Ke$ha is going Gaga by unleashing Cannibal, a companion piece to her debut album, Animal, on November 22. You’ll recall Lady Gaga did something similar late last year by releasing The Fame Monster, an EP that birthed “Bad Romance,” “Telephone,” “Alejandro,” etc. Cannibal, which features nine new tracks, will be sold separately and packaged together with Animal, just in time for holiday gift-giving.

The public’s first taste of Cannibal comes in the form of “We R Who We R,” a song that amazingly manages to encapsulate everything I still absolutely detest about Ke$ha (inane lyrics, talk-singing/rapping, general horribleness) plus the one thing that continues to confound me because it wins me over, time and time again: an irresistible, sticky-like-taffy chorus. (Yes, Dr. Luke is in the house once again.)

In an effort perhaps to separate “We R Who We R” from the rest of her hard-partying pop (“Tik Tok,” “Blah Blah Blah,” “Take It Off,” et al), Ke$ha says the song was written as a response to the rash of teen suicides brought on by gay bullying. “I wanted to inspire people to be themselves,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s a celebration of any sort of quirks or eccentricities.”

I’m not sure I’d ever describe being gay as a “quirk” or “eccentricity,” as I’m not convinced it advances the larger cause, but Ke$ha did take time to post a video for the “It Gets Better” project so I can only assume her sentiments are genuine. And “We R Who We R” does loudly trumpet a positive “live and let live” mentality, which is something we should all be able to get behind, even if Ke$ha isn’t always your cup of tea (or rocks glass of whiskey). 

Just make it to the chorus, and everything will be okay, I promise:

Today only (just a few hours left), snag a free download of of Ke$ha – “We R Who We R.”