Kesha Performs During YSL Beauty Candy Club Fashion Week Party

On Thursday night, YSL Beauty brought an extra dose of sweetness to SoHo. The beauty brand invited a VIP crowd to its one-day Candy Club pop-up ahead of its public opening the following day. Guests including Nicole Richie, Gabbriette, Cooper Koch, Paloma Elsesser, Hari Nef, Sophia Culpo, Jesse Metcalfe, and more stopped by throughout the night. The pink-hued room featured several candy displays — engravable gummy hearts, a bon-bon station — and a makeup bar where guests could try out the brand’s Make Me Blush Bold Blush Powder and Candy Glaze Lip Gloss Stick, which doubled as decor throughout the venue.

Around 9 p.m., guests began to crowd around the stage in preparation for the evening’s surprise performance: Kesha.

The singer, who recently announced her label Kesha Records, performed four songs that spanned her newest single “Joyride” to 2010 breakout hits “Your Love Is My Drug” and “TiK ToK” — no relation to the social media app, although there were many TikTok stars (and content ops) in the room on Thursday night.

 ”Honestly, since I was a little kid, YSL has been my favorite brand. A huge inspiration for my first tour ever was YSL — it was on my vision board to one day perform for a YSL event,” said Kesha following her performance. The singer, wearing a long black leather trenchcoat, described the brand as “edgy, cool, chic and timeless.” “I felt the freedom to go a little more intense,” she added. “I felt the freedom to really be myself for YSL Beauty.”

“Freedom” is the word Kesha used when describing her inspiration for her forthcoming album, her first released after fulfilling her contract with her previous labels.

“I mean that in every sense of the word,” she said. “I feel a freedom with my energy, and I feel a sexual liberation is really being channeled into my music. I can’t give you details, but I will say: I have a lot of very exciting things coming this year, so stay tuned,” she added. “ Let’s just say, I’m in the finishing stage.”

Earlier during her performance, Kesha had told the crowd that she’d been sitting by the pool a day earlier when she fielded the call to come to “a snow storm in New York” and perform.

 ”You know what? I’m kind of digging the snow storm,” she said, asked if she was planning to stick around for more of fashion week or return poolside. “The energy here in New York is infectious. Fashion week is amazing. I’m honored to be here with YSL Beauty. And, to be honest, I’m looking for a sugar daddy. So I’m like — I think New York has better chances.”

While sugar comes in many different forms, Kesha was certainly in the right place to find a sweet treat — or, you know, a candy glaze lip gloss.