Ke$ha dived with sharks to get inspiration for 'Warrior'.

The 'Die Young' singer went around the world on a ''spirit journey,'' getting close to nature to prepare for writing her second album.

She told the Daily Star newspaper: ''First I went to the Galapagos Islands and went diving with sharks, then to islands in the middle of nowhere to swim with whales and I lived on a boat.

''Then I went to South Africa to help rehabilitate baby lions, which was really amazing.

''There's one out there named Ke$ha. She was abandoned by her mother so we had to bottle-feed her. To be with animals was grounding. I felt like I was losing the plot all the time on tour.

''It was important for me as talking about yourself in interviews is a very egocentric lifestyle.

''There's not a lot of normal stuff happening in my life. It's all pretty weird and magical and I wanted to write about that.''

The resulting album sees Ke$ha, 25, team up with a host of guest stars including Will.i.am, The Flaming Lips, Ben Folds and Julian Casablancas from The Strokes, but the person she is most pleased about getting on a track is rock legend Iggy Pop.

She added: ''Iggy really inspires me, so I decided to stalk him for about a year and a half. Finally I wore him down and he said he'd be on my record.

''I wrote a version of the song 'Dirty Love', sent it to him and he liked it then I worked with him. Some of it's a bit rude. He was incredible to work with - a really sweet person.''

'Warrior' is out now.