Kesha Opens Up About ‘Hard-Fought’ Independence Following Dr. Luke Legal Battle

Kesha is a free woman in the process of releasing music — including new single “Joyride” — under her own label for the first time in her career. But that independence didn’t come easily.

In a new interview with Forbes published Tuesday (July 16), the 37-year-old singer-songwriter opened up about the sense of relief she’s experienced since settling her legal battle with Kemosabe Records founder Dr. Luke, whom she accused of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse in 2014. The producer has consistently denied Kesha’s allegations and sued her for defamation, but the two settled the case before it went to trial last year.

“I feel free for the first time since I was 18 years old and I so appreciate every single person that has streamed it,” the star told the publication of her new song. “I’ve spent almost 10 years in litigation and millions of dollars in legal fees. This joy has been hard-fought for me, so I love that people are ready to ‘Joyride’ with me.”

“I’ve seen a lot of problems and I’ve had a lot of people come to me privately, really big artists, and talk to me about the issues with this business,” she continued. “I think it’s really evident that there’s a problem. I’m working currently, actually as we speak, to try to find the right collaborators within the tech space because I have a plan and I’m going to fix this.”

The interview comes a couple weeks after “Joyride” fittingly dropped on the Fourth of July, marking Kesha’s first independent release following her departure from Kemosabe. “Don’t even try to give me s–t/ I’ve earned the right to be like this,” she sings on the splashy dance track. “Joy ride, joy ride/ I’m just looking for a good time tonight.”

As she continues pumping out music under her own label — simply named Kesha Records — the “Praying” artist says she hopes to shake up the industry by leading the charge on more artist-friendly practices. “It’s wild that a human being can lose the rights to their recorded voice in perpetuity in the universe,” she told the publication. “First of all, changing litigation around that is something that’s on my radar.”

“Second of all, I have to say, currently I’m really excited to build a safe space for artists because creation and fear cannot co-exist,” she added. “When you’re in a state of fear, you cannot create, and I know this from personal experience.”