&R) representative for Warner, was also interested in signing Kesha but the deal never went through because of the outstanding contract with Luke. Shortly after, Kesha and DAS parted ways and Kesha wound up reunited with Luke. At the end of 2008, Luke was working on a track with Flo Rida

Flo Rida

Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...

called "Right Round

Right Round

", and the two decided they needed a female hook

Hook (music)

A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...

. Luke decided to have Kesha perform on the song and within two months, it was a number one hit in multiple countries around the world. The event led to Kesha being sought after by many major labels, and she eventually signed a multi-album deal with RCA Records

RCA Records

. Kesha explained that she chose to sign with the company due to how well she got along with RCA A&R executive Rani Hancock, explaining that "Rani doesn't ever try to censor me, [...] and I like being surrounded by strong, intelligent women."

Development and inspiration

Kesha had been working on Animal for seven years prior to its release, and had written over 200 songs for the album. The abundance of material extended it from its originally planned twelve tracks to fourteen. Kesha felt that the album had an empowering, carefree message for young women. "For girls, I think it's an empowering record, it's funny, it's cheeky," she said. "I think people need to have fun with whatever they're doing—makeup, their clothes, music, live shows—anything you don't need to take too seriously, don't take too seriously." When asked how the album related to her life, Kesha explained that the album was completely autobiographical. "I just write about what I live—literally, [...] I think there's a great pop song in anything and everything, any situation." She cites her songs "Stephen" and "Dinosaur" as examples of this. She explained: "it's about this guy I've been stalking since I was 15. I wrote the song when I was 16 with my mom, and I was like, "This song's so dope, I know it is". "Dinosaur" came "about [when] this old guy who was hitting on me, and his toupee was kind of falling off, and I was like, "Oh my God, you're so old, you're prehistoric, you're like a dinosaur. D-I-N-O-S-A-you are a dinosaur." Explaining the reasoning behind the title track being placed at the end of the album's tracklist, Kesha said:

"I believe, sonically, the next record might be going. Me and my brother had a silly punk band before, and I loved pop music and I liked catchy music, but I think I also am possessed to be what some critics might deem as silly pop music. I think I have more shit to offer, so I think that "Animal" is a nice segue into the next record, hopefully."

Composition

Musically, Animal is of the dance-pop genre, while incorporating elements of electro and electropop in its production and beats. Kesha's vocals uses Auto-Tune

Auto-Tune

and vocoder

Vocoder

A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...

s to alter her voice and includes samples

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

. David Jeffries of Allmusic noted that the album lyrically revolves around avoiding reality with a preference for a "garbage chic" life, with lyrics such as "Maybe I need some rehab

Drug rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...

, or maybe just need some sleep" from the opening song "Your Love Is My Drug". Lyrically, the majority of the album's songs are based on Kesha's past life experiences of love, heartbreak, boys, and having a good time. "Your Love Is My Drug

Your Love Is My Drug

" is a dance song that is layered with a heavy electronic backdrop. Her vocals throughout the song have been described as a shouty sing-speak style. Musically, the song uses a simple, upbeat lyric line. On "Tik Tok" Kesha uses a spoken word rap style on the verses while the chorus is sung. According to her the lyrics are representative of herself, stating "it's about my life, it's 100 per cent me". "Take It Off" has been described as "a heavily Auto-Tuned reworking" of "There's a Place in France

The Streets of Cairo, or the Poor Little Country Maid

"The Streets of Cairo, or the Poor Little Country Maid", also known as "the snake charmer song", is a well-known melody in the United States. Alternate titles for children's songs using this melody include "The Girls in France" and "The Southern Part of France".- History :Purportedly the original...

".

"Kiss n Tell"'s lyrics depict a tale of the "“slutty” ex of [Kesha] [who is] spreading his wild oats around the town" "Stephen" is opened in "Kansas

Kansas (band)

Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...

-style vocal harmonies" as Kesha sings about an unattainable lover depicting their story. "Blah Blah Blah" combines heavy use of Auto-Tune

Auto-Tune

with drum machines while infusing hints of R&B

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

. Lyrically, "Blah Blah Blah" depicts a woman who would rather have sex than listen to a man speak. "Dinosaur" features a whistle-synth infused backing while the lyrics describe the story of older men hitting on younger girls. "Party At A Rich Dude's House" is reminiscent of music from the 1980's which according to Jeffries could have appeared on the soundtrack to the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...

. "Boots & Boys" is a "lusty" song reminiscent of INXS

INXS

INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...

's "Suicide Blonde

Suicide Blonde

"Suicide Blonde" is the title of the first single from the INXS album X. It reached the top 10 on the US Hot 100 and Australia in 1990 and reached a peak of #11 in the UK.-Writing and recording:...

", but from a female point of view.

Critical reception

Animal received mixed reviews from music critics upon its release. The album holds a score 54 out of 100 based on 18 critical reviews, according to the music review aggregator Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

. Ann Powers

Ann Powers

Ann Powers is an American writer and pop music critic.Powers has been writing about popular music and society since the early 1980s...

of the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

stated that Kesha was "offer[ing] a thoroughly fleshed-out character to embrace or despise," comparing her persona to "classic screwball blond[s]" such as Jean Harlow

Jean Harlow

Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...

and Mae West

Mae West

Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....

, while praising her and Dr. Luke for "refashion[ing] the screwball heroine role to suit a new era of aggressive superficiality and libertine self-empowerment". Her conclusion about Kesha and the album was that "[h]er total commitment to the deliberately stupid script Animal provides makes [the album] work." Ailbhe Malone of NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

gave Animal a mixed review but concluded that "[b]eneath the patina of skeezy Freshers'-Week-LOLZ lyrics ('got a water-bottle full of whiskey in my handbag')" it seems there "lies a talent." Andrew Burgess of musicOMH

MusicOMH

musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...

was impressed with Kesha, calling her an "auto-tuned talk-singing, gum-smacker" that may well be "a pop-genius, a gutter-glam Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...

." He described the album as "an infectiously good dance-pop album." Daniel Brockman of The Phoenix

The Phoenix (newspaper)

The Phoenix is the name of several alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts including the Boston Phoenix, the Providence Phoenix, the Portland Phoenix and the now-defunct Worcester Phoenix...

thought that the album was "a clear subversion of pop norms" with "effortless hooks".

Monica Herrera of Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

commented that the prevalent use of Auto-Tune

Auto-Tune

on Kesha's vocals made it difficult to tell if she could actually sing, citing the song "Take It Off" as an example of "how easily individuality can get lost in a sea of Auto-Tune". On the other hand, Herrera was impressed with the "choruses that stick with the listener for days." David Jeffries of Allmusic was not impressed with the album's ballads, calling them "completely unsatisfying." However, he noted "that with so many fun, 'Tik Tok'-type tracks, the album has plenty for both brats and the bratty at heart." James Reed of The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

believed that Kesha's "personality is completely missing from [the songs]," resulting in her sounding "vapid and faceless." Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine

Slant Magazine

Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...

was extremely critical of the album and Kesha, saying that her attempts to sing and rap were "pitiful", describing her as "insincere" and "souless". Dave Simpson of The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

also questioned the honesty of her lyrics while comparing her unfavorably to Lady Gaga

Lady GaGa

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...

, Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...

, and Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

Commercial performance

In the United States, Animal debuted at number one on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

on the week of January 23, 2010 with sales of 152,000 (setting a record for digital sales of a number one album, at 76%). With "Tik Tok" occupying the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

at the same time, Kesha became the first act to achieve this feat since 2008 when Spirit

Spirit (Leona Lewis album)

Spirit is the debut album by British singer Leona Lewis, released by Syco Music in November 2007 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, followed by a worldwide release during early 2008...

and "Bleeding Love

Bleeding Love

"Bleeding Love" is a pop/R&B ballad co-written by Jesse McCartney and Ryan Tedder and produced by Tedder for British singer Leona Lewis's debut album, Spirit. The song is the album's lead single , released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in October 2007...

" by Leona Lewis

Leona Lewis

Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer and songwriter. Lewis first came to prominence in 2006 when she won the third series of the British television series The X Factor....

simultaneously held the pole positions. At the end of 2010, the album ranked at position twenty on Billboards year end chart. Animal became the tenth best selling album in the US in 2010, selling 1.14 million copies that year. In October, 2010, the album received platinum certification

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...

by the Recording Industry Association of America

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

(RIAA) for shipment of 1,000,000 units and has since sold 1.2 million copies in the country alone.

In Canada, the album debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart

Canadian Albums Chart

The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...

with sales of 16,000, later going on to become the biggest-selling digital album in the country. On the Canadian album year end chart the album ranked at position twelve. In May 2011, the album was certified double platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association

Canadian Recording Industry Association

Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...

(CRIA) for shipment of 160,000 units. The album was released a month later in the United Kingdom and debuted at number eight on the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

.

In Australia, the album debuted at number four, where it stayed consecutively for two weeks before falling to the number five position. On the countries 2010 year end chart the album ranked at position eleven. The album has since been certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association

Australian Recording Industry Association

The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

(ARIA) for sales of 140,000 copies. Animal was released on January 11, 2010 in New Zealand and debuted and peaked at number six. The album was listed at position thirty on New Zealand's 2010, year end chart. It has since been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand

The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...

(RIANZ) for sales of 7,500 units. As of September 2010, the album has sold two million copies worldwide.

Singles

"Tik Tok" was released as the album's lead single commercially worldwide on August 7, 2009, through digital distribution. Upon its release the single generated mixed to generally positive reviews. Critics generally praised the lyrics and celebration of party lifestyle; the song's production was generally well received although some critics criticized the song for sounding irritating and being too similar to other tracks performed by the likes of Lady Gaga

Lady GaGa

and Uffie

Uffie

Anna-Catherine Hartley , better known by her stage name Uffie , is a Paris-based underground electronic musician, rapper, fashion designer and socialite signed to French electronic music record label Ed Banger Records. She has been described as a muse for French DJs, and is known for working with...

. The song achieved commercial success by topping charts in eleven countries, as well as reaching the top ten in many other countries. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed at the top for nine consecutive weeks. "Tik Tok" had sold over 5,633,000 downloads in the United States alone, making it the sixth best-selling song in digital history. The song sold 12.8 million digital copies worldwide in 2010, making it the best selling single of the year, trumping the previous year's song by more than three million downloads. "Blah Blah Blah

Blah Blah Blah (song)

" was released as the second single from the album on February 19, 2010. It had charted before being released in the album's debut week along with two other non-singles in the United States due to strong digital downloads. The song also debuted and peaked in the top ten in three other countries under similar circumstances, only improving upon its peak in Australia. The single was met with mixed reaction from music critics, some praised Kesha's unapologetic lyrics combined with an auto-tuned working hook, while others called it trashy. Although reviews were mainly positive, a common complaint amongst critics was the appearance of 3OH!3

3OH!3

3OH!3 is an American electro hop duo from Boulder, Colorado, made up of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte. They are best known for their single "Don't Trust Me" from their album Want, which reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100...

.

"Your Love Is My Drug

Your Love Is My Drug

" was released as the album's third single. The song generated generally positive reviews from music critics. Critics complimented the song for its strong hook, but had mixed reactions about the chorus. Kesha was praised for knowing her way around a "strong pop chorus", while others critics called it predictable and dull. It reached the top ten in the United States, Canada, and Australia—peaking at number four, six and three—giving her her third consecutive top ten hit in all regions. The single reached the top ten in five countries. "Take It Off

Take It Off (song)

" was released on July 13, 2010 as the album's fourth single. Upon its release the single generated mixed to positive reviews from music critics. A common complaint amongst critics was the demonstration of overly processed vocals with the use of auto-tune. Other critics complimented the song for its carefree dance feel and its catchiness. Due to strong digital sales from the release of Animal, the song charted in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada before being announced as a single. After being released as a single the song reached the top ten in Canada, Australia and the United States. It has also reached the top twenty in Ireland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Marketing and promotion

RCA noticed Kesha's strong following on social media when negotiating her contract and thus relied on viral marketing

Viral marketing

Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...

to build a following for her debut single, "Tik Tok

TiK ToK

"Tik Tok" is the debut single by American recording artist Kesha. The song was produced by Benny Blanco and Dr. Luke and co-written by Blanco, Dr. Luke and Kesha. It was released on August 7, 2009 as the lead single from Kesha's debut studio album, Animal...

" offering it for free a month before releasing it for digital download. "Tik Tok" was released for digital download in August 2009 and reached number one on iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

in New Zealand without radio airplay. Radio stations soon began expressing interest in the song, but RCA/Jive Label Group chairman/CEO Barry Weiss

Barry Weiss

Barry Weiss is an American music executive. He is the current Chairman & CEO of Island Def Jam Motown Music Group and Universal Republic. He served as chairman and CEO of RCA/Jive Label Group from 2008 to 2011 and was also the CEO of its constituent Jive Records from 1991 to 2011...

decided to delay its shipping to radio by a month, to October, to let the song continue to build viral support digitally and good word of mouth

Word of mouth

Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...

. While "Tik Tok"'s airplay was not stellar right out of the gates, it soon gained enough momentum to give RCA the go ahead to release Animal in January 2010. Finance executives had pushed for a Christmas release to capitalize on the usual strong sales during that time period, but Weiss thought that the album would be lost in the shuffle among the many other releases released at that time. RCA were also aware that Kesha could possibly only be able to sell singles and not albums and thus decided to price the album at $6.99 on iTunes to attract younger buyers.

To promote the album, Kesha did several performances worldwide. Her first performance was on MTV Push, a program broadcast on MTV Networks

MTV Networks

MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...

worldwide. She made several television appearances across North America to promote the album: It's On with Alexa Chung

It's On with Alexa Chung

It's On with Alexa Chung was an American live interactive talk and variety program that aired weekdays on MTV from June 15 to December 17, 2009...

, The Wendy Williams Show

The Wendy Williams Show

The Wendy Williams Show is a syndicated talk show hosted by Wendy Williams that premiered on July 14, 2008, as six-week sneak peek, in Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City. The test run was picked up for a full season that began its run on July 13, 2009 in over 70% of the country in...

, Lopez Tonight

Lopez Tonight

Lopez Tonight was an American late-night television talk show hosted by comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican American to host a late-night talk show on an English-language network in the United States. The...

, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....

, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009 to January 22, 2010 as part of NBC's long-running Tonight Show franchise...

, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...

. "Blah Blah Blah" was performed on January 18, 2010 at MuchOnDemand

MuchOnDemand

MuchOnDemand was an hour-long per broadcast viewer interactive television program aired on MuchMusic, Monday through Friday at 5pm ET. It was broadcast live from the Much broadcasting studio on 299 Queen Street West in Toronto. The Best of MuchOnDemand, aired Sundays at 10am ET, highlighting the...

. While in the United Kingdom, Kesha made two appearances on television to promote the album and "Blah Blah Blah". The first was on February 18, 2010, on Alan Carr: Chatty Man

Alan Carr: Chatty Man

Alan Carr: Chatty Man is a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Alan Carr. The award-winning show is on Channel 4. The show features interviews with celebrity guests, sketches, topical chat and music....

. It was followed by a performance on breakfast television show GMTV

GMTV

GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

, on February 19. The song was also performed live on American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

on March 17, 2010. She wore her trademark glitter eye make-up and bounced throughout the stage while her backup dancers were dressed as human TV sets showing intermittent images of the American flag, owls, and skulls. The performance was accompanied by 3OH!3.

Kesha performed "Your Love Is My Drug" and "Tik Tok" on Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

on April 17, 2010. On May 29, 2010, Kesha performed "Your Love Is My Drug" alongside her previous single "Tik Tok" at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan

MTV Video Music Awards Japan

The MTV Video Music Awards Japan are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards.Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online voting from the same channel viewers...

. She performed a set for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. On August 13, 2010 Kesha performed "Take It Off" alongside earlier singles "Your Love Is My Drug" and "Tik Tok" on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

's Today. In the performance she was seen wearing boots, fishnets, glitter shorts and a loose tank top. By the second verse, her dancers – dressed head to toe in black – started to appropriately undress to the music as the chorus starts revealing gold shirts and tank-tops. The performance featured smoke machines with Kesha playing notes on an electric keyboard while crawling on the floor. Her performance of "Backstabber" for the Bud Light Hotel Super Bowl event on February 5, 2011 was broadcast on February 9 on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...

Track listing

Animal + Cannibal

Originally planned to only be a re-release of Animal, Cannibal was instead released both as a deluxe edition of Animal as well as a stand alone EP. The EP has been classified as a follow up "nine-song companion" record to Animal. Cannibal was originally intended to contain anywhere between four to eight tracks with the final outcome consisting of eight tracks and one previously heard song remixed, for a total of nine tracks.

Personnel

Matt Beckley – engineer
Benny Blanco
Benny Blanco
Benjamin Levin , better known as Benny Blanco, is an American songwriter and producer from Reston, Virginia. He first came to the attention of Internet blogosphere producing a collaborative EP with Spank Rock. Working with producer Dr...

– drums, keyboards, programming, producer, engineer, instrumentation
Anita Marisa Boriboon – art direction, design
Graham Bryce – background vocals
Joshua Coleman
Ammo (musician)
Ammo is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. In November 2008, Ammo was signed to producer Dr. Luke's publishing company Prescription Songs as an exclusive producer and songwriter...

– composer
Emily De Groot – stylist
Megan Dennis – production coordination
Shelby Duncan – photography
Eric Eylands – assistant
Sarai Fiszel – make-up
Sean Foreman
3OH!3
3OH!3 is an American electro hop duo from Boulder, Colorado, made up of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte. They are best known for their single "Don't Trust Me" from their album Want, which reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100...

– composer
David Gamson
David Gamson
David Gamson is a keyboardist/musician . He has worked with, among others, Ke$ha, Adam Lambert, Chaka Khan, Meshell Ndegeocello, Green Gartside, Sheila E., George Benson, Luther Vandross, Donny Osmond, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau and Roger Troutman.He is perhaps best known for his distinctive...

– composer, programming, producer, engineer, instrumentation
Chris Gehringer – mastering
Serban Ghenea
Serban Ghenea
Serban Ghenea is a four-time Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award-winning mixer. He has mixed songs for such artists as Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Jewel, Santana, Ozomatli, Shakira, Jill Scott, R. Kelly, Rod Stewart, and Dave Matthews Band...

– mixing
Erwin Gorostiza – creative director
Aniela Gottwald – background vocals, assistant
Lukasz "Doctor Luke" Gottwald
Dr. Luke
Lukasz Gottwald , better known as Dr. Luke, is an American songwriter, record producer, and remixer. Luke performed with the Saturday Night Live Band for ten seasons until 2007. He has co-written and co-produced a string of commercially successful songs...

– composer, guitar, drums, keyboards, programming, producer, engineer, executive producer, vocal editing, background vocals
Tatiana Gottwald – background vocals, assistant
Rani Hancock – artists and repertoire
John Hanes – engineer
Neon Hitch
Neon Hitch
Neon Hitch is a British singer and songwriter. She was signed to Mike Skinner and Ted Mayhem's label, The Beats, before it closed down. She was later discovered on MySpace by Benny Blanco who flew her to New York to work with him. Their work together earned her a music publishing deal with EMI and...

– composer
Sam Holland – engineer
Jim Hynes – trumpet

Jon Ingoldsby – composer
Clarke Kelly – composer
Claude Kelly
Claude Kelly
Claude Kelly is an American singer-songwriter. He has a prolific discography, well known for writing for artists such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Jordin Sparks, Kelly Clarkson, Jay Sean, Adam Lambert, Jessie J and Charice.-Career:He began playing the piano...

– composer, background vocals
Greg Kurstin
Greg Kurstin
Gregory Allen "Greg" Kurstin is an award-winning American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009 Kurstin received a Grammy Award nomination for Producer of the Year. That same year he won three Ivor Novello awards for his work with Lily Allen, including Songwriters of the Year for "The Fear"...

– composer, keyboards, programming, producer, engineer
Oliver Leiber – composer, producer, engineer
Benjamin Levin – composer
Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...

– composer, keyboards, producer, engineer
Ramsell Martinez – hair stylist
Marc Nelkin – composer
Miriam Nervo – composer, background vocals, vocal producer
Olivia Nervo – composer, background vocals, vocal producer
Tom Neville – arranger, composer, producer, engineer, instrumentation
The Pickleheadz – background vocals
Tim Roberts – mixing assistant
Becky Scott – production coordination
Kesha Sebert
Kesha
Kesha village is a small village nestled in the mountains of Yongshun County, northwestern Hunan province, China, located at latitude 29 05' 50", longitude 109 57' 9". The name is pronounced in Standard Chinese. The official language is Manderin Chinese....

– vocals, composer, accordion, cowbell, whistle
Pebe Sebert – composer
Shellback
Shellback (songwriter)
Karl Johan Schuster , better known by his stage name Shellback, is a songwriter, record producer and musician from Karlshamn, Sweden...

– composer, programming, producer, engineer, instrumentation, whistle
Vanessa Silberman – production assistant, production coordination
Gary "G" Silver – production coordination
Andrew Snitzer – saxophone
Yasmin Than – stylist
Seth Waldmann – engineer
Emily Wright – engineer, vocal editing

Source

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! width="230px"| Chart (2010)
! Peak
position
|-
|Australian Albums Chart

ARIA Charts

The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

|align="center"|4
|-
|Austrian Albums Chart

Ö3 Austria Top 40

Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...

|align="center"|4
|-
|Belgian Albums Chart

Ultratop

Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...

(Flanders)
|align="center"|32
|-
|Belgian Albums Chart

Ultratop

Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...

(Wallonia)
|align="center"|22
|-
|Brazilian Albums Chart
|align="center"|16
|-
|Canadian Albums Chart

Canadian Albums Chart

|align="center"|1
|-
|Dutch Albums Chart

MegaCharts

MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top...

|align="center"|52
|-
|Finnish Albums Chart
|align="center"|43
|-
|French Albums Chart

Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique

The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...

|align="center"|11
|-
|German Albums Chart

Media Control Charts

The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

|align="center"|7
|-
|Greek Albums Chart

IFPI Greece

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece or IFPI Greece is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Greece. Currently two charts are compiled, one for sales of...

|align="center"|1
|-
|Irish Albums Chart

Irish Albums Chart

The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...

|align="center"|8
|-
|Italian Albums Chart

Federation of the Italian Music Industry

The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy....

|align="center"|22
|-
| Japanese Albums Chart

Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

| align="center"|3
|-
|Mexican Albums Chart
|align="center"|27
|-
|New Zealand Albums Chart

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand

The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...

|align="center"|6
|-
|Norwegian Albums Chart

VG-lista

VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...

|align="center"|36
|-
|Polish Albums Chart

Polish Music Charts

The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies...

| style="text-align:center;"|44
|-
|Spanish Albums Chart
|align="center"|62
|-
|Swiss Albums Chart

Swiss Music Charts

The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

|align="center"|3
|-
|UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

|align="center"|8
|-
|US Billboard 200

Billboard 200

|align="center"|1
|-

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!scope="col" style="width:16em;"|Chart (2010)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
|Australian Albums Chart
|align="center"|11
|-
|Canadian Albums Chart
|align="center"|12
|-
|New Zealand Albums Chart
|align="center"|30
|-
|UK Albums Chart
|align="center"|84
|-
|US Billboard 200
|align="center"|20
|}

Certifications

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Country
! Certifications
|-
||Australia

Australian Recording Industry Association

|2× Platinum
|-
|Austria
|Gold
|-
||Canada

Canadian Recording Industry Association

|2× Platinum
|-
|Germany
|Gold
|-
||Ireland

International Recording Media Association

The International Recording Media Association , previously known as the International Tape Association , is an international trade association dealing with every facet of recording, media and related industries...

|Gold
|-
|Japan

Recording Industry Association of Japan

The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry...

|Gold
|-
|New Zealand

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand

The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...

|Gold
|-
|United States

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

|Platinum
|}

Release history

Standard edition
{| class="wikitable"
! Region
! Date
! Label
|-
|-
| Denmark
| rowspan="3" | January 1, 2010
| rowspan="6" | Sony Music

Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....

|-
| Italy
|-
| Philippines
|-
| South Korea
| January 4, 2010
|-
| Canada
| rowspan="3" | January 5, 2010
|-
| Spain
|-
| United States
| RCA

RCA Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

Sony Music Entertainment Japan

is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....

|-
| Australia
| July 16, 2010
| Sony Music
|}
Animal + Cannibal
{|class="wikitable"
! Region
! Date
! Label
|-
|-
| Australia
| November 19, 2010
| rowspan="5"|Sony Music Entertainment
|-
|Canada
|rowspan="5"|November 22, 2010
|-
| Philippines
|-
| New Zealand
|-
| South Korea
|-
|United States
|RCA Records
|-
|Brazil
|December 20, 2010
|Sony Music Entertainment
|-
|United Kingdom
|January 31, 2011
|Columbia
|}

External links

Ke$ha Music, Ke$ha Animal, Ke$ha Singles

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