JoJo Siwa has always fascinated me. I recognize her from her time on Dance Moms, and I remember seeing her face on every single Claire’s and Justice item. I always thought she was the final boss of pre-teen girls, only to find out about two years ago that she is a legal adult. How is that allowed?
I think that JoJo has realized the implications of her pre-teen aura because now she is desperately trying to remind everyone of her adulthood. A great example of this is her completely original, brand-new song “Karma.”
“Karma” has many layers. The first layer would be the function of the release, which would be for JoJo to establish her edgy side, which she certainly tried to do. The outfit that she wore to the iHeartRadio Music Awards has become a point of ridicule for this exact reason. JoJo sported a confusing bodysuit consisting of black mesh and rhinestones with a big, spiky, black eye look. Now, it is unclear why JoJo or anybody on her team thought this made her seem older, but she is showing off the same look that she used to wear during her time as a pre-teen idol, only now in black. Imagine if Gene Simmons was a professional wrestler that became covered in microplastics. If you did what you were told, and imagined it, you would probably agree that it did not conjure up the image of a professional or serious musician.
That is okay. Nobody ever has to be serious about anything. Art is a joke with a delayed punchline. JoJo wants to be serious, though, which is made evident by her interviews. JoJo makes an appearance on Billboard’s series “How It Went Down,” where she explains the creative process behind her song. One of the lyrics in “Karma” is “I was a bad girl,” which JoJo describes as being difficult and feeling very adult.
“Originally, I was scared of the lyrics,” she reveals. She then goes on to describe the tweaks that she made to the lyrics before landing on “I was a bad girl.”
Unsurprisingly, “Karma” was not well-received, so maybe one could argue that these kinds of interviews provide helpful insight into the overall process that would not otherwise be examined. However, this argument would be wrong, considering that there was no process. JoJo lied. She didn’t make the song, the lyrics—nothing. I don’t intend to argue that JoJo didn’t struggle personally with her lyrics, but the inclusion of the struggle seems manipulative, like another way of making it seem like she wrote the song. JoJo made one noticeable change to the lyrics of “Karma.” While the original version features the lyric “if I had a wish, I would’ve never messed around,” JoJo changes it to “effed around.” I’m not censoring it for the paper; JoJo did it for me. JoJo adds a swear word to her song to seem grown-up, but she censors herself, dampening any effect that it would’ve had. Cuss words or not, the song wasn’t hers.
The actual writers of the song are Antonina Armato, Tim James, and Desmond Child, three people who you might notice are not JoJo Siwa. “Karma” was written with Miley Cyrus in mind, but she passed on it, so it was given to Brit Smith, a singer-songwriter who was relatively unknown at the time. After that fell through, JoJo received the song over a decade later. However, Brit Smith’s version of the song was quickly found, and everyone lost their minds. Funnily enough, despite being exposed for her dishonesty, JoJo is seen in a video answering a question about Brit by saying that she doesn’t know her. It’s important to note that Brit’s version sounds better. She is a real adult and did not feel the need to assert that, so the song can shine through as a catchy pop tune. Maybe this is how it could have gone for JoJo if she participated in the culture of pop music a little more. It’s common for pop singers to have other people write their songs. If she had been upfront about this, I can say for certain that the backlash would not have been as severe as it turned out. Additionally, pop music often has a light-hearted tone to appeal to many audiences. This is even more important to consider for a breakout single to establish a new chapter in an artist’s life. Maybe that isn’t what JoJo wanted to do, but if she wanted something serious, she should’ve tried to make something for herself or collaborated with someone who could help her achieve a vision, especially since this is something she is defensive about.
JoJo Siwa keeps trying to catapult herself into adult worlds, but she doesn’t know where to aim because she has never acted her age a day in her life. Her job has always been best described as “young girl,” so it makes sense that at 21, she would finally want her age recognized. That being said, she did everything wrong. Everything that she attempted only made her seem more childish, and more desperate. JoJo must one day realize that if she wants to sit at the grown-up table, she needs to start taking accountability.