Our favorite child star turned social media influencer is once again making waves! With the release of her latest single ‘Karma’ on April 5th, 2024, Siwa adds another rung to the ladder of her evolving transformation.
JoJo Siwa (formerly nicknamed JoJo with a Bow Bow), got her start as a child dancer and cast member of the show Dance Moms in 2016. Siwa instantly became a fan favorite when she stood up to the head teacher and reality TV show villain, Abby Lee Miller. From that moment, she became a rare type of child influencer, dominating popular children’s culture for years. She sold bow collections across the country, amassing a gross profit of $16 million annually, along with lines of hundreds of other Jojo-themed merchandise.
Now that Siwa has reached adulthood and concluded her Nickelodeon contract, she’s shed the bows and glitter to embark on a rebranding journey—a transformative progression into a new JoJo. Building anticipation for her latest music videos, JoJo teased her audience with Kiss-inspired makeup and attire, hinting at lyrics portraying her newfound identity as a ‘bad girl.’ The stark contrast between the JoJo with a Bow Bow and the current JoJo Siwa has sent social media, especially TikTok users, into a frenzy. She created and spread a new …eccentric dance to go along with her song which amplified the discourse about her upcoming rebrand.
Siwa is not the first child star to embark on this journey, although she may believe her rebranding effort to be culturally shocking. From Britney Spears to Miley Cyrus, numerous child actors have pursued rebranding efforts aiming to shed the infantilization associated with their earlier roles and be recognized as the adults they’ve become. JoJo has approached her rebrand in the same hyper-campy way that she’s notable for, but with a sexualized twist, sometimes making the audience cringe. While some argue that her rebranding is a failure, I see her marketing strategy as quite brilliant (even if it is unintentional). Yes, it’s cringy. Yes, she’s borderline annoying. But the public can’t get enough of her! As JoJo herself said in a TikTok video while “Karma” plays in the background, “Like it or not… what’s been on your mind the last three days?”
Why is JoJo Siwa such an internet sensation? As of writing this, Siwa has a staggering 45.7 million followers on TikTok, with her song ‘Karma’ featuring in over 86.6 thousand posts in only a week. The online realm is going crazy with endless discussions about JoJo—users recreate her dances, dissect her interviews, and delve into the backstory of her “songwriting.” Despite the apparent disdain some express towards her, the fascination with JoJo seems unyielding. Even I dismissed the JoJo Siwa phenomenon as stupid. Yet here I am, dedicating an entire article to the artist…
I don’t necessarily have an answer to this question, but I do think public fascination lies in a bizarre desire for an online community. Joining in on hating or criticizing a celebrity like JoJo Siwa can be a way for individuals to bond with others who share similar opinions. She leans into that by making herself seem bizarre, giving the internet something to talk about. In the podcast The Viall Files, she says, “Honestly, I think I was fun to hate… There was a lot you could say, and I would feed it. I knew from a very young age how to market off of that [hate].” She even claimed that she purposely made the dance look “wrong” so the public would laugh, and buzz could circulate about the song. She created a sense of camaraderie and belonging within a community that enjoys engaging in celebrity gossip or criticism.
She is successful at generating buzz, but at what cost? Recent revelations uncovered that Siwa acquired “Karma” after Brit Smith, the original singer on the demo song, relinquished it over 10 years ago. When questioned in an interview about the history of the song development, JoJo callously dismissed the notion, stating “there is no such thing as stealing” and “I also don’t know who Brit Smith is.” This somewhat rude response and public discourse about Karma’s origins prompted Smith to release her original version on major streaming platforms, ultimately leading fans to gravitate to that version over Siwa’s, now charting in the iTunes US top 5 while Jojo’s version did not even break the top 200. This incident serves as a stark reminder that there is a fine line between “fun to hate” and just completely intolerable.
Ultimately, whether you love her or hate her, there’s no denying the impact JoJo Siwa has had on popular culture. From her days on Dance Moms to her latest ventures in music and beyond, she continues to defy expectations and carve out her own unique path. As she herself acknowledges, she may have been “fun to hate,” but in reality, she might be a marketing genius who knows exactly how to keep the world talking. Or she might be just a trainwreck. Either way, I respect the hustle. Stream Karma (whatever version you want).
