After shocking the world with the mature, heartfelt “Praying,” Kesha returns with feminist, women’s empowerment anthem, “Woman.”

Kesha gave us all chills.  Who would’ve ever thought those words would be coming out of anybody’s mouths? “Praying” seemed to come out of left field.  Furthermore, it did a lot for the viability of a comeback by the pop star.  Of course, she can’t rely on one heartfelt, authentic ballad to fuel the fire.  Kesha drops a second single from her third album Rainbow, “Woman.” She enlists an unlikely collaborator – The Dap-Kings Horns.  Once again, there’s plenty to praise the pop artist for.

As far as pros, begin with the message.  “Woman” is feminism and women’s empowerment to the nth degree.  Given the unfortunate series of events that Kesha has been part of, this song seems like the perfect complement. This is much more mature terrain than the old Kesha might’ve covered.  Vocally, she continues to do things that we didn’t think she could do. Perhaps it’s not to the degree of “Praying,” but she’s got more musical abilities than anybody gave her credit for.

While “Woman” is more exceptional than not, there is one offense. While her feisty attitude is appreciated, dropping the “mf” bomb was a bit much.

“I’m a motherf**king woman, baby, alright / I don’t need a man to be holding me too tight / I’m a motherf**king woman, baby, that’s right / I’m just having fun with my ladies here tonight / I’m a motherf**ker / Mmm, yeah.”

Okay… you’re a motherf**ker… hmm.  In modern pop, it has become trendy to place the exclamation mark by being blunt and profane.  Sometimes it’s effective, but many times, overkill.  This particular song, it feels like overkill – trying too hard when it’s unnecessary.

Final Thoughts

All in all, Kesha has a good thing going with “Woman.” It’s respectable that she’s delivering a message of empowerment for women and is a feminist.  However, in reiteration, the profanity wasn’t necessary. Arguably, it takes away from her message a bit. Also, the moments where she’s playing around being silly reminisces to the nonsensical nature of hits like “Tik Tok.” While there’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, it also hurts Kesha’s credibility as a serious artist.

Kesha • Rainbow • Kemosabe • Release: 8.11.17

Photo Credit: Kemosabe