20-year-old JoJo Siwa gained her fame through the hit reality series “Dance Moms,” and after the show ended, she went on to create her own brand. Siwa created a line of giant bows which was extremely popular with her younger fans. Riding off this success, she went on to release music. Her most well-known single,“Boomerang,” was released in 2016.

As her audience grew older, Siwa faded into the background, making brief appearances in the media when she came out as lesbian or took part in the “Dance Moms” reunion. However, in March 2024,  Siwa announced that she would be releasing a new single called “Karma.”

Siwa claimed that with the release of this song, she would be entering a new era: she would no longer be catering to younger audiences, and this song was not for kids, as it contained curse words. After revealing parts of her song on TikTok, the majority of her audience had negative reactions and criticized her lyrics as being “basic.” Siwa responded by explaining her thought process behind the lyrics, and how much work she put into the song. “Originally, I was scared to say the lyrics,” Siwa said in an interview with Billboard. “I didn’t want to say I was a bad girl, because I wasn’t a bad girl.” 

It wasn’t just the song lyrics that were ridiculed. After releasing snippets of “Karma,” Siwa revealed the song would be released with a music video that included her dancing. She showed videos of her and her background dancers performing the choreography. People noted that compared to the other dancers, Siwa was dancing significantly worse.

However, criticism of her dance moves was exactly what Siwa wanted. In her podcast, “Jojo Siwa NOW,” she revealed that she was purposely dancing terribly in the practice videos she posted to catch the attention of the media, and it worked.

The full song and music video was released on April 5 and was very disturbing to watch. It featured Siwa dancing erotically, as well as the rest of her song, which was very jarring. Siwa’s once brightly colored aesthetic was replaced with darker, more provocative imagery. Her dance moves, which had previously been celebrated for their energy and positivity, now seemed jarring and out of character. Critics accused her of appropriating a more mature image without fully understanding the implications.

Before she released the song, Siwa heavily alluded to writing the whole song on her own. However, after the song was released, the media found out that she did not write a single word of the song.  Instead, she purchased the song rights from Brit Smith, who had originally released the song in 2012. The only alteration she made was changing the lyric “messed around” to “effed around.”

Despite the backlash, “Karma” garnered significant attention, albeit not necessarily the kind Siwa had hoped for. While she should be praised for taking risks and exploring new creative avenues, the authenticity of her artistic expression was controversial. The revelation that she hadn’t written the song only added to the controversy,  and she clearly had misled her fans about her involvement in the project.

After the release of “Karma,” Siwa found herself at the center of a storm. Fans who had grown up watching her wholesome image on “Dance Moms” and adored her bubbly persona were shocked by the stark contrast in her latest work. Instead of turning to a genre shift, Siwa would do best to return to her bright, rainbow bow filled personality. 

Let’s hope that in the future, Siwa follows the new lyrics, “Thou shall not lie, Thou shall not cheat, Thou shall not release music.”

“Karma” is available to stream on all streaming platforms.