WARRIOR

This article is about the album. You may be looking for the song.

Warrior

Standard
Deluxe
Japan

General information

Release Date

November 30, 2012 (Australia, New Zealand)
December 3, 2012 (United Kingdom)
December 4, 2012 (United States)

Genre

Electropop, hip hop, rock

Length

00:44:27 (Standard edition)
00:58:43 (Deluxe edition)

Label

Producer(s)

Ammo
Benny Blanco
David Gamson
Dr. Luke (also exec.)
Greg Kurstin
Max Martin
Shellback

Discography
Animal + Cannibal - the Remix Album	Warrior

Studio Album Discography
Animal	Warrior	Rainbow

Singles from *Warrior*
"Die Young" Released: September 25, 2012 "C'Mon" Released: January 7, 2013 "Crazy Kids" Released: April 30, 2013

Warrior is the second studio album released by Ke$ha. It was released on November 30, 2012.

Its music incorporates a wide range of genres, including pop, EDM, rock, punk, rap, country, and balladry. Kesha described the album as more personal than her previous material in addition to mentioning it was her attempt at reviving the rock genre, calling it a "cock pop" record. Its theme is said to be magic. Longtime collaborator, Dr. Luke served as the executive producer for the album. This is the last album the two of them work together. Other collaborators include Max Martin, Shellback, Ammo and Benny Blanco. It features guest vocals from Iggy Pop, who has been cited as a major influence on the album, Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, and an appearance by Patrick Carney of the Black Keys. Nate Ruess, will.i.am, Bonnie McKee, Carney, the Strokes and the Flaming Lips and Kesha's own mother, Pebe Sebert contributed writing for the project.

The album peaked at no. 6 in the United States. The album was certified platinum in the U.S. in 2024, selling over one million equivalent units.^[1]

Background

In June 2010, Kesha discussed her second album with MTV News. During the interview she revealed that she was already beginning to think about her second album and explained that it was going differ from her first record, specifically commenting that it would reflect her growth: "There's definitely going to be a difference. I'm always changing and evolving and because I write all of my own music it will be reflective of the record. It'll still stay fun and young and irreverent."^[2] After the release of her first album Kesha embarked on her first worldwide tour, the Get $leazy Tour throughout 2011. While touring she began writing songs for her second album but recording and other work on the album was not commenced until she had completed the tour.^[3] ^[4]

In 2011, the singer took a hiatus from music to embark on other ventures. She was hired by the Humane Society and became their first global ambassador, which consumed her time as she made a documentary for National Geographic that revolved around "animals being abused and how to stop that, or animals that are going extinct and how to help those animals."^[5] In March 2011, Kesha started in an interview Beatweek Magazine that she had already chosen the title for the record, naming it Spandex on the Distant Horizon. However, in the following year, an article by Billboard, stated that the project was untitled. The album includes a variety of different musical participants, which was explained by the singer: "The range of artists I want to work with is so vast it’s bizarre. If someone is a real artist, you can’t confine them to a particular genre. It’s my mission to make it all make sense somehow."^[6] Along with expanding her collaborations, the singer expanded her musical repertoire, as she began playing the guitar significantly more with the plans of incorporating it into her new material.^[7] In February 2012, while being interviewed by Glamour, Kesha stated that while she was currently in the process of writing songs for her album, she was also taking a variety of instrument lessons, emphasizing specifically that she was taking guitar lessons.^[8]

Retrospective

It was heavily speculated that Kesha hated this album. One reason was that the finished product was not what she had envisioned, as she wanted it to be more rock influenced. Kesha herself has stated in an article that making the record was not an enjoyable experience. She also has entertained the rumor and said that the album is not her "favorite child", and would later confirm she had not listenned to it since it came out. However, in 2025, she posted a TikTok acknowledging the title track and commented, "I just couldn't stomach some of what happened. But I always had nothing but love in my heart for all of us when I made it...the crazy kids I'm taking it back starting RIGHT NOW DAMNIT".^[9] She performed songs from the album for the first time in years on The Tits Out Tour, stating to the audience that she is "claiming" them back.

In an article with Flood magazine, she delves deeper into her feelings about the record.

“	It was most difficult for me to go back and listen to Warrior. I actually had to set aside an entire afternoon for Warrior. I told everybody in my house to leave. I had to have a date, alone, with that album. It was like a therapy session with a problem child that I had issues with. As I listened to Warrior, my body started to move. I began dancing to it, dancing and crying. It was completely psychotic. By the end of this day, I was excited. All of those songs from Warrior that my fans want to hear—that are going viral on TikTok—I was excited to be able to play them this summer. And it wasn’t just a selfless act; it was actually really healing for me. That’s why I go into the audience and sing those songs, because I wanted to reprogram the memories of Warrior—to associate it with my community and with love, life, and freedom.	”
—Kesha, FLOOD

Promotion and release

The album was tentatively slated for a release in May 2012, but was released on November 30, 2012. It was originally expected to be released near the end of 2011 but the delay between albums was because Ke$ha wanted to try and make an album that could shift the sound of pop music into a more rock direction. The album released on November 30th in Australia and New Zealand (Sony Music). United Kingdom (Columbia) saw a December 3rd release, and lastly, United States (RCA) on December 4th. 25 second clips of each song were released on November 21st.

Under a month prior to the release, Ke$ha's official site started a hunt in promotion for the album. The instructions were posted on the site and included the usage of Twitter and travelling by foot.

“	Zoom in on the map by tweeting #KeshaWarrior to discover the location of each symbol, then search the area on foot to find it. Each symbol has a secret link on it. Whoever discovers the symbol first and visits the link will unlock exclusive music or video for the entire world (and be able to claim the symbol as their own).	”
—Ke$ha, keshasparty.com

The first prize, "C'Mon", was discovered by ItsJustinJeez on November 16, 2012.

The second prize, a behind the scenes video for the album photoshoot, was discovered by BadGirlTechna on November 20, 2012.

The third prize, "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You", was discovered by Keshamex on November 23, 2012.

The fourth prize, Early Access, was discovered by KylieMcGregor on November 26, 2012.
- Early Access opened a page on iTunes with the following description.

For a limited time you could listen to the album from the queen of celebratory, reckless pop for free. Warrior is a bold yet irreverent album that mixes up rock 'n' roll bombast with dance pulsations. Lead single "Die Young" is just one of the album's unapologetically brash high points. The album is also available to pre-order.

The fifth prize, the Deconstructed version of "Supernatural", was discovered by Jeppesuxx on November 30, 2012.

The sixth prize, a short film titled "K$ Warrior Interrogation", was discovered by carloseanopry7 on December 3, 2012.

Singles

"Crazy Kids" (feat. will.i.am or Juicy J) (2013)

Track listing

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Warrior"	Kesha Sebert • Pebe Sebert • Henry Walter • Lukasz Gottwald	Cirkut • Dr. Luke	4:00
2.	"Die Young"	K. Sebert • Benjamin Levin • Walter • Gottwald • Nate Ruess	Benny Blanco • Cirkut • Dr. Luke	3:32
3.	"C'Mon"	K. Sebert • Levin • Bonnie McKee • Walter • Gottwald • Martin Sandberg	Blanco • Cirkut • Dr. Luke	3:34
4.	"Thinking of You"	K. Sebert • Ammar Malik • Dan Omelio • Walter • Klas Åhlund • Gottwald	Blanco • Cirkut • Dr. Luke	3:05
5.	"Crazy Kids"	K. Sebert • Levin • Walter • Gottwald • William Adams	Blanco • Cirkut • Dr. Luke	3:50
6.	"Wherever You Are"	K. Sebert • Walter • Gottwald • Karl Schuster	Cirkut • Dr. Luke	3:57
7.	"Dirty Love" (feat. Iggy Pop)	K. Sebert • P. Sebert • James Osterberg • Alexander Kronlund • Lukas Hilbert • Sandberg • Savan Kotecha • Schuster	Cirkut • Dr. Luke • Matt Squire	2:44
8.	"Wonderland"	K. Sebert • P. Sebert • Allan Grigg • Walter • Gottwald	Cirkut • Dr. Luke • Kool Kojak	3:43
9.	"Only Wanna Dance with You"	K. Sebert • Walter • Gottwald • Sandberg	Cirkut • Dr. Luke • Max Martin	3:30
10.	"Supernatural"	K. Sebert • McKee • Walter • Sandberg • Gottwald • Nik Kershaw	Cirkut • Dr. Luke	4:11
11.	"All That Matters (The Beautiful Life)"	K. Sebert • Kronlund • Sandberg • Schuster • Hilbert • Kotecha	Martin • Shellback	3:37
12.	"Love into the Light"	K. Sebert	Greg Kurstin	4:45
Total length:				44:27

Bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Last Goodbye" (bonus track)	K. Sebert • Malik • Levin • Omelio • Gottwald	Kurstin	3:49
14.	"Gold Trans Am" (bonus track)	K. Sebert • P. Sebert • Grigg • Walter • Gottwald	Cirkut • Dr. Luke • Kojak • Emily Wright	3:21
15.	"Out Alive" (bonus track)	K. Sebert • P. Sebert • Coleman • Mathieu Jomphe	Ammo • Billboard • Wright	3:30
16.	"Past Lives" (bonus track)	K. Sebert • Ben Folds	The Flaming Lips • Stardeath and White Dwarfs	3:36
17.	"Die Young" (Dallas K Extended Mix) (Japanese bonus track)	K. Sebert • Levin • Walter • Gottwald • Ruess	Blanco • Cirkut • Dr. Luke	5:49
18.	"Die Young" (My Digital Enemy Remix) (Japanese bonus track)	K. Sebert • Levin • Walter • Gottwald • Ruess	Blanco • Cirkut • Dr. Luke	5:46
19.	"Die Young" (Remix) (feat. Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, and Becky G) (Japanese bonus track)	K. Sebert • Levin • Walter • Gottwald • Ruess • Jordan Houston • Cameron Thomaz • Rebecca Gomez	Blanco • Cirkut • Dr. Luke	4:03