"Rich, White, Straight Men" is a song by American singer

Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...

. It was written by the artist alongside Pebe Sebert, Wrabel, and

Stuart Crichton Stuart Crichton is a music producer/songwriter from Scotland, currently based in Los Angeles, California. Career Starting out in 1989 under the name Solo, Stuart self-released the ''Sample Free EP'' in 1990 which featured the song "Rainbow", us ...

, with production being handled by the latter. The song was surprisingly released to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on June 2, 2019, and later issued as a standalone single through

Kemosabe Ke-mo sah-bee (; often spelled kemo sabe, kemosabe or kimosabe) is the term used by the fictional Native American sidekick Tonto as the " Native American" name for the Lone Ranger in the American television and radio programs ''The Lone Ranger''. ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

on June 8. It received mixed reviews.

Release

"Rich, White, Straight Men" was surprisingly released to

on June 2, 2019, unbeknownst to Kesha's record label

. Six days later, it impacted online music stores and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

platforms as a standalone single. The song's artwork consists of a blurry photograph of Kesha giving the middle finger, an action she performs on loop in the accompanying video.

Composition

"Rich, White, Straight Men" is a punk rock influenced

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

track with a

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

-esque atmosphere that utilizes

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

, and tuba. It features the "sounds of coins hitting the ground and cashiers opening, a reference to the money-driven political climate." A "power-drunk" male voice accompanies Kesha's singing; it rebutts the lyrics'

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

statements regarding free health care, free education,

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest on t ...

, open borders, and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. ''Bandwagon'' Valerie Yuam wrote that the song "places Kesha’s humorous side in the spotlight while still effectively delivering her core message" and is "a commentary on the current socio-political situation in the United States." "Rich, White, Straight Men" was compared to the works of

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...

and Brendon Urie. The lullaby " Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is invoked in the lyrics "Twinkle, twinkle little star/How I wish the world was different/Where who you love and who you are/Was nobody’s fucking business".

Critical response

Sam Van Pykeren of ''Mother Jones'' complimented the song's uniqueness and political tone, writing, "Kesha finally sheds the restraints of her recent work for the direct and literal, returning to what made her a star in the first place: excessiveness packaged in oddity." Frida Garza of

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

website '' Jezebel'' also praised the song's lyrical and musical characteristics while affirming that "this song is unlike any other Kesha's ever released; ..This is far from the perfectly manicured pop songs that were once her calling card." At ''

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 distributed ...

'', Michael Love Michael questioned the song's effectiveness against the political group it addresses, although he connected to its premise, commenting, "Toppling an oppressive and domineering patriarchy starts with that kind of rage. As it should be." '' Hollywood Life''s Brandy Robidoux deemed the track "controversial". Writing for the conservative website ''

Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is ow ...

'', Madeline Fry called the song "boring" and criticized Kesha's intention to "blame the ills of society on all white males."

Credits and personnel

Credits organized in alphabetical order by surname and adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

. * Dale Becker – mastering *

– songwriting, production, keyboards, mixing, programming * Matt Dyson – engineering * Woitek Goral –

* Tomas Jansson –

* Magnus Johansson –

* Peter Johansson –

, tuba * Kesha Sebert – lead vocals, songwriting * Pebe Sebert – songwriting *

Stephen Wrabel Stephen Wrabel (born January 7, 1989), known mononymously as Wrabel, is an American singer, songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles. Life and career Wrabel attended high school at The Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas. After high school ...

– songwriting, backing vocals

Release history

References

{{Kesha 2019 songs 2019 singles Kesha songs Kemosabe Records singles RCA Records singles Songs written by Kesha Songs written by Pebe Sebert Songs written by Wrabel Songs written by Stuart Crichton Political songs LGBT-related songs Songs against capitalism Songs with feminist themes