What the Hell Happened: Bad Karma for JoJo Siwa

On April 5, the former child star JoJo Siwa dropped her new single, “Karma.” Before its release, Siwa teased mature music that contained “sexual themes, violence, strong language, traumatic scenarios, and flashing lights.” The world was not as shocked as it thought it would be. What she actually gave us was a PG-13, rhinestone-infested pop song simply about cheating giving you bad karma.

Despite Siwa singing “I was a bad girl” in the opening lines, nothing about the song or music video was particularly shocking. Sure, the chorus includes the word “bitch,” and she wears Kiss-inspired makeup. She also performs some suggestive, somewhat awkward dances with multiple girls. At the end of the day, though, it’s still the same tame, glittery aesthetic Siwa claims she’s breaking out of.

Siwa is not the only child star who has tried to distance themselves from their bubblegum pop past. The entertainment machines of Disney and Nickelodeon produced quite the roster of teenybop singers-turned-pop icons in the past two decades. Previously, this shift was accomplished through newsworthy stunts like Britney Spears kissing Madonna at the VMAs and Miley Cyrus gyrating during her “Bangerz” era, and Siwa even cites the latter album as a major inspiration for her comeback. Even so, feats like this seem mild and trite at this point, especially with discourse on sexuality and queer acceptance evolving every year.

Siwa also can’t rely on older fans like those other artists. Earlier Disney escapees like Cyrus catered to a tween and teen audience who were eager to follow them to more R-rated themes. Siwa, on the other hand, catered to elementary schoolers and even kindergarteners — but any viewer of the “Karma” music video can tell Siwa didn’t make the song for them.

The “Karma” singer has recently weathered a storm of negative media attention. First, there have been reports that she allegedly bullied and overworked underage contestants on her reality TV show, “Siwa’s Dance Pop Revolution.” According to Rolling Stone, she denied these claims through legal representatives.

Siwa also experienced widespread mockery when she said she hopes “Karma” will create a new music genre called “gay pop.” When internet denizens responded with a host of queer pop artists — Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Lady Gaga, and Chappell Roan, to name just a few — Siwa admitted that she didn’t invent it, but wants “to bring more attention to it.” Siwa herself seems aware of these non-musical entanglements.

“I could say I support world peace, and people would be like, ‘You asshole,’” Siwa recently told TMZ.

However, she said that while wearing what appeared to be a shiny silver turtle backpack. Therein lies the root of most of Siwa’s critiques. She pretends to have abandoned her childish past, but her current work is only a slightly more punk play on it. Her apparent inability to recognize that is what seems to be keeping critics from taking her and her music seriously.

Siwa’s outlandishness doesn’t have to be a weakness. Other artists like Melanie Martinez fully dove into childish aesthetics and turned them into commercial success. If Siwa took a page out of Martinez’s book, she could embrace her eccentricity and add a unique, mature twist on her currently vanilla pop tune.

She might even have that opportunity in the future, as she has said in interviews that her music career is a top priority going forward. Until Siwa contributes something new, though, she will be considered more Kidz Bop than real pop.

—Staff writer Giselle P. Acosta can be reached at giselle.acosta@thecrimson.com.