JoJo Siwa’s music has spawned an uncountable number of memes and LOL-worthy reactions on social media, but for some people, listening to it (and maybe even making fun of it) is their guilty pleasure. Siwa welcomed this status with open arms on her debut EP, Guilty Pleasure, which dropped on July 12.
You can read the EP’s title track in two ways: as a generic, safely suggestive song baiting her lover to make a move or, much more interestingly, as a tongue-in-cheek acceptance of her already-infamous music career. However you choose to interpret it, analyzing the lyrics is my “Guilty Pleasure.”
Siwa calls out her haters right off the bat. In the first verse, she sings, “Don’t lie to me, like you don’t like this / I know you see me when you close your eyes / Baby, please, why you tryna fight it? / Don’t be a tease.” Her shocking rebrand and less-than-stellar debut single, “Karma,” got a lot of backlash from the public, both for being a total 180 from the overly child-friendly brand she’d cemented and for being poorly executed. In this verse, Siwa’s not convinced that the public actually dislikes her as much as they say — and hey, all PR is good PR, right?
In the pre-chorus, Siwa begs the naysayers to give up their act. She sings, “And won’t you stop denying all this tension? / Come move in my direction / I’ll make your dreams come to life (To life) / And when they ask you, you can tell them that I, I…” She doubles down on her claim in the very repetitive chorus: “I’m your guilty pleasure (Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, yeah) / I’m your guilty pleasure (Pleasure, pleasurе, pleasure) / So come and gеt it, get it / All you gotta do is admit it, I’m your guilty pleasure.” I think the world would be more keen to embrace this new era of Siwa’s career if it offered something of value, but I don’t foresee Guilty Pleasure earning any Grammy nominations.
The second verse gives us a glimpse into how Siwa feels about the public’s response to her rebrand: impatient. “It’s all on you, leave it or take it / Make it move, but make it back tonight / What you gon’ do? ‘Cause I’m sick of waiting (Waiting) / Get out your mood,” she sings.
Siwa’s been in the public eye since she made her Dance Moms debut at 9 years old. She was always one of the fan favorites, and even though most of her career has catered to little kids (think of her hair bows and selling out arenas for her Nickelodeon-backed D.R.E.A.M. The Tour), she’s managed to stay in good graces in the court of public opinion past her reality TV days. The backlash she’s received for her “Karma”-era antics is the first time she’s faced such massive public disapproval, especially on such a large scale. It’s not just parents giving their opinions anymore; it’s the entire internet.
The second verse’s lyrics admit that Siwa is in denial about her rebrand not working in her favor. She’s holding on to the hope that the public will change their tune — but she’s certainly not changing hers. She repeats “I know what drives you crazy / Wish I could be your baby / I make your mind go filthy / And that’s what makes you guilty” twice in the bridge.
It sounds less like Siwa’s trying to convince us and more like she’s trying to convince herself that she’s on the right track. She’s too deeply committed to the new direction she’s chosen. Backing out only a few months after initiating it would make it look like a temporary blot on her resume, one consequential enough to separate her from the world of children’s entertainment but not successful enough to guarantee a stable career afterward.
Siwa may not make good music, but she’s a damn good entrepreneur. She knows what people are saying about her, and songs like “Guilty Pleasure” only confirm it. She’s got one weapon left in her arsenal to try to spin her rebrand in her favor — capitalizing on the public’s reaction, whether positive or negative — and she’s using it with full force.