"Tik Tok" is an electropop and dance-pop song incorporating Auto-Tune and a minimalist bitpop beat interspersed with handclaps and synthesizers.

Some critics complimented the production as catchy, but others took issue with it as generic and disposable compared to the mainstream pop music scene.

In the United States, "Tik Tok" spent nine weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and ended up being certified 12× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

[1] Topping the charts in many other countries including Australia—where it was certified ninefold platinum, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, it was the best-selling single worldwide in 2010, selling 12.8 million copies.

The opening line came from an experience where she woke up surrounded by "beautiful women", leading to her imagining P. Diddy being in a similar scenario.

[7] Engineering of the song was done by Emily Wright and Sam Holland at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California.

[10] "Tik Tok" is an upbeat dance-pop and electropop song[8][11] that incorporates the sound of '80s video game noises in its production, to earn a bitpop beat.

")[7][8] Lyrically, the song speaks about "excess pleasures, from drinking ('Ain't got a care in the world but I got plenty of beer') to men ('We kick 'em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger').

[8][14] In July 2009, the song was offered as a free download on Kesha's Myspace page for over a month before its official sale release.

Barry Weiss of RCA/Jive Label Group relied on a similar marketing scheme to that of Britney Spears' in 1999 when choosing to give the song away for free.

[18] On May 29, 2010, Kesha performed "Tik Tok" alongside "Your Love Is My Drug" at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan.

[25] Kelsey Paine of Billboard called the song "a love letter to DJs everywhere, with hand claps that build to a crescendo of pure, infectious dance-pop.

"[11] Paine, referring to her appearance on "Right Round", wrote that she "offers her own fun and frivolous ode to a wild night out" as she sings about drinking and men.

"[11] Jim Farber of the New York Daily News called the song "a vintage lick of dance candy too tooth-rottingly sweet to resist" that featured a "stabbing synthesizer hook".

[14] McAlpine noted its similarities to Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" for their partying subject matter, but concedes that "she does make it sound kinda fun though.

[29] David Renshaw of Drowned in Sound felt that the song was effective in what it was trying to do, writing: "Trashy and rambunctious, it's a brash summer anthem about getting drunk and partying hard.

World rocking it might not be, but as a piece of disposable pop it captures a moment and boasts a huge hook which, really, is all you need to rule the radio, TV and ringtone airwaves.

"[30] Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly listed the song as the recommended download off of Animal, writing that "her Valley Girl sneer with electro-glam arrangements that make brushing one's teeth 'with a bottle of Jack' sound like an awesome way to kill the morning-after blues.

He then compared the song to work by other artists, stating that "the rapped verses are sub-Fergie-grade, proudly stuffed with groaners and to-hell-with-the-expiration-date slang."

However, he thought that "if anyone should feel fleeced by 'Tik Tok', though, it's Lady Gaga, who probably hears significant chunks of her hit 'Just Dance' in its melody and subject matter.

In 2024, "Tik Tok" was certified 12× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling twelve million equivalent units.

[44] "Tik Tok" peaked atop the singles charts of European and Oceanic countries including Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand Norway, and Switzerland.

[49] In South Korea, "Tik Tok" was the best-selling digital single by a foreign artist of 2010, selling 1.4 million downloads.

[53] Kesha explained the experience saying, "the video I'm excited about because I actually got to shoot it in my old neighborhood and the guy driving my gold car is a friend of mine".

[62][64] The cast of Fox musical series Glee performed this song on the 2011 season 2 episode "Blame It on the Alcohol", with Heather Morris' character, Brittany Pierce, taking the lead.

"[68] Gonzalez gave the cover version of "Tik Tok" a B, calling it "pure, fun entertainment up until we got to the part straight out of the mind of Gordie LaChance".

[68] Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone gave the cover version of "Tik Tok" a mostly positive review, writing, "Love Brittany as we do, we wish Rachel or Mercedes stepped up to the mic.

The performance is less risqué than their Pep Rally 'Push It' but winds up causing more controversy when Brittany pukes on Rachel and Santana also vomits up grey slush.

[70] In November 2023, Kesha began altering the lyric "wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy" following a lawsuit filed against Sean Combs by singer Cassie Ventura, who accused him of perpetuating several forms of abuse against her, including rape, over a decade-long period.

This change occurred after several additional lawsuits had been filed against Combs, variously accusing him of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and physical violence.