TiK ToK
Encyclopedia
"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
. The opening line of the song came from an experience where Kesha woke up surrounded by beautiful women, to which she imagined Diddy
being in a similar scenario. The experience triggered the writing of the song which she later brought to her producer, Dr. Luke, who was then contacted by Diddy in hopes of a collaboration; he came to the studio the same day and recorded his lines and the song was completed.
According to Kesha the song's lyrics are representative of her and based on her life; the song has a carefree message and talks about not letting anything bring you down. The song is a dance-pop
and electropop song that uses a minimalist video-game beat interspersed with handclaps and synths. The song's verses use a rap-sing vocal style while the chorus is sung; throughout the song the use of Auto-Tune is prominent. Musically, the song has been compared to Lady Gaga
, Uffie
and Fergie.
The song generated mixed to generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. 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 some tracks performed by other artists like Lady Gaga and Uffie. It achieved commercial success by topping the charts in eleven countries. In the United States the song broke the record for the biggest single-week sum of all time for a female artist selling 610,000 digital downloads in one week. "Tik Tok" was certified 5× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for sales of five million copies and has sold over six million copies in the United States. The song was the best selling single worldwide in 2010, selling 12.8 million copies in that year alone.
The music video for the song was directed by Syndrome. It begins with Kesha waking in a bathtub in a home that is not hers; it then follows her around town before she heads to a party. The video comes to an end with Kesha lying in a different bathtub from the one she initially woke up in. The song has been performed and covered by other artists multiple times. Kesha has performed the song on Saturday Night Live
, The Ellen DeGeneres Show
, the MTV Europe Music Awards
, among others.
had just finished producing tracks for Kelly Clarkson
's album Breakaway (2004) and was looking to expand further on his writing and producing credits. Luke solicited around to different people in the music business asking for demo's from unknown artists. Two of the demos he received were from Katy Perry
and Kesha
. He was particularly taken with Kesha's demos which consisted of a self-penned country ballad and trip-hop track. The latter of the demos caught Luke off guard when she ran out of lyrics and started to rap, "I'm a white girl/From the 'Ville/Nashville, bitch. Uhh. Uhhhhh." The improvisation made her stand out from other artists that Luke had listened to, which he recalled: "That's when I was like, 'OK, I like this girl's personality. When you're listening to 100 CDs, that kind of bravado and chutzpah stand out." Following this, at the age of eighteen, Kesha signed to Luke's label, Kemosabe Records, and his publishing company, Prescription Songs.
After being signed to Luke's label she also signed to David Sonenberg's DAS management company. While at the label she worked with record producer Greg Wells
, which she attributes to developing her sound on her first record, Animal
(2010). Although she was signed to Luke and his label, Kesha never took priority as he was busy with other projects at the time. It was not until 2008 when Luke was working on a track with Flo-Rida that he pulled Kesha in to contribute, giving her the female hook. Within a few months the song became a worldwide number one. The event lead to different labels sparking interest in signing her, including RCA Records, to which she eventually signed.
and Benny Blanco
and was co-produced by Luke and Blanco. Kesha said the inspiration behind the song came from coming home half-drunk and stumbling after a night out of partying. She would then write down a few words to a song, then the following morning she would wake up with the story waiting to be told. The opening line came from an experience where she woke up surrounded by "beautiful women", leading to her imagining P. Diddy
being in a similar scenario. She then proceeded to bring the song to her producer Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco and the song was written. Four hours later, Diddy called Luke and said that they should do a song together. Diddy came to the studio later that day to contribute his lines and the collaboration was completed.
Engineering of the song was done by Emily Wright and Sam Holland at Conway Recording Studios
in Los Angeles
, California
. While Kesha was in the studio with Dr. Luke and Blanco, she took three takes to get the song correct as she jokingly "white-girl rapped" over the beat. At one point in the song's production, she had wanted to re-write the verses of the song because she did not think that they were "funny or clever", feeling that they "kind of sucked." She elaborated, "I thought it was just another song, I thought it was just like all the other ones I'd written. I didn't even know if it was very good. I wanted to rewrite the verses, I didn't think it was funny or clever. I thought it kind of sucked. But everyone else liked it." Kesha ultimately did not end up rewriting any of the song's lyrics. She further described the theme of the song in an interview, emphasizing that it embodied her own lifestyle,
song that incorporates elements of electropop in its production and beats. It utilizes a minimalist "video-game beat
" interspersed with handclaps and synths. Opening the song saying, "Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy", Kesha uses a spoken word rap style on the verses while the chorus is sung. Throughout the song Kesha's vocals are enhanced by Auto-Tune
in some places. The song also features two lines by Diddy ("Hey, what up girl?" and "Let's Go"). Lyrically, the song speaks about "excess pleasures, from drinking ('Ain't got a care in the world but I got plenty of beer') to men ('We kick 'em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger
')." According to Kesha the lyrics are representative of herself, stating, "It's about my life. It's 100 percent me."
Kesha uses a rap vocal delivery which was influenced by the Beastie Boys
. She claims that the track's creation would not have happened if it was not for their influence on her music. While the song was being crafted she took a different vocal approach to the song than in her earlier records, explaining that: "I’ve done the country, done the pop-rock, done the super-hard electro, ... I was like, whatever, throw some rap in there, why not?" According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing, the song is set in common time
with a moderate beat rate of 120 beats per minute
. The song is written in the key
of D minor
. It has the sequence of B–C–Dm as its chord progression
and Kesha's vocals in the song span from the note of D3 to the note of D5. Musically, the song has been compared to Lady Gaga
's debut single, "Just Dance", for their similar composition and lyrical context and to Fergie for their similar rap style.
called the song "a love letter to DJs everywhere, with hand claps that build to a crescendo of pure, infectious dance-pop." Paine, referring to her appearance on "Right Round", wrote the she "offers her own fun and frivolous ode to a wild night out" as she sings about drinking and men. The review was concluded with the consensus the Kesha's debut "reveals a knack for getting the party started." Jim Farber of the New York Daily News called the song "a vintage lick of dance candy too tooth-rottingly sweet to resist" that featured a "stabbing synthesizer hook". Fraser McAlpine of the BBC
, giving the single four out of a possible five stars, called it a "dirty little ditty" that had "'hit' written all over it". McAlpine noted its similarities to Lady Gaga
's "Just Dance" for their partying subject matter, but concedes that "she does make it sound kinda fun though." Billy Johnson, Jr. of Yahoo!
compared "Tik Tok" to the 1980s L'Trimm
hit "Cars that Go Boom" and notes that Kesha has "take[n] on L'Trimm's vocal styling for her own hit."
Nick Levine of Digital Spy
gave the song four out of five stars, he spoke of the song giving Kesha a "hussy image" but described the lyrics in a positive manner. Levine said the use of auto-tune was "fun" and described Dr. Luke's backing track as "bouncy" and "bubblegummy". The review highlighted the song's chorus with Levine calling it "stonking great" and "completely trashy in the best possible way." David Jeffries of Allmusic called the track "fun", listing it as one of the album's best tracks. David Renshaw of Drowned in Sound
felt that the song was effective in what it was trying to do, writing: "Trashy and rambunctious, it’s a brash summer anthem about getting drunk and partying hard. World rocking it might not be, but as a piece of disposable pop it captures a moment and boasts a huge hook which, really, is all you need to rule the radio, TV and ringtone airwaves." Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly
listed the song as the recommended download off of Animal, writing that "her Valley Girl sneer with electro-glam arrangements that make brushing one's teeth 'with a bottle of Jack' sound like an awesome way to kill the morning-after blues."
Jonah Weiner of Slate Magazine
gave the song a negative review saying that "the song sets up ship on the fault line between charmingly daft and deeply irritating." He then compared the song to work by other artists, stating that "the rapped verses are sub-Fergie-grade, proudly stuffed with groaners and to-hell-with-the-expiration-date slang." Weiner echoed the sentiment that the plotline seemed like "a sequel" to "Just Dance", summing it up as "girl wakes up drunk, stays drunk, finds a dance floor and (spoiler alert) gets even drunker." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
described the song as "a zippy and salacious celebration of late nights and mornings-after." He noted that "some have compared Kesha, unfavorably, to Uffie
, who is signed to the influential French
electronic music
label Ed Banger
and whose sass-rap predated Kesha’s by a couple of years." However, he thought that "if anyone should feel fleeced by "Tik Tok", though, it’s Lady Gaga, who probably hears significant chunks of her hit "Just Dance" in its melody and subject matter."
at number seventy-nine. The song steadily climbed the chart and became the first number one of the new decade. On the week ending December 27, 2009, "Tik Tok" broke the record in the United States for the highest single week sales, selling 610,000 digital downloads, the highest ever by a female artist since tracking began in 2003 and second highest overall, behind "Right Round
" which sold 636,000 copies on the chart dated February 28, 2009. On the week ending February 6, 2010, the song topped the Billboard Pop Songs radio airplay chart registering 11,224 spins, becoming, at the time, the most played song in the charts seventeen year history, breaking the record set of 10,859 spins just a week earlier by Lady Gaga
's "Bad Romance
". The song topped the chart for a total of nine consecutive weeks and at the end of 2010, "Tik Tok" was named the Hot 100 song of the year. It was also the seventh most played song on radio in the country and the eighth most downloaded song that year. The song has received 5× Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America
for sales of 5,000,000 units. As of August 2011, "Tik Tok" had sold over 6,000,000 downloads in the country alone, making one of only six songs to sell more than six million copies in the US.
"Tik Tok" made its chart debut on the official New Zealand Singles Chart
at number seven on the issue dated October 5, 2009. The following week it moved up to number one where it held the top spot for a total of five consecutive weeks. The song has since been certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
(RIANZ) for sales of 30,000 units. In Australia the song debuted on the ARIA Charts
at number twenty-eight, and reached number one on its third week on the chart. The song was listed atop the chart for a total of eight weeks and in 2009 it was listed at position nine on the Australian Singles Year End Chart.; the following year the song was listed at position twelve on the 2010 year end chart. It has since been certified 5× Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) for sales of 350,000 units. In Europe, the song debuted at number thirty-eight in Sweden on the issue dated October 23, 2009, and managed to peak at number three. The song debuted at thirty-nine in Denmark and peaked at number three. In Norway, the song debuted at number eleven and peaked at number three. In the United Kingdom, "Tik Tok" debuted on the official UK Singles Chart
at number six on November 8, 2009, and over a period of just under three months climbed to a peak of number four on January 3, 2010.
The song made its first ever chart appearance in Canada, where the song debuted at number sixty-seven on the Canadian Hot 100
. It ascended the chart for numerous weeks before attaining the number one position on the week ending November 21, 2009. The song remained atop the chart for two weeks before falling to the number two position, being dethroned by Lady Gaga's, "Bad Romance". "Tik Tok" regained the number one position weeks later on January 2, 2010, and held the top spot for seven weeks, giving the single nine weeks atop the chart in total. In 2009 the song was the year's seventy-sixth best charting song and it was 2010's second best charting song on the Canadian Hot 100 Year End Charts. The single has been certified 7× Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
(CRIA) for sales of 280,000 units. By the end of 2010, "Tik Tok" had become the best selling song by a foreign artist at 1,412,653 downloads in South Korea
.To see sales info, click the 다운로드 tab and then select 외국 for foreign sales numbers. 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.
who drives her in a gold 1978 Trans Am
. They are pulled over by the police, who handcuff Kesha. The scene then pans to her singing while standing in the T-top
as she dangles the handcuffs hanging from one of her arms. The next scene shows Kesha in an empty room filled with glitter. She then attends a party with Rex for the final scene. The video comes to an end with Kesha lying in a different bathtub from the one she woke up in.
page for over a month before its official sale release. The song was later released to iTunes
on August 7, 2009, and on August 25, 2009, in the United States. Mr Weiss of RCA/Jive label group relied on a similar marketing scheme to that of Britney Spears
' in 1999 when choosing to give the song away for free. The song's marketing relied heavily on radio once she had achieved a strong online interest, but was delayed its radio release till October in order to capitalize on social media's interest in her. After spreading the song song quickly topped iTunes charts.
To promote the single, Kesha made several television appearances and performances across the world. The first televised performance of the song was on a part of MTV Push, a program broadcast on MTV Networks
worldwide, where she performed the song alongside her other tracks "Blah Blah Blah
" and "Dinosaur". She performed the song alongside "Blah Blah Blah", "Take It Off
", "Your Love Is My Drug
" and "Dirty Picture
" in a set for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. On May 29, 2010, Kesha performed "Tik Tok" alongside "Your Love Is My Drug" at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan
.
Kesha has also made appearances on It's On with Alexa Chung
, The Wendy Williams Show
, Lopez Tonight
, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
and The Ellen DeGeneres Show
to perform the song. This song was also performed on Saturday Night Live
on April 17, 2010. On August 13, 2010 Kesha performed "Tik Tok" on Today. On November 7, 2010 Kesha performed the song at the MTV Europe Music Awards
. Throughout the performance she was seen wearing a leotard with day-glow makeup. The performance featured a backing consisting of flashing lights and background dancers. The song's bridge was changed during the performance and featured a more "amping house music vibe".
. The parody discusses youthful subjects such as attempting to view the nude bodies of women and dodging parents' anger. After Kesha discovered the parody, she left a message on her Twitter
account: "Holy. S**t. This is better than my version." Released to iTunes
on January 15, 2010, the song peaked at number four on the Australian Singles Chart
, and at thirty-nine on the Irish Singles Chart
. Comedian Julie Brown
parodied the song with the single "Another Drunk Chick" on her album Smell the Glamour (2011). Jarett Wiselman of The New York Post stated it was "one of the year's best comedy albums." Avril Lavigne
preformed an acoustic version of the song in her setlist for BBC's Radio 1.
Another parody came about when Israel Defense Forces
soldiers created IDF Tik Tok
in 2010, a viral dance video that opens with six infantry soldiers on patrol in Hebron
, walking cautiously down a deserted street, armed and wearing full combat gear, when "Tik Tok" begins to play, and the soldiers break into choreographed dance moves. "Tik Tok" was used in the opening sequence
for The Simpsons
episode "To Surveil with Love
", in which the entire cast lip-synced to the song.
The cast of FOX musical series Glee
performed this song on the episode "Blame It on the Alcohol
", with Heather Morris' character, Brittany Pierce
, taking the lead. The episode revolved around teen drinking and its dangers. The members of Glee Club are asked to perform at the school's alcohol awareness assembly, in which "Tik Tok" is one of the songs performed. Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
wrote that the song's inclusion in the episode was superfluous, stating that it was just an excuse to get a Kesha song on Glee. VanDerWerff however, wrote the he "REALLY liked Heather Morris'" rendition of the song. Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly
praised Brittany's choreography and overall performance in "Tik Tok", writing, "The huge star of this number was clearly Brittany, who more and more every week proves that she needs to be moved to the forefront of this show's big performances and storylines." Gonzalez gave the cover version of "Tik Tok" a B, caling it "pure, fun entertainment up until we got to the part straight out of the mind of Gordie LaChance. So even though the purple vomit was a bit too much for this weak viewer, the performance made me add a Ke$ha song to my iTunes
, which I never thought would happen." Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone gave the cover version of "Tik Tok" a mostly positive review, writing, "Love Brittany as we do, we wish Rachel or Mercedes stepped up to the mic. The performance is less risqué than their Pep Rally "Push It" but winds up causing more controversy when Brittany pukes on Rachel and Santana also vomits up grey slush. It's a fitting end to the song, and the episode."
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Animal, Dynamite Cop Music/Where Da Kasz at BMI.
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 song was produced by 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...
and 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...
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
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...
, Animal
Animal (Kesha album)
Animal is the debut studio album by American pop singer Kesha. The album was released on January 1, 2010, by RCA Records. Kesha worked with a variety of producers and writers such as Lukasz Gottwald , Benny Blanco, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, and others...
. The opening line of the song came from an experience where Kesha woke up surrounded by beautiful women, to which she imagined Diddy
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
being in a similar scenario. The experience triggered the writing of the song which she later brought to her producer, Dr. Luke, who was then contacted by Diddy in hopes of a collaboration; he came to the studio the same day and recorded his lines and the song was completed.
According to Kesha the song's lyrics are representative of her and based on her life; the song has a carefree message and talks about not letting anything bring you down. The song is a 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...
and electropop song that uses a minimalist video-game beat interspersed with handclaps and synths. The song's verses use a rap-sing vocal style while the chorus is sung; throughout the song the use of Auto-Tune is prominent. Musically, the song has been compared 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...
, 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...
and Fergie.
The song generated mixed to generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. 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 some tracks performed by other artists like Lady Gaga and Uffie. It achieved commercial success by topping the charts in eleven countries. In the United States the song broke the record for the biggest single-week sum of all time for a female artist selling 610,000 digital downloads in one week. "Tik Tok" was certified 5× 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 sales of five million copies and has sold over six million copies in the United States. The song was the best selling single worldwide in 2010, selling 12.8 million copies in that year alone.
The music video for the song was directed by Syndrome. It begins with Kesha waking in a bathtub in a home that is not hers; it then follows her around town before she heads to a party. The video comes to an end with Kesha lying in a different bathtub from the one she initially woke up in. The song has been performed and covered by other artists multiple times. Kesha has performed the song 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...
, 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...
, the MTV Europe Music Awards
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards were established in 1994 by MTV Networks Europe to celebrate the most popular music videos in Europe. Originally beginning as an alternative to the American MTV Video Music Awards, the MTV Europe Music Awards is today a popular celebration of what MTV viewers consider...
, among others.
Background and development
In 2005, 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...
had just finished producing tracks for Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
's album Breakaway (2004) and was looking to expand further on his writing and producing credits. Luke solicited around to different people in the music business asking for demo's from unknown artists. Two of the demos he received were from 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 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....
. He was particularly taken with Kesha's demos which consisted of a self-penned country ballad and trip-hop track. The latter of the demos caught Luke off guard when she ran out of lyrics and started to rap, "I'm a white girl/From the 'Ville/Nashville, bitch. Uhh. Uhhhhh." The improvisation made her stand out from other artists that Luke had listened to, which he recalled: "That's when I was like, 'OK, I like this girl's personality. When you're listening to 100 CDs, that kind of bravado and chutzpah stand out." Following this, at the age of eighteen, Kesha signed to Luke's label, Kemosabe Records, and his publishing company, Prescription Songs.
After being signed to Luke's label she also signed to David Sonenberg's DAS management company. While at the label she worked with record producer Greg Wells
Greg Wells
Greg Wells is a multiple Grammy nominated musician, record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Wells has produced and written hits with Adele, Weezer, Pink, Theophilus London, Deftones, Katy Perry, Rufus Wainwright, The All American Rejects, OneRepublic, Mika, Aerosmith, Burt Bacharach,...
, which she attributes to developing her sound on her first record, Animal
Animal (Kesha album)
Animal is the debut studio album by American pop singer Kesha. The album was released on January 1, 2010, by RCA Records. Kesha worked with a variety of producers and writers such as Lukasz Gottwald , Benny Blanco, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, and others...
(2010). Although she was signed to Luke and his label, Kesha never took priority as he was busy with other projects at the time. It was not until 2008 when Luke was working on a track with Flo-Rida that he pulled Kesha in to contribute, giving her the female hook. Within a few months the song became a worldwide number one. The event lead to different labels sparking interest in signing her, including RCA Records, to which she eventually signed.
Writing and recording
"Tik Tok" was written by Kesha, alongside Dr. LukeDr. 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...
and 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...
and was co-produced by Luke and Blanco. Kesha said the inspiration behind the song came from coming home half-drunk and stumbling after a night out of partying. She would then write down a few words to a song, then the following morning she would wake up with the story waiting to be told. The opening line came from an experience where she woke up surrounded by "beautiful women", leading to her imagining P. Diddy
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
being in a similar scenario. She then proceeded to bring the song to her producer Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco and the song was written. Four hours later, Diddy called Luke and said that they should do a song together. Diddy came to the studio later that day to contribute his lines and the collaboration was completed.
Engineering of the song was done by Emily Wright and Sam Holland at Conway Recording Studios
Conway Recording Studios
Conway Recording Studios is a recording and post production facility in Hollywood, California.Conway has hosted a variety of producers, mixers and artists, such as Alicia Keys, Barbra Streisand, The Black Eyed Peas, Blink-182, Britney Spears, Carlos Santana, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews Band,...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. While Kesha was in the studio with Dr. Luke and Blanco, she took three takes to get the song correct as she jokingly "white-girl rapped" over the beat. At one point in the song's production, she had wanted to re-write the verses of the song because she did not think that they were "funny or clever", feeling that they "kind of sucked." She elaborated, "I thought it was just another song, I thought it was just like all the other ones I'd written. I didn't even know if it was very good. I wanted to rewrite the verses, I didn't think it was funny or clever. I thought it kind of sucked. But everyone else liked it." Kesha ultimately did not end up rewriting any of the song's lyrics. She further described the theme of the song in an interview, emphasizing that it embodied her own lifestyle,
We're [Kesha and her friends] all young and broke and it doesn't matter. We can find clothes on the side of the street and go out and look fantastic, and kill it. If we don't have a car that doesn't stop us, because we'll take the bus. If we can't afford drinks, we'll bring a bottle in our purse. It's just about not letting anything bring you down.
Composition
"Tik Tok" is an upbeat dance-popDance-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...
song that incorporates elements of electropop in its production and beats. It utilizes a minimalist "video-game beat
Chiptune
A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...
" interspersed with handclaps and synths. Opening the song saying, "Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy", Kesha uses a spoken word rap style on the verses while the chorus is sung. Throughout the song Kesha's vocals are enhanced by 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...
in some places. The song also features two lines by Diddy ("Hey, what up girl?" and "Let's Go"). Lyrically, the song speaks about "excess pleasures, from drinking ('Ain't got a care in the world but I got plenty of beer') to men ('We kick 'em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
')." According to Kesha the lyrics are representative of herself, stating, "It's about my life. It's 100 percent me."
Kesha uses a rap vocal delivery which was influenced by the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
. She claims that the track's creation would not have happened if it was not for their influence on her music. While the song was being crafted she took a different vocal approach to the song than in her earlier records, explaining that: "I’ve done the country, done the pop-rock, done the super-hard electro, ... I was like, whatever, throw some rap in there, why not?" According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing, the song is set in common time
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
with a moderate beat rate of 120 beats per minute
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
. The song is written in the key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
. It has the sequence of B–C–Dm as its chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
and Kesha's vocals in the song span from the note of D3 to the note of D5. Musically, the song has been compared 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...
's debut single, "Just Dance", for their similar composition and lyrical context and to Fergie for their similar rap style.
Critical reception
"Tik Tok" generated mixed to generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. Kelsey Paine of BillboardBillboard (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...
called the song "a love letter to DJs everywhere, with hand claps that build to a crescendo of pure, infectious dance-pop." Paine, referring to her appearance on "Right Round", wrote the she "offers her own fun and frivolous ode to a wild night out" as she sings about drinking and men. The review was concluded with the consensus the Kesha's debut "reveals a knack for getting the party started." Jim Farber of the New York Daily News called the song "a vintage lick of dance candy too tooth-rottingly sweet to resist" that featured a "stabbing synthesizer hook". Fraser McAlpine of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, giving the single four out of a possible five stars, called it a "dirty little ditty" that had "'hit' written all over it". McAlpine noted its similarities 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...
's "Just Dance" for their partying subject matter, but concedes that "she does make it sound kinda fun though." Billy Johnson, Jr. of Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
compared "Tik Tok" to the 1980s L'Trimm
L'Trimm
L'Trimm was a Miami Bass hip-hop duo composed of Lady Tigra and Bunny D, two women from Kendall, Florida...
hit "Cars that Go Boom" and notes that Kesha has "take[n] on L'Trimm's vocal styling for her own hit."
Nick Levine of Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
gave the song four out of five stars, he spoke of the song giving Kesha a "hussy image" but described the lyrics in a positive manner. Levine said the use of auto-tune was "fun" and described Dr. Luke's backing track as "bouncy" and "bubblegummy". The review highlighted the song's chorus with Levine calling it "stonking great" and "completely trashy in the best possible way." David Jeffries of Allmusic called the track "fun", listing it as one of the album's best tracks. David Renshaw of Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
felt that the song was effective in what it was trying to do, writing: "Trashy and rambunctious, it’s a brash summer anthem about getting drunk and partying hard. World rocking it might not be, but as a piece of disposable pop it captures a moment and boasts a huge hook which, really, is all you need to rule the radio, TV and ringtone airwaves." Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
listed the song as the recommended download off of Animal, writing that "her Valley Girl sneer with electro-glam arrangements that make brushing one's teeth 'with a bottle of Jack' sound like an awesome way to kill the morning-after blues."
Jonah Weiner of Slate Magazine
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
gave the song a negative review saying that "the song sets up ship on the fault line between charmingly daft and deeply irritating." He then compared the song to work by other artists, stating that "the rapped verses are sub-Fergie-grade, proudly stuffed with groaners and to-hell-with-the-expiration-date slang." Weiner echoed the sentiment that the plotline seemed like "a sequel" to "Just Dance", summing it up as "girl wakes up drunk, stays drunk, finds a dance floor and (spoiler alert) gets even drunker." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described the song as "a zippy and salacious celebration of late nights and mornings-after." He noted that "some have compared Kesha, unfavorably, to 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...
, who is signed to the influential French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
label Ed Banger
Ed Banger Records
Ed Banger Records is a French electronic music record label run by Pedro Winter. It was founded in 2002 as a division of Headbangers Entertainment. The label is home to French electronic acts Justice, SebastiAn, Daft Punk, Cassius, Uffie, Krazy Baldhead, DJ Mehdi, Mr Oizo, Mr...
and whose sass-rap predated Kesha’s by a couple of years." However, he thought that "if anyone should feel fleeced by "Tik Tok", though, it’s Lady Gaga, who probably hears significant chunks of her hit "Just Dance" in its melody and subject matter."
Chart performance
In the United States, on the week ending October 24, 2009, "Tik Tok" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard 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...
at number seventy-nine. The song steadily climbed the chart and became the first number one of the new decade. On the week ending December 27, 2009, "Tik Tok" broke the record in the United States for the highest single week sales, selling 610,000 digital downloads, the highest ever by a female artist since tracking began in 2003 and second highest overall, behind "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...
" which sold 636,000 copies on the chart dated February 28, 2009. On the week ending February 6, 2010, the song topped the Billboard Pop Songs radio airplay chart registering 11,224 spins, becoming, at the time, the most played song in the charts seventeen year history, breaking the record set of 10,859 spins just a week earlier by 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...
's "Bad Romance
Bad Romance
"Bad Romance" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released as the lead single from her third extended play , and second major release The Fame Monster . Written by Lady Gaga and produced by RedOne, the track was inspired by Gaga's fear of negative love relationships and the...
". The song topped the chart for a total of nine consecutive weeks and at the end of 2010, "Tik Tok" was named the Hot 100 song of the year. It was also the seventh most played song on radio in the country and the eighth most downloaded song that year. The song has received 5× Platinum certification 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...
for sales of 5,000,000 units. As of August 2011, "Tik Tok" had sold over 6,000,000 downloads in the country alone, making one of only six songs to sell more than six million copies in the US.
"Tik Tok" made its chart debut on the official New Zealand Singles 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...
at number seven on the issue dated October 5, 2009. The following week it moved up to number one where it held the top spot for a total of five consecutive weeks. The song has since been certified 2× Platinum 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 30,000 units. In Australia the song debuted on the ARIA Charts
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...
at number twenty-eight, and reached number one on its third week on the chart. The song was listed atop the chart for a total of eight weeks and in 2009 it was listed at position nine on the Australian Singles Year End Chart.; the following year the song was listed at position twelve on the 2010 year end chart. It has since been certified 5× 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 350,000 units. In Europe, the song debuted at number thirty-eight in Sweden on the issue dated October 23, 2009, and managed to peak at number three. The song debuted at thirty-nine in Denmark and peaked at number three. In Norway, the song debuted at number eleven and peaked at number three. In the United Kingdom, "Tik Tok" debuted on the official UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at number six on November 8, 2009, and over a period of just under three months climbed to a peak of number four on January 3, 2010.
The song made its first ever chart appearance in Canada, where the song debuted at number sixty-seven on the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
. It ascended the chart for numerous weeks before attaining the number one position on the week ending November 21, 2009. The song remained atop the chart for two weeks before falling to the number two position, being dethroned by Lady Gaga's, "Bad Romance". "Tik Tok" regained the number one position weeks later on January 2, 2010, and held the top spot for seven weeks, giving the single nine weeks atop the chart in total. In 2009 the song was the year's seventy-sixth best charting song and it was 2010's second best charting song on the Canadian Hot 100 Year End Charts. The single has been certified 7× 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 sales of 280,000 units. By the end of 2010, "Tik Tok" had become the best selling song by a foreign artist at 1,412,653 downloads in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
.To see sales info, click the 다운로드 tab and then select 외국 for foreign sales numbers. 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.
Music video
The music video for "Tik Tok" was directed by Syndrome. It was shot in Kesha's old neighborhood and the car featured in the video belongs to her. Kesha explained the experience saying, "the video I'm excited about because I actually got to shoot it in my old neighborhood and the guy driving my gold car is a friend of mine". The video's party scene was shot in her friend's house, which they refer to as the "drunk tank". The singer said "the last party scene is in this house called the drunk tank, which is one of my friend's houses that we all go party at. So I like it cause its super-honest and genuine." The video begins with Kesha waking in a bathtub in a home as she stumbles out and begins to look for a toothbrush in the restroom. She makes her way down a staircase looking at the pictures lining the wall. Kesha makes her way to the kitchen and walks in on a family who are having breakfast, startling them. She shrugs and then leaves the home as the family gets up and follows her. When she arrives at the sidewalk, she picks up a gold bicycle lying against a fallen fence and rides off. Kesha meets a group of children and trades the bicycle for their boombox. The video cuts to another scene where she rejects a guy and is picked up by a man portrayed by Simon RexSimon Rex
Simon Rex is an American actor, comedian, television host and recording artist. He is known for starring as Jeff Campbell in What I Like About You, during the first season.-Early life:...
who drives her in a gold 1978 Trans Am
Pontiac Firebird
The Pontiac Firebird was built by the Pontiac division of General Motors between 1967 and 2002. The Firebird was introduced the same year as the automaker's platform-sharing model, the Chevrolet Camaro...
. They are pulled over by the police, who handcuff Kesha. The scene then pans to her singing while standing in the T-top
T-top
An automotive T-top is an automobile roof with removable panels on either side of a rigid bar running from the center of one structural bar between pillars to the center of the next structural bar, the panels of a traditional T-top are usually made of auto grade safety glass.The T-top was patented...
as she dangles the handcuffs hanging from one of her arms. The next scene shows Kesha in an empty room filled with glitter. She then attends a party with Rex for the final scene. The video comes to an end with Kesha lying in a different bathtub from the one she woke up in.
Release and promotion
After RCA had decided on "Tik Tok" as the lead single they began marketing the song. In July 2009, the song was offered as a free download on Kesha's MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page for over a month before its official sale release. The song was later released to 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....
on August 7, 2009, and on August 25, 2009, in the United States. Mr Weiss of RCA/Jive label group relied on a similar marketing scheme to that of 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...
' in 1999 when choosing to give the song away for free. The song's marketing relied heavily on radio once she had achieved a strong online interest, but was delayed its radio release till October in order to capitalize on social media's interest in her. After spreading the song song quickly topped iTunes charts.
To promote the single, Kesha made several television appearances and performances across the world. The first televised performance of the song was on a part of 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, where she performed the song alongside her other tracks "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...
" and "Dinosaur". She performed the song alongside "Blah Blah Blah", "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...
", "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 "Dirty Picture
Dirty Picture
"Dirty Picture" is a song by the British R&B singer Taio Cruz. The song was written and produced by Cruz alongside Fraser T. Smith for Cruz's second studio album, Rokstarr. Originally, Cruz wanted the female vocals to be done by Lady Gaga but opted to switch to Kesha due to heavy influence by Dr....
" in a set for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. On May 29, 2010, Kesha performed "Tik Tok" alongside "Your Love Is My Drug" 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...
.
Kesha has also made appearances on 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...
to perform the song. This song was also performed 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 August 13, 2010 Kesha performed "Tik Tok" on Today. On November 7, 2010 Kesha performed the song at the MTV Europe Music Awards
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards were established in 1994 by MTV Networks Europe to celebrate the most popular music videos in Europe. Originally beginning as an alternative to the American MTV Video Music Awards, the MTV Europe Music Awards is today a popular celebration of what MTV viewers consider...
. Throughout the performance she was seen wearing a leotard with day-glow makeup. The performance featured a backing consisting of flashing lights and background dancers. The song's bridge was changed during the performance and featured a more "amping house music vibe".
Cultural impact
The song was parodied by British comedy group The Midnight BeastThe Midnight Beast
The Midnight Beast, sometimes abbreviated as TMB, is a British comedy music group from London, perhaps most famous for their YouTube cover-parody of the 2009 single TiK ToK by American pop artist Ke$ha...
. The parody discusses youthful subjects such as attempting to view the nude bodies of women and dodging parents' anger. After Kesha discovered the parody, she left a message on her Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account: "Holy. S**t. This is better than my version." Released to iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
on January 15, 2010, the song peaked at number four on the Australian Singles 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...
, and at thirty-nine on the Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...
. Comedian Julie Brown
Julie Brown
Julie Ann Brown is an American actress, comedienne, screen/television writer, singer-songwriter, television director. Brown is perhaps best known for her work in the 1980s, where she often played a quintessential valley girl character...
parodied the song with the single "Another Drunk Chick" on her album Smell the Glamour (2011). Jarett Wiselman of The New York Post stated it was "one of the year's best comedy albums." Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
preformed an acoustic version of the song in her setlist for BBC's Radio 1.
Another parody came about when Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
soldiers created IDF Tik Tok
IDF Tik Tok
IDF Tik Tok, originally uploaded to YouTube as Batallion 50 Rock the Hebron Casbah and posted on Facebook under the name Rock the Casbah, is a viral amateur dance video in the flash mob style produced by soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces .The video was filmed in 2010 by soldiers serving in the...
in 2010, a viral dance video that opens with six infantry soldiers on patrol in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
, walking cautiously down a deserted street, armed and wearing full combat gear, when "Tik Tok" begins to play, and the soldiers break into choreographed dance moves. "Tik Tok" was used in the opening sequence
The Simpsons opening sequence
The Simpsons opening sequence is an element that begins almost every episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. Starting with the season 20 episode "Take My Life, Please", the opening sequence was redone to go with the high-definition format of the show, and replaced the...
for The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "To Surveil with Love
To Surveil With Love
"To Surveil with Love" is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season. It premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States on May 2, 2010 as the 461st episode of the whole series. In the episode, radiation seeps out of Homer's gym bag after a bomb squad blows it up and...
", in which the entire cast lip-synced to the song.
The cast of FOX musical series Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
performed this song on the episode "Blame It on the Alcohol
Blame It on the Alcohol
"Blame It on the Alcohol" is the fourteenth episode of the second season of the television series Glee, and the 36th overall. The episode was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Eric Stoltz and first aired in the United States on Fox on February 22, 2011...
", with Heather Morris' character, Brittany Pierce
Brittany Pierce
Brittany Susan Pierce is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Heather Morris, and has appeared in Glee from its second episode, "Showmance", first broadcast on September 9, 2009. Brittany was developed by Glee creators Ryan...
, taking the lead. The episode revolved around teen drinking and its dangers. The members of Glee Club are asked to perform at the school's alcohol awareness assembly, in which "Tik Tok" is one of the songs performed. Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
wrote that the song's inclusion in the episode was superfluous, stating that it was just an excuse to get a Kesha song on Glee. VanDerWerff however, wrote the he "REALLY liked Heather Morris'" rendition of the song. Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
praised Brittany's choreography and overall performance in "Tik Tok", writing, "The huge star of this number was clearly Brittany, who more and more every week proves that she needs to be moved to the forefront of this show's big performances and storylines." Gonzalez gave the cover version of "Tik Tok" a B, caling it "pure, fun entertainment up until we got to the part straight out of the mind of Gordie LaChance. So even though the purple vomit was a bit too much for this weak viewer, the performance made me add a Ke$ha song to my 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....
, which I never thought would happen." Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone gave the cover version of "Tik Tok" a mostly positive review, writing, "Love Brittany as we do, we wish Rachel or Mercedes stepped up to the mic. The performance is less risqué than their Pep Rally "Push It" but winds up causing more controversy when Brittany pukes on Rachel and Santana also vomits up grey slush. It's a fitting end to the song, and the episode."
Track listing
- US Single
- "Tik Tok" – 3:20
- UK Single
- "Tik Tok" – 3:20
- "Tik Tok" (Tom Neville's Crunk & Med Mix) – 6:53
- UK EP
- "Tik Tok" – 3:20
- "Tik Tok" (Fred Falke Club Remix) – 6:42
- "Tik Tok" (Chuck Buckett's Verucca Salt Remix Remix) – 4:55
- "Tik Tok" (Tom Neville's Crunk & Med Mix) – 6:53
- "Tik Tok" (Untold Remix) – 5:01
Credits and personnel
Recording- Recorded at Conway Recording StudiosConway Recording StudiosConway Recording Studios is a recording and post production facility in Hollywood, California.Conway has hosted a variety of producers, mixers and artists, such as Alicia Keys, Barbra Streisand, The Black Eyed Peas, Blink-182, Britney Spears, Carlos Santana, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews Band,...
, Los Angeles, California
Personnel
- SongwritingSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
– Kesha Sebert, Lukasz Gottwald, Benjamin Levin - ProductionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
– Lukasz Gottwald, Benjamin Levin - Instruments and programmingMusical instrumentA musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
– Lukasz Gottwald, Benjamin Levin
- RecordingSound recording and reproductionSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
– Lukasz Gottwald, Benjamin Levin - Audio engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
– Emily Wright, Sam Holland - Vocal editing – Emily Wright
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Animal, Dynamite Cop Music/Where Da Kasz at BMI.
Weekly charts
| Chart (2009–2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia | 5× Platinum |
| Austria | Platinum |
| Belgium | Platinum |
| Canada | 7× Platinum |
| Denmark | Platinum |
| Finland | Gold |
| France | Gold |
| Germany | Platinum |
| Italy | Multi-platinum |
| Japan | Gold |
| New Zealand | 2× Platinum |
| Spain | 2× Platinum |
| Sweden | Gold |
| Switzerland | Platinum |
| United States | 5× Platinum |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 9 |
| Canadian Hot 100 | 76 |
| Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100 Mega Single Top 100 The Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales and legal downloads and composed by MegaCharts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Dutch Top 40 and the Mega Top 50. The difference is that these charts also include airplay data.The list is... ) |
90 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 4 |
| UK Singles Chart | 45 |
| Chart (2010) | Position |
| Australian Singles Chart | 12 |
| Austrian Singles 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... |
3 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart | 3 |
| Canadian Hot 100 | 2 |
| European Hot 100 | 2 |
| German Singles Chart | 10 |
| Hungarian Airplay Chart | 7 |
| Japan Hot 100 Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com .... |
21 |
| Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100) | 99 |
| Romanian Top 100 Romanian Top 100 The Romanian Top 100 is the national airplay-based singles chart of Romania. It is weekly and it started running in 1996. It is recognized as an official chart by the European division of Billboard, Music & Media.... |
58 |
| Switzerland | 6 |
| UK Singles Chart | 69 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Pop Songs | 1 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (2000–2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 42 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | August 7, 2009 | Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
| Canada | ||
| Mexico | ||
| New Zealand | ||
| Norway | ||
| Sweden | ||
| United States | August 25, 2009 | |
| United Kingdom | November 27, 2009 | |
| South Korea | December 8, 2009 |
External links
- "Tik Tok" music video at MTV.comMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....