Ke$ha’s Die Young pulled from US radio after Newtown massacre

Ke$ha’s new single is being pulled from US radio stations in the wake of the Newtown school shootings. Die Young, which had been at No 3 in the Billboard singles charts, is now being dropped from playlists across the States.

“You’re never hurt by what you don’t play,” Rich Minor, the programming director of the Connecticut station WDAQ, told Billboard. His station, based in Danbury, 11 miles from Sandy Hook elementary school, is “completely done” with Ke$ha’s song. “We’ve been playing it before Friday but not since,” he said. “Even though it’s a fun pop/dance record about seizing the moment, all people are going to hear right now is those two words in the title.”

At the time of Friday’s tragedy, Die Young was reaching about 167 million American radio listeners, TMZ reported. By Monday, that figure had dropped by at least 19 million – “plummeting”, according to the New York Post. TMZ claimed it to be the fastest drop in popularity since the Dixie Chicks criticised George Bush at a London gig in 2003.

Billboard was less sensationalist: although Die Young is “down 11% in plays”, it reported, “the drop seems in line with its natural chart arc”. And a reporter for Boston radio station WODS said that although it initially dropped Die Young, the track is now back in regular rotation.

In the UK, Die Young spent one week at No 10 before dropping off the singles charts.

Playing the role of a cult leader, Kesha and her fictitious disciples raid a hamlet in rural Mexico, engaging in various forms of sexual debauchery.According to Billboard, the video is a shout-out to the Illuminati. Occult symbols ubiquitously associated with the secret society such as the the all-seeing eye of Horus, inverted crosses, and triangles pervade the video. Calling the imagery “blatant”, Billboard reviewed the video as “tak[ing] the singer’s button-pushing ability to dizzying new heights. “Sending text messages to her “Animals” (an affection title bestowed on her fans) in the video, Kesha writes: “We made it… SOUTH OF THE BORDER… they’ll never find us here”. The scene was later removed due to product placement.

Posted by : Mista Bless