A name that’s been on a lot of people’s minds lately is JoJo Siwa. You probably know her for her iconic high ponytail topped with a statement bow or for her time on Dance Moms. Recently, this child celebrity has been on the radar for her new song “Karma.” The song was released on April 5th, 2024 and since its release, there has been a lot of negative feedback.
JoJo Siwa has taken over the internet since her new song was released. Having listened to this song myself, I can state with 100 percent certainty that this song is substandard. Siwa decided to open her song with the lyric “I was a bad girl, I did some bad things.” This obviously confused me because what bad things did she do? Is she talking about the millions of dollars she made at the age of 10? This lyric and song in general tried to be edgy and rebellious, but it’s practically a joke because almost everyone knows JoJo Siwa as a colorful, energetic dancer.
Another factor of this song is the music video. In my brutally honest opinion, this music video is a disgrace to the industry. So many artists and producers work tirelessly on songs and music videos. The music video accompanied with “Karma” looks like it was shot on a studio floor with a greenscreen in the background. As for the costumes, they look like they were picked out blindly, threw on some glitter and rhinestones, and hit record. Definitely not the music video I was hoping for. Another disturbing factor of the music video is the sexualization of the dancers and Siwa herself. I personally have always seen JoJo Siwa as an idol for children, and this music video is highly inappropriate for a younger audience.
The last factor I strongly disliked about this song is the obvious overuse of autotune. Most artists choose to use autotune for their songs to make their voices sound less shaky, higher, lower, etc. But in JoJo Siwa’s “Karma,” the use of autotune is so blatantly obvious it’s hard to even listen. The clash of the ‘serious’ lyrics and the high-pitched voice is like mixing water and oil–it just doesn’t work. Overall, I was highly unimpressed with “Karma” by JoJo Siwa and I hope she takes the hard feedback from the press and public if she decides to create another song or album.