Jaunty? Jazzy? Or just plain overdone? Jojo Siwa might be one of the biggest names in pop culture at the moment, and not in a good way.
Freshman fangirl Emma Bayer said, “I think if she didn’t make a drastic change people wouldn’t hate on her so much since most people know her as a teenage girl who wears fun clothes, which some people see as their childhood and wouldn’t want that to change.”
On April 5th, 2024, dancer and musical artist Jojo Siwa released her first single in her rebranding era, a song titled “Karma.” This song quickly picked up speed all over the internet for reasons including her drastic change in style of dress, genre of music, and mature content.
“I feel it made her get a lot more hate on social media. Also, she used to be someone that kids would look up to, but now I feel she’s not the person you would want your kid looking up to,” said Bayer.
Around 2015, Siwa began recording and releasing numerous fun, kid-friendly, and colorful dance-pop singles. However, recently her content has become geared towards a more mature audience. In “Karma,” the lyrics include explicit language, and the music video includes mature content. This huge change in theme came as a surprise to those who knew of her previously.
“I loved her. Although I never got any bows, you bet “Boomerang” was on repeat. I still know all the words,” said sophomore Grace Mayhugh.
“Boomerang” was a childhood classic for many students at Knoch, including myself and Bayer.
“I liked Jojo when I was younger. I would listen to her old song “Boomerang” while playing outside,” Bayer said.
Boomerangs are a hot topic when it comes to students at Knoch.
“Fly away like a boomerang but don’t come back,” said Junior Anthony Ranalli.
For some at Knoch, it is pure hate for Jojo, while for others, they don’t see where the hate comes from.
“Well given a lot of people are homophobic, they don’t necessarily agree with that stuff, but I can see where people are coming from when they hate on her crazy content sometimes,” said Mayhugh.
Mayhugh also happens to be seeing Jojo Siwa in concert this summer, at Pride on the Shore in Pittsburgh. “I’m excited, I don’t get the backlash, honestly,” said Mayhugh, regarding Jojo.
Where Mayhugh doesn’t understand the hate, freshman Rocco Pelloni is an expert. Is there anything she could do to make Pelloni like her?
“Probably not, but she could start by taking her music video down,” said Pelloni.
Along with Pelloni, sophomore Landon Harrison shares this deep disdain.
He expressed his dislike for Jojo, saying, “I do not like her. I think she needs to stop making music.”
Short, sweet, and to the point!
For some people, it is less about hating her and more about not understanding her reasoning for how she is portraying herself.
“I feel she changed too much. But not in a good way,” said Bayer. “I think people hate her mainly for her big change in appearance and music. I would just ask how they feel about her new style and if they miss her old one.”
While some people might just miss her old style, others wish she wouldn’t sing at all.
“I absolutely hate her and think she’s annoying. I think she should try a different career and quit acting like she has friends,” said Pelloni.
No matter your opinions on Jojo, I believe we can all agree that we never want another music video like that. Ever again.
“I would like it if she went back to her old style because I feel she was more entertaining and fun,” said Bayer.
