text: Ms. KE$HA SEBERT : Wake in the morning feeling like P. Diddy...
  P. DIDDY: Hey, what up, girl?
  Ms. SEBERT: ...got my glasses, Im out the door. Im gonna hit this city. Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack, cause when I leave for the night I aint coming back.
  SCOTT SIMON, host:
  The pop world has a new sensation.
  Ms. SEBERT: Dont stop, make it pop, DJ, blow my speakers up, tonight, Im a fight, til we see the sunlight. Tick tock on the clock, but the party dont stop, no, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Dont stop...
  SIMON: Thats Ke$ha, with her hit song Tik Tok. Rolling Stone has called her music repulsive, obnoxious and ridiculously catchy.
  Ms. SEBERT: The party dont start til I walk in.
  SIMON: Whatever it is, its number one on the charts - Ke$ha has replaced Susan Boyle. Tik Tok is taken from her debut album, Animal, that sold over 150,000 copies. Shes been called the first breakout star of 2010. Ke$ha Sebert joins us from our studios in New York. Thanks so much for being with us.
  Ms. SEBERT: Thanks so much for having me.
  SIMON: First, how do you like a description like Rolling Stones? Let me read again - repulsive, obnoxious and ridiculously catchy.
  Ms. SEBERT: I think its funny. I think that I have then captured myself pretty accurately because I can be obnoxious. I dont think Im necessarily repulsive, except for I havent showered in a few days. But ridiculously catchy? Im way into that part.
  SIMON: Well, I cant tell that you havent showered in a few days so...
  SIMON: You kind of grew up in the music business. The creative part, if you please, the behind-the-sheet-of-music part, as opposed to the performing part. What led you to the stage, finally?
  Ms. SEBERT: One of my first memories was, I was kind of like, looking up at my mom as she was performing.
  SIMON: This is Pebe Sebert, your mother...
  Ms. SEBERT: Um-hum. My mom.
  SIMON: ...who wrote Old Flames Cant Hold Candle to You.
  Ms. SEBERT: Yeah, that was recorded by - I dont know if you know this; you probably do - but Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard. So shes just an incredible writer - and person. And when I would go to high school, Id come home and for fun, we would write songs together. So...
  SIMON: This is in Nashville?
  Ms. SEBERT: Um-hmm.
  SIMON: Yeah.
  Ms. SEBERT: And I always knew it was what I wanted to do. I never really thought about having a...
  Ms. SEBERT: Im sorry.
  SIMON: Is that your cell phone?
  Ms. SEBERT: I thought I turned it off. Let me turn it off.
  SIMON: How funny. There you are, a now-famous musician, thats your ringtone?
  Ms. SEBERT: Yeah. I am such a space cadet...
  SIMON: I mean, people are probably downloading some of your songs as their ringtone and youve got that little, you know, otherworldly Martian bleep.
  Ms. SEBERT: I want to get a beeper. Im sick of this technology.
  SIMON: I dont know if you can get them anymore.
  Ms. SEBERT: No. I want to look into it cause then nobody can bother me; they can just page me. Call them back. But anyways, Im sorry about that. No. What I was just saying is music - Ive never really believed in having a fallback plan, so just kind of - I always knew this was what I was going to do.
  SIMON: Tell us about the song Stephen that was co-written by your mother.
  Ms. SEBERT: I love that song.
  SIMON: Well, why dont we listen to a little of it.
  Ms. SEBERT: All right. Yeah.
  Ms. SEBERT: Stephen, why wont you call me? Stephen, why wont you call me? I saw you in your tight ass rocker pants. You saw me, too. I laughed, cause I was completely trashed. And I watched your ugly girlfriend sneer across the room, as if I really care that shes here with you...
  SIMON: This song winds up being unexpectedly touching. Ill tell our audience, OK, who are obviously going to notice a couple of other properties before they take my word that its touching. But it is.
  Ms. SEBERT: Well, the song is really vulnerable. Its about a guy that I was completely obsessed with - and he would just not give me the time of day - and being so frustrated over it. The chorus is Stephen, why wont you call me? I cant take rejection. Why wont you call me?
  Ms. SEBERT: Stephen, why wont you call me? Im sitting here waiting. Why wont you call me? Stephen, Im feeling pathetic. I cant take rejection. Why wont you call me?
  SIMON: Is his name actually Stephen?
  Ms. SEBERT: Oh, yes.
  SIMON: Ooh, my word.
  Ms. SEBERT: I really think its the best revenge.
  SIMON: Boy, a best-selling album. So we can hope that Stephen is like, stacking the toilet tissue at Wal-Mart now, right?
  Ms. SEBERT: Well, I mean, hes such a loser.
  SIMON: Which is an honest job, dont get me wrong. And respectable, but yeah.
  Ms. SEBERT: No. Hes just such a loser. Like, looking back on my obsession, its kind of like just so silly. Its just, he wouldnt call.
  SIMON: Because this records doing so well, do you have an investment, even at the age of 22, at continuing to do teenage music?
  Ms. SEBERT: I think that with this record, I just want to make people happy. I realize that Im getting a lot of slack because Im a chick, and I brush my teeth with Jack. And thats so shocking but...
  SIMON: You mean Jack Daniels?
  Ms. SEBERT: That would be the one.
  SIMON: Yeah. I just thought Id ask. Okay. Were non-commercial here but if I may, Crest might be more effective.
  Ms. SEBERT: I dont think its as, like...
  SIMON: Im not sure Jack...
  Ms. SEBERT: ...as anti-bacterial.
  SIMON: ...Im not sure Jack cuts down on tartar, if you get my drift.
  Ms. SEBERT: I dont know about that, but I think it is an anti-bacterial, right?
  SIMON: You know, I guess it is.
  Ms. SEBERT: There you go.
  SIMON: Right.
  Ms. SEBERT: Better than nothing.
  SIMON: Well, you know, a lot of people listening to us now just might be on the verge of brushing their teeth so, you know...
  Ms. SEBERT: Make the right choice.
  SIMON: Yeah. Turn away from the medicine cabinet and go into the pantry. See if you can find a - well, I guess I have to say Im kidding. In any event, let me just add that for the record.
  Oh, talking about living like an animal, lets listen to Backstabber, if we could.
  Ms. SEBERT: Bored, stoned, sitting in your basement, all alone, cause your little conversations got around, and look at what we all found out. Look at what we found. Lookie here, we all found out that you have got a set of loose lips, twisting stories all because youre jealous. Now I know exactly what youre all about. And this is what youre all about. Girl, youre such a backstabber...
  SIMON: This is an angry song.
  Ms. SEBERT: Well, its not angry. Its more about chicks need to watch each others backs. I feel like I treat my friends with so much respect, and theyre like family. And when Im wronged by somebody that is like, part of my family, its rough. So I had to write a song about it.
  Ms. SEBERT: Im sick and tired of hearing all of my life from other people with all of your lies, wrapped up so tight, so maybe you should shut your mouth, shut your mouth, you never shut your mouth...
  SIMON: Im told you had just about perfect SAT scores.
  Ms. SEBERT: It was close - 1,500. I was like, very studious. I was actually in the international baccalaureate program, in AP; I, like, loved physics and math, and I was in the marching band. And then after that practice, I would drive to Belmont - its a college in Nashville - and just for fun, listen in on Cold War history classes, just cause - I just think its so interesting.
  And I was so curious kind of about all of that, I ended up taking my first solo trip to Cuba. So point being: I was very studious and really curious about a lot of things that are much deeper than, you know, partying and dancing.
  SIMON: Youve described this album, I gather, as celebrating - Im going to read this now - boys, boots, beer, boobs.
  Ms. SEBERT: It is a celebration. I think the whole records kind of a celebration of fun and youth and life. I wrote every song on the record, and Ive also written for other people as well. And so Im really proud of this record. I wrote maybe over 200 songs.
  SIMON: Were going to get some email saying: I dont listen to NPR to hear that kind of music.
  I like you, and I like your music.
  Ms. SEBERT: Thanks, and I like that. Because you know what? I just stand for fun. Its pop music; its not rocket science. Its not brain surgery. And Im going to stand by the fact that Im proud of this record, and Im not a moron. So there.
  Ms. SEBERT: I am in love with what we are, not what we should be...
  SIMON: Ke$ha, awfully nice talking to you.
  Ms. SEBERT: Deal. Nice to talk to you, man. Thank you so much.
  SIMON: Our pleasure. Ke$ha in New York. Her debut album, Animal, out now and selling - well, like an animal.
  Ms. SEBERT: Thanks.
  Ms. SEBERT: So if its just tonight, the animal inside, let it live and die. Like its the end of time, like everything inside, let it live and die. This is our last chance...