Ke$ha Can Handle Her Liquor and Success

You've sold more than 600,000 copies of your single 'Tik Tok' So, how does it feel to be the one to likely bounce Susan Boyle from her throne if your album 'Animal' hits the top of the album sales charts?

Awww, if you put it like that I feel kinda mean. But no, she got to kick it at the top for a while, so I don't feel too bad.

Say you do debut at No. 1. What's the party plan and what's on the menu?

OK, if I'm number 1, I'll be in New York... so let me think about this. I'm going to round up my band of trannies and we're going to march down Broadway with fireworks.

There's an article out this week saying you might be the Lady Gaga of 2010. Is that a comparison you like? You seem much more Blondie to me.

Any time you want to compare me to a successful woman, I'll totally take that. It's a good thing. I like to think of myself more aligned with the likes of Madonna meets David Bowie meets the Beastie Boys. And I loooove Blondie.

Whenever your name comes up, stories about your behavior always seem to accompany it. Do you think image is something that should be separate from the music, or in your case, do they go hand-in-hand?

It does inevitably go with it, but the most important thing is that you listen to my record -- if you like it or hate it -- and if I behave the way my record says I behave, nobody should be very surprised. I warned you all when I made a record about brushing my teeth with Jack Daniels and feeling like Diddy that I'm probably a little spunky, so I don't think people should be surprised if I'm living up to the honesty of my record.

Is that edge you have something people want now in pop music?

I'm just being myself. I don't know if people are necessarily looking for it or not looking for it. I'm just kind of being myself. There's nothing I can really do. I try not to think too much about trying to censor myself on record or off.

With the image, you've earned yourself a reputation as a hard-partying gal. Any worries given all of the recent horror stories and tragedies in the celebrity world that things might not end so well?

I think it's tragic when people can't handle themselves. Obviously there are people that have problems with drinking or drugs and this or that. I personally don't have a problem. Yeah, I do have a drink. I'm 22. I can handle myself and I can handle my liquor. And I'm not an idiot. I don't do drugs and don't push the limits of partying to the point of dying or injury.

But do you get how people might misconstrue you, being that partying is often referenced in your songs?

I'm just being honest about it. Any man could say the stuff I say, and nobody would bat an eyelash. Yeah, chicks hang too. Chicks party and not all of us walk around in high heels and push-up bras all the time.

Back to your music, the songs on 'Animal' are very varied in style with many being quite different from 'Tik Tok.' Was that intentional on your part to shake things up?

Totally. It also goes to show the influences I have growing up. My mom wrote country songs for Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton and I grew up really learning the craft of writing songs. I love the Beastie Boys and I love Madonna and I love Johnny Cash and I love the Damned ... Aaron Neville. I love different music and I love to experiment, and I hope that's all reflected in my record.

You were on 'Conan' last week and declared you're his BFF. Isn't it lame that he's getting booted from NBC so that Jay Leno can go back to 11:30?

Oh, I'm totally standing by my best friend. I will picket for him. Long live Conan, man. He's so funny. That sucks.

Aside from your actual solo career, you've penned hits for other stars across the board. Would you rather be behind the scenes more, or do you like the spotlight?

All of it's exciting. I always knew I was supposed to be the one singing the songs, but I also have written a ton of songs and can't keep them all myself. So hearing someone like The Veronicas or Miley Cyrus sing a song I wrote -- they even named the record after the song I wrote for her -- it's really exciting to hear other people's voices on songs I've written.

Do you think the days of pop stars who don't actually sing live or write their own songs are dwindling?

At least with me, I can sing, but more my style and swagger is different than a lot of music that's come out and may or may not have been written by some guy who's never met me before. On my record, it's important that I wrote every song and that I'm personally invested into every track to show my swagger.

You talk about swagger quite a bit. What's your swagger like today?

It depends on the day. Today, my boots are a little dirty and I'm really unapologetically fun and confident no matter what. I gotta be strong and confident and talk to people about how women are now turning the tables and talking to men the way they've spoken to us for years. The war against pretension, fist held high. That's my swagger.

Any plans to go into movies or TV?

I kind of want to start a documentary or movie just about animals and endangered animals and how to help them. We're animals! Everyone acts like we're not animals -- we forget about it because we're not covered in fur, but we are. We have animal instincts that everyone ignores because they're "unacceptable for public" or "not appropriate." People think I'm drunk all the time when really I just say what I want to say when I want to say it and do what I want to do when I want to do it because I'm an animal and I have these instincts for a reason.

Finally, my last name is Hess. Mind if I make one of those S's a dollar sign like you have? It's pretty badass.

Yea, gimme two S's! You've gotta own it. It's not about the money -- it's 'You're f-----g money.'

-- By Mike He$$

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