Many of us may know JoJo Siwa from her work on the Lifetime series Dance Moms, her massive hairbow empire, or as a TikTok influencer. Now, the music video for the singer-dancer’s new song “Karma” has taken the internet by storm. With nearly 19 million views in the first week of its release, the music video has not only been memeified for Siwa’s interesting choreography (to say the least) but has also ignited a lot of drama in both the LGBTQ+ community and the entertainment industry.
During her press tour for “Karma,” Siwa made some interesting claims about the future of her music career that haven’t sat well with many, especially within the queer community. In an interview with Billboard, Siwa states, “I want to start a new genre of music… well, it’s called gay pop.” She continues to compare her new song to Lady Gaga’s “Applause” as well as Miley Cyrus’ “On My Own” and “Can’t Be Tamed.”
Siwa then contradicts herself by stating, in a different interview with Billboard, “No one has made this dramatic of a change yet. No one has made, in my generation, this extreme of a switch.” Many people on TikTok and other platforms point out that this fails to recognize the numerous musicians in the LGBTQ+ community who’ve brought so much to this genre. Artists like Troye Sivan, Reneé Rapp, Chappell Roan, and Conan Gray are among so many others who have massively contributed to gay pop and are given no credit from Siwa whatsoever.
She also falls short by not acknowledging the foundational work of artists like Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, and Elton John, who paved the way for LGBTQ+-oriented music. Several people from the gay community have expressed their frustration with Siwa’s statements and how she lacks understanding of the community she’s representing.
TikTok creator and member of the queer community, @lemongayde, shared her perspective in her viral TikTok with over two million views, saying, “To say something as outlandish at the age of f*cking 20 as you invented the genre of gay pop is achingly disrespectful. You cannot have invented something that has been going on since long before you were born.”
It’s clear that Siwa is inaccurately making claims about her music, but it’s not only regarding the LGBTQ+ community. To the shock of many, it’s come out recently that Siwa didn’t write “Karma” or mention her use of the demo at all.
The original artist of “Karma,” Brit Smith (better known as Matisse), recorded the song back in 2012 as an unreleased single for her debut album after it was recorded and scrapped by Miley Cyrus in 2011. It was refined by her with producers Rock Mafia and Timbaland.
On April 9, a music video for the single, titled “Karma’s A Bitch,” was uploaded on YouTube. In the video, it was clear to many that the lyrics and melody of the single were identical to Siwa’s version, meaning that Siwa did not incorporate much originality into her song at all.
It has since been confirmed that the song was pitched to Siwa and she immediately loved it. But there’ve also been video leaks where she’s seen crying on TikTok, and many are speculating it’s because of the stolen song allegations made about her. Regardless, she still hasn’t specifically mentioned Smith or the original writings of the song, which has left me, personally, a little skeptical about her intentions.
Something else I can’t get over with the release of “Karma” is Siwa’s dancing. Growing up watching her on Dance Moms, I know that she has some great dancing capabilities. So I’m confused as to why none of those skills shine through in recent dance rehearsal videos of her for the song. People all over the internet have been recreating Siwa’s choreography, making memes about it, and sharing in the confusion as to why she’s dancing that way.
Siwa also addressed the resurfacing of her October 2023 performance with Australian singer-songwriter G Flip, where she “f*cked the air essentially.” Siwa shared on the Call Her Daddy podcast that “[she] would definitely do some things different at the G Flip concert.”
She also expressed her anger that people are taking the video out of context, saying, “We weren’t being serious, we weren’t trying to be hot or sexy; we were trying to be funny.” Regardless of what they were trying to do, I still laugh at the Siwa dancing memes on TikTok and even find myself doing them because it’s a bit hilarious to me.
Siwa’s song and music video have only been out for a week at this point and so much has already happened, so I can only imagine what else might come in the future. Her lyrics from “Karma” have reluctantly been ruling both my mind and several of my group chats, so I’m curious to see what other songs she might release and what will come of them. All I know is that if this much has come from one Siwa song, the release of an album from her would be insane.
Siwa said it herself: “I was a wild child.” If we didn’t know it then, we know it now.
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