The ritual of signing a recording contract was once the aspiring pop star’s ultimate dream. kesha, who turned 37 this year, signed hers at 18 with the RCA imprint Kemosabe Records. But what followed was almost 10 years of litigation, including a high-profile legal battle (which doesn’t need to be rehashed here) in which Kesha fought to regain sovereignty over her own voice. Though she was initially denied release from her contract, a confidential settlement was reached in 2023, and on March 6, 2024, she had secured full legal rights back to everything she’d lost at 18. “It gave me a vision of everything about the music business that needs to change,” she says of that day in a recent video call. Most importantly, she was finally free.⁠ ⁠ Kesha expresses that sentiment over and over during our interview, speaking to The FADER just before a tour rehearsal, always coming back to that central point: “I am a free bitch.” On July 4, she will release Period — a truly ballistic, freeing record ...