Jojo Siwa: Back Like a Boomerang
“JOJO HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING?” crosses my mind as I watch TikTok after TikTok about Jojo Siwa and her new song “Karma.” Her new song caused so much controversy due to recent backlash from media users. Brit Smith sang “Karma” back in 2012, however she released a different song, “Provocative” instead, which is why most of us are hearing her version for the first time. In fact, Britt told Page Six that she felt as though Siwa did the song justice and that she was just happy to hear that people are listening to the song. But “Karma” isn’t what I’ll be discussing. I want to discuss how Jojo started on Dance Moms at age nine, and at twenty years old she has been able to stay in the media spotlight for all the years in between. How did she do it?
Joelle Joanie Siwa, also known as Jojo Siwa, got her first taste of fame from Dance Moms, a reality TV show about competitive dancers and their mothers. Siwa and her mother, Jessalynn Siwa, were in two seasons from 2015-2016. They left halfway through Season 6 after she signed a deal with Nickelodeon. At just 13 years old, Siwa had a talent deal with Nick where they could work with her on consumer products, social media, music, and live events. During this time, she also released her line of hair bows with Claire’s, was famous on Musical.ly and YouTube, and had a single, “Boomerang” that has over 940 million views on YouTube. Her brand was targeted to kids, and she had branded almost anything you could imagine. As a 21 year old college student writing this blog, I had to stop for a second and rethink my life choices. Jojo Siwa, to me, is the epitome of absurdity, because one may think her child stardome ended here, but it was, in fact, just the beginning.
Siwa’s brand deal with Nick ended in 2020. The same year she was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.” In 2021, she posted a Tik Tok and Instagram video coming out as queer. Pretty soon after those videos, she announced she had a girlfriend, Kylie Prew. She then went on Dancing With The Stars where she danced with Jenna Johnson. She truly was an icon. Many parents loved that their kids could look up to someone who brought light to the LGBTQ+ community, while also being her true self 24/7. 2021 was the year where the infamous video of Siwa with her hair down, instead of in the tight, high ponytail, was posted. Then, in 2022, Siwa stated that she was dating Avery Cyrus. While they only dated for three months, their breakup was messy. First, to set the scene, their first date was to Chuck E. Cheese. Second, their beef occurred because of Siwa’s mother’s Instagram story, post breakup, where Siwa was upset and said to her mother, “I got tricked into being told I was in love, then I got f-king played”. Honestly, Jojo, me too. We’ve all been there, you’re just like the rest of us, but let’s get to some of the most recent points you’ve made.
Let’s start with her cars. Her first convertible had a blown up picture of herself on the hood with teal and pink seats, which seemed like a lot, but, in typical JoJo Siwa fashion, she kept going. She has stated time and time again how she is moving on from being a childhood star, and moving to an adult artist. The true start of her “not made for children” era was her most recent single Karma. The lead up to the release of the song will truly go down in history for how much popularity it gained, and the numbers to the music video show it. She not only rebranded herself, but also her car. She got her Tesla re-wrapped in multiple different photos of herself, with “Jojo Siwa” written on the side and “Karma’s a Bitch” written on the trunk. Currently, the music video has close to 29 million views and is number nine in trending music on YouTube, so clearly her marketing job worked. But, Siwa has said some interesting things that many people didn’t like. Like when she stated in an interview that she wanted to invent a “gay pop” genre. To which the internet immediately went after her naming artists such as Lady Gaga, Renee Rapp, Troy Sivan, Freddie Mercury, and many more queer music icons.
Personally, I have never been a huge JoJo Siwa fan, however, I will admit I have kept up with her. Because, to me, I find it astonishing that she has been able to keep up her fame throughout all of these different phases of her life. We have seen a lot of child actors go through a lot of trauma and quit acting to get out of the media spotlight, but JoJo is different. She has grown up in the media, and continues to. The only question there is left to ask is, what’s next? Will she dye her iconic platinum blonde hair, that her mother has been dying since she was two years old, a different color? Will she come out with a full album? Whatever it may be, we know JoJo will go above and beyond in her marking and she will be the talk of the internet once more.