America loves a good car chase whether it’s broadcast live on the news or in a Hollywood blockbuster. Kesha, the music artist behind hit songs like “TiK ToK,” “We R Who We R,” and “Your Love Is My Drug” recently resurfaced on the pop charts with her single “Joyride.” The song uses the powerful feeling of unbridled freedom when jumping in a car and going out for a drive to reflect Kesha’s liberation from the horrific treatment she was subjected to by her former producer. “Joyride” is Kesha’s first song as an independent music artist, and it’s an anthem of freedom, liberation, whimsy, and fun. The music video for the single is a sexy, action-packed fever dream of eclectic cars from the ‘70s and ‘80s speeding around Willow Springs Raceway while being gunned down by a helicopter, Quentin Tarantino style.
The first scene of the music video is set in the back seat of a Waymo self-driving Jaguar i-Pace, but quickly cuts to the good stuff with Kesha behind the wheel of an immaculate red Jaguar XJ-SC driving around what looks to be the iconic Willow Springs Raceway. As the music starts, a helicopter flies over the hill and starts shooting at our Jaguar-driving heroine, named “Mother.” Once she escapes the helicopter fire, she fights off Yippie and the Kiyays in their early ’90s Aeronose Ford F-250 before she sees two more baddies sneaking up in her mirror – Sadie the Stabber and The Crazyboys in their gold Citroën SM and Rowdy Ricky and the Red Flags in a menacing black Aston Martin Lagonda. Through some evasive driving and a lot of Hollywood camera magic, Kesha manages to shake the crew in the Citroën and is forced to shoot Rowdy Ricky in the Aston Lagonda. While handling those two opponents, the viewer is introduced to the impossibly tough and buff Derk Delusional and his vintage ride, an Austrian military Steyr-Punch Pinzgauer. Kesha’s XJ-SC survives the chase and gets a dedicated moment of modeling when Kesha poses on it, and the video ends when she drives down Derk and his Pinz.
The video as well as the song are both wonderfully campy. Reality is suspended for the course of the video, and the fantasy world Kesha created takes over. From the improbability of an ‘80s V12-powered Jaguar ever being reliable enough to survive aggressive driving in the Mojave desert to the concept of a puny Pinz posing any kind of threat to three road cars. Kesha’s early works embodied a unique sort of retro sleaziness that the “Joyride” music video elevates. She started from the passenger seat of a Pontiac Trans Am singing about only wanting guys who look like Mick Jagger in her “TiK ToK” music video, to now being the sole driver of a V12 Jaguar XJ-SC and beating all the bad guys entirely on her own.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the center caps on the Jag’s wheels are either corroded or chipped, but I think it adds to the rough and tumbled nature of cars being gunned down in a car chase. I was actually unaware that the Jaguar XJS was ever produced with a targa top, so I learned something new from the video. Kesha, thank you for creating potentially the most car-centric music video the internet has seen in a long time, and for showcasing such eclectic, retro, cool and quirky cars.
