JoJo Siwa first rose to fame on the reality show “Dance Moms,” but since joining in season four, Siwa has managed to expand her public image from dancer to internet personality, actress, and, of course, singer. Her success is undoubtable, as it is nearly impossible to walk into a Claire’s or Walmart without seeing her face and iconic side ponytail plastered on t-shirts, hair accessories, and even life-sized cardboard cutouts. Expanding into the music industry, Siwa first launched her music career in 2016 with the release of “Boomerang,” a peppy pop song addressed to all of her internet haters. After an eight year hiatus, Siwa recently revived her music career with the release of her newest song “Karma” on April 5.
In the lead up to the song’s release, Siwa publicly announced that her aim with this single was to rebrand herself similarly to how Miley Cyrus did with her 2013 album “Bangerz.” At first glance, it would appear that she had succeeded. While “Boomerang” featured images of Siwa against a neon backdrop in a bright pink bow and slicked back ponytail, “Karma” displayed a red, blurred image of Siwa staring fiercely into the camera. This impression is continued through the first 20 seconds of the song with a slow fade in, low-pitched string instruments, and an overall serious tone. The song becomes increasingly difficult to listen to as the first couple lyrics inspire second-hand embarrassment, stating: “I was a bad girl, I did some bad things.” However, the real difficulty comes with the addition of the infamous music video.
Beginning with Siwa alone on a dark island, the scene abruptly shifts to close up clips of her lip-biting, seductively staring, and laying on top of another woman. When the lyrics begin, she changes into heavy makeup complete with a mohawk and a black bedazzled bodysuit. The chorus proves equally as cringy as the rest of the song, and with the addition of being subjected to Siwa and her dancers humping the air and then later grinding on the beach, it is an almost unbearable experience. Even more, for a figure who is known for her dancing experience and inner starpower, the dancing and performance on the song is strikingly sub-par. While the video can be found as disconcerting, Abby Lee Miller, Siwa’s coach on “Dance Moms,” loved it. In a TikTok video posted to her account, she said, “I thought it was absolutely amazing, I’m going to watch it over and over and over again.” I suppose it’s to each their own.
Additionally, upon further inspection, it becomes increasingly difficult to attribute this song to Siwa. Under the credits she is listed as “Main Artist”’ while Antonina Armato and Tim James are listed as “Composer, Lyricist.” Indeed it is common for the singer not to write or compose their own music, but, it is difficult to even give Siwa credit for singing. “Karma” is so heavily autotuned it hardly requires a real person at all, much less any singing ability. In an interview on podcast “Call Her Daddy,” Siwa even admits, “I will never, ever, claim to be a singer… I know my vocal abilities, and I also know my vocal abilities: what they’re or not.” Perhaps this song is better as a comedic masterpiece than as a musical pursuit.
Despite the quality of the song and the music video, Siwa once again became an internet sensation, mostly due to the buzz created by online accounts. The real lure behind the song can be found in the comments below the music video. @user-dy6dt2rw3j commented, “I want a full apology with tears,” while @luhvmags shared, “THATS NOT KARMA ITS TRAUMA [two crying face emojis].” Despite the R-rated content of her music video, people still seem to identify her as synonymous with her younger self. For instance, @zforzaid said, “‘i was a bad girl’ GIRL YOU WORE PINK DRESSES AND SOLD GLITTERY BOWS AT WALMART.” These comments are making it seem like Siwa is going to need another “Boomerang.”
With this traction on her music video, which currently has over 20 million views, Siwa is quickly returning to relevance in mainstream culture. This overnight return to popularity after years of being out of the spotlight begs the question: was this song just a PR move for Siwa? On one hand, it’s very likely that Siwa and her team purposefully released and promoted the song in order to gain press, albeit bad press. However, on the other hand, if there were to be one person in this world who would seriously release a song and music video like “Karma,” it would be JoJo Siwa. Even if it wasn’t originally meant to be a PR move, the song has successfully secured a multitude of trends online, especially on TikTok. Barely a couple seconds into scrolling on the For You Page and you’re bound to see a video of someone exaggeratingly copying Siwa’s dance moves or reimagining the song in different genres of music.
Siwa’s “Karma” is ultimately a song for the books. With its cringe worthy lyrics and a music video that makes you wish you could burn it from your memory, Siwa has created an internet sensation that’s yet to reach its peak. In some obscure way, the song can be labeled as iconic through and through. With Siwa’s whiplash-inducing switch up from a bow-wearing child star to a crazy eye-makeup-wearing “adult” singer, “Karma” is a hit in terms of popularity and relevance. But, of course, the song humbly receives one out of five stars, because, let’s be honest, no one is seriously adding this one to their Spotify playlists.
