On April 5, 2024, Jojo Siwa released her new single “Karma” along with a music video showing her dancing in a
bedazzled black outfit reminiscent of those worn by the rock band Kiss. Prior to the release, she posted many teasers on her social media accounts including behind the scenes clips and snippets from the song. She also posted a disclaimer that stated “Warning. The following content is not made for children and may be disturbing or offensive to some viewers. May contain sexual themes, violence, strong language, traumatic scenarios, and flashing lights. Viewer discretion is advised.” to show that this will be her “good girl gone bad” era.
Jojo Siwa made her TV debut when she was only 9 years old on the second season of the Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition. She eventually appeared on season 4 of the reality show Dance Moms where she immediately stood out because of her rainbow clothes and large bows, along with her talkative personality. In 2016, Siwa released the children’s song “Boomerang” that tackled the topic of dealing with bullies, which led to her eventually signing with Nickelodean in 2017 and releasing more songs and TV shows.
Jojo Siwa has gotten a lot of backlash for her new song, but one of the main things she’s been criticized for is being too egotistical and trying too hard to be edgy. One example of this is when in an interview with Billboard News she stated, “I want to start a new genre of music … Well, it’s called gay pop.” Though Siwa did come forward to clarify that she’s aware of other “gay pop icons,” she has still been criticized for the quote coming off as vain. Another thing she said that has caused people to criticize her is when she claimed that no one of her generation has made this dramatic of a change from child star to adult singer, which caused many to bring up names like Dove Cameron, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sabrina Carpenter, who were all stars from her generation who transitioned from child actresses to singers.
Soon it came to light that “Karma” was originally recorded by a singer named Brit Smith in 2012, and many people started to speculate that Siwa had actually stolen the song from Smith. The former Dance Moms star came forward to deny the claims, but the internet wasn’t too sure until Smith came forward and denied the claims herself. Eventually, Brit Smith officially released her version of “Karma” and fans banned together to make her version No. 8 on the iTunes charts, leaving Jojo Siwa’s version at #89 on the list.
Siwa has also been accused of stealing the song “Choose Your Fighter” from another artist called Emeline, who posted the song in 2022. Emeline has come out and said that she doesn’t understand what happened and how Siwa came to have the song, but has reassured her fans saying that she might release her version of the song after Siwa releases hers. She has said that though she didn’t sign off on the song being sung by the former Nickelodean star, she doesn’t blame her for it. Siwa has stayed silent on the controversy.
On May 4, 2024, Saturday Night Live had Chloe Fineman dress up as Jojo Siwa in the “Karma” music video on Weekend Update. In the skit, SNL made fun of how full of herself Siwa has seemed lately, and how she didn’t seem to age for years but is now suddenly trying to act all grown up. It also makes fun of her “big transformation” by having her say, “Yeah, yeah. It’s a pretty big change. I used to be rainbow sparkles, and now I’m black sparkles!” In response to being asked about her new look. Siwa actually took her SNL parody in stride saying, “ICONIC. I literally don’t know what to say, this is crazy. 3 and a half minute skit on SNL.”
So far, Jojo Siwa seems unaffected by the criticism of her new song and persona. Siwa claimed that she’s happy with “Karma,” and has clearly gotten good publicity for her new album. The real question is, has she really successfully shed her child star persona, or is this just a failed attempt to reinvent herself that will never last?