“I’ve never met a man I admire more than Rick Rubin”

Today marks the release of Period, Kesha’s first album since departing Kemosabe Records.

That label was founded by Dr. Luke, with whom she had a lengthy legal battle between 2014 and 2023 after accusing him of numerous counts of sexual misconduct and employment discrimination.

Period is Kesha’s first independent release, and one which she worked on with Rick Rubin. And in a new interview with Billboard, she speaks of her adoration for the legendary producer.

Kesha also worked with Rubin on her previous album Gag Order, her final release under contract with Kemosabe.

“If you go back in time, the anger, the disassociation, the feelings of complete isolation, suicidal ideation – all of that, I talk about on [Gag Order],” she explains.

“Thank God I had Rick Rubin to do that record with, because he was such a safe container for all of those emotions. 

“Up until that point in my life, I had no place to go, and I had all of these emotions that were really overwhelming and really difficult to deal with. 

“Of course, I would work on it with my therapist and my friends, and I would do a lot of spiritual work around it. But when I met Rick Rubin, it felt like such a relief for my system, because I could finally put it into the music.”

She goes on: “I had this unsubstantiated idea that I just always had to be happy and keep it together in my music, before I made what is now called Eat the Acid. I got to get out all of that aggression and pain with someone who – I mean, I’ve never met a man that I admire more than Rick Rubin. 

“I got to do it with one of my heroes, and that was a really beautiful gift. And to be honest, even the way that album performed at the time was painful, but I can now see in hindsight that it led me to my newly found freedom.”

In the same interview, Kesha reflects on society’s attitudes to women as she regains her professional independence as a 38-year-old woman.

“In our society, specifically for women in any sort of public-persona position, aging, the concept of time, is made to be our enemy,” she says. 

“Growing up, I was made to believe that by 38 years old, nobody would give a fuck about me. I actually had been told the words, by the time I was free, I would be irrelevant. 

“So to see my fans not only connecting to the music, but turning it into this psychotic, hilarious celebration of the chaos of life, was just so healing to my fucking soul on a very deep level. 

“It was also just like, ‘Oh my God, it’s not true. I’m not irrelevant! I fought this fight, and I’m free, and people do care, people are connecting.’ It made me just feel like, ‘Okay, keep going. Keep going.’”

Kesha’s new album Period is out now. Listen below:

Sam is the Associate News Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Thoroughly immersed in music culture for the majority of his life, Sam has played guitar for 20 years, studied music technology and production at university, and also written for the likes of MusicRadar, Guitar World, Total Guitar and Metal Hammer.