"Raising Hell" is a song by American singer Kesha featuring American rapper

Big Freedia Freddie Ross Jr. (born January 28, 1978), better known by his stage name Big Freedia ( ), is an American rapper and performer known for his work in the New Orleans genre of hip hop called bounce music. Freedia has been credited with helping popu ...

. It was released as the lead single from Kesha's fourth studio album ''

High Road High Road or The High Road may refer to: Film and television * ''High Road'' (film), a 2012 comedy by Matt Walsh * The Lady of Scandal, a 1930 American pre-Code film, also known as The High Road * The High Road (1915 film), a lost silent film ...

'' on October 24, 2019.

Background and promotion

On October 18, 2019, fans were prompted to call a hotline where the singer recorded a message to announce her return to music. On October 21, 2019, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' posted a video clip with the announcement of Kesha's upcoming album ''High Road''. Two days later, Kesha uploaded a trailer of the music video to her Instagram, revealing the release date to be October 24. The song was remixed for club and mix show radio play by Pink Panda, Justin Caruso, Steve James, The Wild, Dirty Werk, Robert Eibach and Danny Morris. It peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart on February 14, 2020.

Composition

"Raising Hell" fuses pop,

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

and bounce into a "

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

-esque" composition. It has been compared to the single "

Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

", which Kesha was featured on. Described as combining the musical styles of Kesha's first two studio albums and her third, ''

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

'', it features beat drops accompanied by "soaring synth beats", gospel choirs, handclaps, a church organ, horns, and a post-chorus by Freedia.

Critical reception

“Raising Hell” was met with positive reviews from critics, with many deeming it a triumphant return for the pop star. Gil Kaufman, writing for '' Billboard'', called the song "an all-time keeper". Lars Gotrich of ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

'' wrote the song "sounds like dollar sign-era Ke$ha with some of the hard-won hindsight from 2017's optimistic, healing ''

''". Jael Goldfine of ''

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

'' called the song "a wonderful midpoint between snarling party girl Kesha half-rapping over crunchy pop-EDM and her soulful balladry on ''Rainbow''".

Music video

The music video for "Raising Hell" was directed by

Luke Gilford Luke Gilford (born 1986) is a director, writer, and photographer based in New York City, NY and Los Angeles, CA. He has directed several award-winning short films, including ''The Future of Flesh'', which showcased Prada collection narrated by Ja ...

. The video portrays Kesha as a televangelist, loved by the people who she preaches to, but is married to an abusive husband. One night, Kesha tries to seduce her drunk husband but is almost choked to death until he is stabbed in the head. Kesha then drags the dead body to the trunk of her car, dyes her hair dark brown, and flees to a motel out of town. She is then wanted for murder and is chased by the police until she is eventually caught and arrested for killing her husband.

Live performances

Kesha and Big Freedia performed the song for the first time on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' on October 28, 2019. The duo performed the song at the 2019 American Music Awards, followed by a performance of " Tik Tok". At one point, her performance became the most tweeted that night.

Track listing

Digital download and streaming # "Raising Hell" (featuring Big Freedia) Digital download and streaming (Justin Caruso remix) # "Raising Hell" (Justin Caruso remix; featuring Big Freedia) Digital download and streaming (Pink Panda remix) # "Raising Hell" (Pink Panda remix; featuring Big Freedia) Digital download and streaming ( Steve James remix) # "Raising Hell" (Steve James remix) Digital download and streaming (The Wild remix) # "Raising Hell" (The Wild remix)

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2019 singles 2019 songs American pop rock songs Kesha songs Songs written by Kesha Songs written by Wrabel Songs written by Sean Douglas (songwriter) Songs written by Ajay Bhattacharya RCA Records singles Big Freedia songs