JoJo Siwa’s New Shockfest ‘Karma’: Bop or Flop

JoJo Siwa is here, and she’s ready to shock you. Are you still shocked? How now? The singer (?) released his new single “Karma” on April 5, and the music video finds him decked out in Kiss cosplay, getting close to two different women, dry-humping, and falling into water. She’s a spoiled good girl, and by “bad,” we mean “low quality.” And yet, the music video is a huge hit for Siwa, trending on YouTube, forcing her into the pop-girl conversation. So let’s give him what he wants, shall we? Rebecca Alter and Jason P. Frank get together to discuss “Karma,” this new rebrand, and why we can’t stop watching even when it doesn’t work. Is it a flop or is it a flop?

Rebecca Alter Jason, you are a member of Gen Z in this Google Doc. Do you claim this? Please tell me what’s going on.

Jason P. Frank: JoJo Siwa recognizes herself as a bad girl and can do it without getting any dirt on her clean clothes. Siwa, brilliantly efficient Dance Moms star who was the most famous girl in the world among 6-year-old children, is bored and seen as a sexless joker to children. And so, he puts on Kiss makeup, flirts with girls, and plays pop music. Is it down to make this joke?

RA: What you are saying is that, he is full by being identified as a non-sexual comedian for children, he therefore identifies as an adult comedian that is bad.

JPF: Objectively, yes.

RA: We’ve seen plenty of child pop stars reinvent themselves as a bad girl, but she might be one of the first to reinvent herself as a bad girl. bad girl. Because oh, bro, this stinks! And to answer your question, there is no way it is burned down to make fun of this. It is not an empire. Cardi B he couldn’t afford to book for his daughter’s birthday. He has his own brand Lunches and makeup-laced asbestos! And to top it all off, once she graduated from being a children’s entertainer herself, she went on to become Abby Lee in her own story, managing a children’s girl group called XOMG POP! With all the care and attention of Larry Plumb.

But XOMG POP! is a Dateline session for another day. We’re here specifically to talk about his new single and music video, “Karma.” Let’s do like JoJo at the 1:21 mark of the music video and diving come inside. This song… It’s not good, Jason.

JPF: Indeed! A strong, uninspired rhythm, and fake-strong lyrics (“He said ‘bitch’!”) he performed with the confidence of the elementary school students who were his fans.

RA: It’s funny how in the chorus, he keeps saying “bitch,” but in a way that he’s quoting a familiar phrase. Then, he immediately says he is “happy,” which is his Christian father.

JPF: The main problem is that it is so clear that – the recalculation of a brand. There is no sense that there was a true artistic muse, from him or from anyone else on his team. In interviews, he has referred to other “good girl gone bad” cases from pop – Britney, Miley, etc. – but when all you do is regurgitate other people’s efforts, you end up with a facsimile of an altered image. You know what this reminds me of, Rebecca? Sugar and Spice from Drag Race – one is sweet (she wears pink), the other is scary (she wears black), but in the end, they are still in the same dress.

RA: Except Sugar and Spice took inspo from the Bratz dolls, and one of the main issues in this video I kept thinking, JoJo Siwa has the face of an American Doll.

How she still commits to slicked-back hair (now in a way fake-a hawk instead of a horse) makes his head look like a giant egg! Scrambled egg! Not quite cherubic, more Schumeric. He has always had a bouba face with kick energy, bringing any situation of anxiety and conflict. Makes all of her sensitive, fast, and hard in this video (so banging) amazing! He sounds like he plays, and he plays like…

What would you call this? Are we being too mean? I think my fight-or-flight is on because I’m scared!

JPF: We’re not too bad, but I worry we’re giving ourselves too much credit. Are you really not happy about this? Does it even prove that? The music video is so conscious of the reaction it intends to provoke that I can’t do more than just watch. You wanted “good girl gone bad” and you went with … Kiss? And the music doesn’t refer to that band at all? If he wanted to shock me, he would get angry. Instead, it’s the same overwrought, heartless work he’s always done. Humping is embarrassing, of course, but that’s because it’s sexless. He treats it like any other dance move – a movement to be executed.

RA: I took the words out of my mouth – I am worried and frustrated because it is a form that is not sexual or promiscuous. I wouldn’t even say “robots,” because fembots? Famous sexy. I would like to say overly polished either; look at the control of the background dancers in the choreo on how hard he hits each beat. It’s smooth, but also very much. And, yes, whether the makeup is Kiss or Alice Cooper, you don’t get any of that in the music. Talking about it, these words are something else. I’m not sure which lyric is my favorite between “Like when a tree falls in the forest, no one hears it,” and the part where he sings “boring” and “snoring.” What did you take away from the song itself?

JPF: It’s funny you make fun of him for putting the song in “boring” and “snoring,” because I was about to use all those words to describe the song.

RA: Hahaha, he sang “When I laid me down to sleep…” and you were like, “That’s me.”

JPF: I can’t think of a funnier moment than the opening line itself: “I was a bad girl.” He is very honest. And I’m not a monster; I don’t need subtlety in pop music. But the song isn’t about her doing bad things, it’s about her “being” a “bad girl.”

RA: Well, I’m confused about that point. Because the chorus begins, “Karma’s a bitch, I’d know better / If I had a desire, I wouldn’t sing,” but the rest of the song is about his girlfriend and another girl who makes him jealous. ? Even in his bad-girl fantasy, she is not stop being a bad person himself.

I’m only saying this because I’m on the Genius of that song page right now, and I actually have a new favorite song: “Cold blue eyes look at me / the mirror is merciless / my guilt has become a symphony.” She’s one of those girls who says, “My eyes are staring.” so blue when I cry.”

JPF: Oh, like Kenzie from The survivor this season. At least he has tattoos.

RA: no, especially.

JPF: Did you notice that JoJo never kissed any of the girls in the music video? They touch faces, he humps, gets his tongue a little on the neck, but does not bother to kiss her for real. To me, that’s the whole song. For all its attempts to shock the audience with fantastic sex, no sex is shown.

RA: Nothing! When he was yelling without looking at him or making physical contact, I wanted to yell at him like a Yorkiepoo: Jojo, stop that right now! Not on the rug!

JPF: Are you offended by this? When I wrote the thing about classy sexuality above, it occurred to me that it is possible to be angry – the capitalist uses his asexual sexuality to pollute the nation without any commitment, yada yada. And yet, I cannot muster the strength to care. It’s the kind of artistic content that, despite our 1,200 words on the subject, escapes the imagination. Obviously, it’s worked for it based on the real goal, which is “interesting” (1.4 million views as of this morning already, and counting), but is it worth trying to sink into this for some political point?

RA: NOW, SINCE YOU MENTION IT (*opens a book that goes around the room*) Many pop stars have made homosexuals a tool for work. Siwa, at first, did something different when he came out as gay (technically, he came out as “the best gay cousin ever”). It was her identity, her gender, and it didn’t limit her rainbow and unicorn product lines. But also: He has been panting every step.

But now he has tried to incorporate it into a ready-made comeback for shock value, acting out his own identity. The sweat of figuring out how to reinvent yourself in the public eye is actually true to who he is, in a way. Loudly and proudly cringe.

JPF: The most shocking thing that happened in my day was the earthquake that just happened. I’m sorry, JoJo.

RA: Like being pushed dry by Mother Earth…