The New Jojo

We all know Jojo Siwa, but we used to know her for her crazy side part, big bow, and a shiny jacket. It was a good image for her but since she’s gotten older, that childish perception came back to haunt her. Jojo used social media to come out in early 2021, and many supported her, and she was seen in a much more positive light by society.  Now Jojo Siwa is twenty years old and an American singer and dancer.

“First everyone hated on her because she looked 12 when she was 16,” Ann Fields, a sophomore, said, “and then she came out and everyone supported her for being a gay icon, and then she got all weird and people hated her again.”

So what’s the next step for her? A big change. But that backfired too.

The Controversial Drama of Both Her New Look and Her New Single 

She has been getting quite infamous for allegedly, her most recent single, “Karma.”  Jojo over promoted the song on social media for literal months, teasing it like it was going to be the best thing to happen to music. It was recently put out that Jojo is not the artist who created the song “Karma.” Brit Smith, a thirty eight year old singer is. 

She changed her entire look, going for a severely failed “bad girl” look. The look seems to be inspired by glam metal makeup, however in an interview, she claimed she had never heard of the artists. She is talking about how she has gone through “the biggest, most extreme” makeover, calling herself the most extreme aesthetic change of this generation.

Anonymous says, “Jojo Siwa is crazy, she seriously thinks she is the first artist of this generation to make this dramatic of a change, like no you’re socially irrelevant nobody cares.” 

In another interview, she claimed to be the inventor of a music genre which she labeled “gay pop” which has already been around for a long time, created by artists such as Adam Lambert. The interviews she has been posting for this song and “era” have led to her receiving some major backlash, as well as multiple trends basically making fun of her on social media. 

“Karma”: Her New Era or Her Biggest Mistake? 

It’s amazing how one little song can cause such a big dispute on the internet. 

So here’s what happened: There were a few other composers that wrote the song and it was originally made for Miley Cyrus, but she declined it. A while later, the artist Brit Smith accepted it. Although, she never ended up releasing the song. Jojo did not know about this. 

After Jojo released her song, various people on the internet were not pleased. With the song being overhyped, it really made people upset with the outcome and then Brit Smith released her version. This plays a big part because once Brit’s version was out, the various people hating on Jojo’s version started praising hers, which really took a toll on Jojo.

“Jojo Siwa sucks, her voice is annoying, her personality is annoying, she’s just cringe overall,” Sreeja Bandi, a junior, states, “And her music video “Karma”, oh that’s just disgusting.”

Now this is the crazy part. Not only did she release an awful song, she also released a horrendous music video. The dance moves were just so overly done and exaggerated as well: dry humping another person in front of a camera is traumatizing. 

“Now Jojo is just trying to make herself relevant again and definitely not in a good way,” Ana Soltau, a junior, comments. “Like girl we get it you think you are talented but these talents are definitely lacking. You are just going to have to find a way to use these talents to your advantage because right now, this strategy is not working out.”

It’s easy to hate on someone.

But…. while some of her recent decisions have been questionable, Jojo is still a person. 

It was really hard for me to watch Jojo in the Dance Moms reunion. Everyone had their own experience with Dance Moms and Jojo’s was no different, so why are people forgetting that she went through that too? 

Being a part of something so big at a young age will really take a toll on how you grow up. Maybe her new era, and her wanting to leave her old aesthetics behind, was all because of her childhood and if that’s the case then nobody should be sending death threats to her.

Overall, she is who she is, and all this judgment of her may not be taking into account the trauma that’s made her who she is. Maybe it’s all a cry for help. One thing I know is if you are expressing yourself even in a way that’s cringey but you’re not immoral or insensitive, you don’t deserve to be hated.