The pop star unveiled the lyric change earlier this year, following allegations against Diddy for sex trafficking and other crimes.
Kesha announced she will re-record her hit song “TiK ToK,” changing the “like P. Diddy” line to “fuck P. Diddy,” following accusations against the media mogul that came to light earlier this year.
“TiK ToK,” released in 2010, remains one of Kesha’s biggest hits, and spent nine weeks in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. In the original song, she sings, “Wake up in the morning’ feeling like P. Diddy.” During her Coachella performance with Reneé Rapp in April, she changed the lyrics to “Wake up in the morning feeling like, fuck P. Diddy!”
The change was a reference to the myriad of allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs, who has faced multiple lawsuits this year accusing him of rape, sexual assault and investigations of sex trafficking. In March, his Miami and Los Angeles homes were raided by Homeland Security and in May, a 2016 video surfaced of the rapper beating his ex-girlfriend, Cassie, in a hotel hallway. He and Cassie had already settled a lawsuit in which she accused him of repeatedly raping and abusing her during the course of the decade-long relationship.
“TiK ToK was the first single that I put into this world that had my voice AND my name credited,” Kesha wrote on social media Thursday. “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.”
TiK ToK was the first single that I put into this world that had my voice AND my name credited!!!! 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… pic.twitter.com/Ewz6CBMGFH
— kesha (@KeshaRose) August 7, 2024
She continued her reflection by saying she still sees the song “as a snapshot into the way I saw the world at the time. That girl was naive and wild and playful. This song eternalizes 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.”
In the post, she credited Rapp with the idea for the lyric change and wrote that she “absolutely” loves it and that “it is permanent.”
She wrote, “I will re-record it when I have legal rights to! Now, my first baby stands for so much. It stands for fiercely protecting my fun and unadulterated joy, in myself and in others. The whole ride has been absolute insanity, but the JOY is still riding.”