Kesha has teased a new version of her signature hit, which takes out a flattering reference to Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The chart-topping singer burst onto the music scene in 2009 with her song TiK ToK, opening with the line: “Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy.”
In the last few months, since a string of allegations about the hip-hop mogul have been made public, Kesha has been performing a new version of the track during her live shows, replacing the original lyric with: “Wake up in the morning like ‘fuck P Diddy’.”
The Grammy nominee vowed last month that she would be making the new lyric “permanent” and recording an updated version of the song “when I have legal rights to”.
And in a TikTok posted on Wednesday night – the day after it was revealed Combs’ bail had been denied by a judge for a second time as he awaits trial for sex trafficking – Kesha confirmed she’d made good on her promise.
Combs has denied all of the charges made against him.
Kesha previously thanked fellow singer Renée Rapp for coming up with the new lyric, after they performed TiK Tok together at the Coachella music festival over the spring.
In an interview with Vulture reflecting on her biggest musical moments last week, the Joyride singer admitted she has mixed feelings about her debut single.
“I started TiK ToK not being quite so dumb, and then the writing room was like, ‘Make it dumber, make it dumber, make it dumber’,” she claimed.
“Where we ended up was as dumb as I could make the lyrics. After I wrote them, I was like, ‘This is too dumb, right? It doesn’t make sense to brush your teeth with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s’. But I remember [co-writer and producer] Benny Blanco was like, ‘No, it’s sick. Just don’t overthink it’. That’s what we ended up with.”
She added: “I had no autonomy whatsoever. I wrote every song on the album, and I’ve favoured myself as a songwriter first and foremost, so in some instances I had autonomy over that.
“Even though I had no real control in other areas, I could always let myself shine through in the lyrics. I feel like that’s the place I get to be myself.”
Kesha also wrote about her experiences making TiK ToK in an Instagram post to commemorate its 15th anniversary last month.
“TiK ToK was the first single that I put into this world that had my voice AND my name credited!!!!” she enthused. “I remember making it fun and happy because that’s how I felt and wanted others to feel.
“What I’m so proud of is that’s how this song STILL makes me feel, through it all, and those are emotions I want all of us to connect to. 15 (!!!!!!) years later, I see this song as a snapshot into the way I saw the world at the time. That girl was naive and wild and playful. This song eternalises a side of myself that I love very much, and now see I have to protect fiercely. The world has changed so much and so have I.”
Earlier this year, Kesha released her first single as an independent artist, Joyride, which became her first song to chart in the UK since 2017’s Praying.
Prior to this, Kesha had been embroiled in a legal battle with music producer and her former mentor Dr Luke, who she had previously accused of sexual assault, which he had long denied and for which he later counter-sued for defamation.
The pair finally reached a settlement last year, around the time she was finally released from her five-album deal with his record label.