The Evolution Of Jojo Siwa

MsMojo

From Dance Moms to her Karma "Bad Girl" era, JoJo Siwa has taken quite the journey. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re taking a closer look at the life, career and evolution of JoJo Siwa.

Transcript

00:00 "It's JoJo, here we go!"

00:03 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're taking a closer look at the life,

00:07 career, and evolution of JoJo Siwa.

00:10 In the world of celebrity, and to rehash William Shakespeare,

00:13 it could be said that the course of true fame never did run smooth.

00:17 But every so often, a public figure comes along whose ups and downs are seemingly so extreme

00:22 that the headlines are just so easy to write, for better or worse.

00:26 JoJo Siwa's story has earned her millions of followers all over the world.

00:30 But how did she get to where she is now?

00:32 "I was a bad girl. I did some bad things."

00:36 Born Joelle Joni Siwa on May 19, 2003, in Omaha, Nebraska,

00:42 JoJo showed an early passion for dance and performance.

00:46 She practiced from a young age and quickly made a name for herself on the competitive circuit.

00:50 "I'm gonna totally make Cindy eat her words."

00:53 Her first big break came when, in 2013,

00:56 she appeared on Season 2 of the reality TV series Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.

01:01 On the show, her larger-than-life personality and impressive skills caught the attention of

01:06 audiences and judges alike.

01:08 "You performed like you were an old Broadway pro."

01:11 As one of the youngest contestants at the time, Siwa's energy and enthusiasm were infectious,

01:17 and ultimately she finished fifth in the competition, making it to Week 10 of 12.

01:22 "JoJo, today is not your day."

01:25 Soon after, Siwa became a regular in Seasons 5 and 6 of Dance Moms.

01:29 "Nice."

01:30 Again, she showcased her versatility as a dancer,

01:34 excelling in a variety of styles and consistently delivering standout performances.

01:38 She quickly became a viewer favorite, gaining a dedicated following of young fans.

01:43 Her colorful outfits, upbeat personality, and positive attitude became something of a trademark.

01:48 "I'm the Abby Lee Dancing Studio!"

01:52 And it was during her time on Dance Moms that Siwa first introduced her instantly must-have

01:57 bow accessories. They'd become a staple of her brand, much to the reported despair of teachers

02:02 worldwide, with some schools said to have banned Siwa's hair accessories from the classroom,

02:07 as they were deemed to be too distracting.

02:09 "Get a bigger bow, Penny."

02:10 "Ready?"

02:11 At this point, JoJo Siwa is on the crest of a wave, but that wave is only going to get bigger.

02:16 She left Dance Moms and signed with Nickelodeon in 2017.

02:20 The move opened up a long series of new opportunities,

02:23 mainly in acting and, most notably, in music.

02:26 "I don't really care about what they say. I'ma come back like a boomerang."

02:32 Siwa released her debut single "Boomerang" in 2016.

02:35 To say it was a success is something of an understatement.

02:39 With more than a billion views on YouTube, it catapulted Siwa to new levels,

02:43 and the song delivered an empowering message of resilience and self-confidence to boot.

02:48 "All of the more you just brush it off."

02:50 Subsequent releases included "Kid in a Candy Store" and "Hold the Drama,"

02:54 as the JoJo Siwa brand grew again.

02:56 "Hold the drama, I just wanna dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance."

03:01 Skillfully leveraging social media, her fans enjoyed endless updates on her life,

03:05 from dance tutorials to general vlogs and Q&A sessions.

03:09 In 2019, Siwa kickstarted what would turn out to be a massive global tour,

03:14 known as the DREAM The Tour, in Phoenix, Arizona.

03:18 "We did it. It happened. And the audience liked it,

03:21 and everything that we wanted to create was created."

03:24 She would go on to travel all across North America, as well as heading out to Europe

03:28 and Australia, before completing a return leg in the U.S. in 2022.

03:32 In 2020, in between tour dates, she was appearing as T-Rex on The Masked Singer,

03:45 and, probably more bizarrely, had even earned a slot as a playable video game character on

03:50 Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2. Also in 2020, she was listed in Time magazine's 100 Most

03:56 Influential People of that Year.

03:58 In January 2021, Siwa came out as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community,

04:06 announcing with a video online in which she danced and lip-synched to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way."

04:11 "I'm on the right track, baby, I was born to survive."

04:16 Since then, she's used her platform to advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and visibility,

04:21 while continuing to kick against discrimination.

04:23 "The most important thing is that I'm happy, and that's what my mom always taught me,

04:26 and my dad always taught me, is we just want you to be happy."

04:28 In fall 2021, she took part in Dancing With the Stars as part of the first same-sex couple

04:33 in the show's history, partnered by pro dancer Jenna Johnson-Schmirkowski.

04:37 "I can feel the thunder coming down, won't you ride on back."

04:42 They reached the series final, and finished runners-up.

04:45 On to 2022, and it's yet another big year for Siwa.

04:49 "Oh, there she is."

04:51 She debuted as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, completing the switch from reality show

04:55 performer to one of the panel that those performers need to impress.

04:58 "Wow!"

05:00 Perhaps more notably, though, she and her dance mom mother, Jessalyn,

05:04 formed the girl group XOMG Pop for the 17th season of America's Got Talent.

05:09 "Got a brand new beat, gotta break the sound, gonna make your head spin round and round."

05:13 They reached the semifinals before being eliminated,

05:16 but it's reportedly here that the first real whispers of controversy

05:19 surrounding Siwa started to circulate.

05:21 Following a story that broke in February 2024 in Rolling Stone,

05:25 there have been allegations made suggesting a poor work environment behind the scenes at XOMG Pop.

05:30 This new article published by the Rolling Stone is just that, truly disturbing.

05:36 "Among the claims alleged by past members are that their families were made to endure

05:40 financial pressure to enable their children to perform, that classes at school were skipped,

05:44 and that the performers themselves were regularly and harshly criticized,

05:49 sometimes even through headsets while performing."

05:52 Supposedly, too, JoJo would play favorites and pit the members up against each other,

05:58 which is quite the contrast to who and what we see JoJo outside of these allegations.

06:04 Both JoJo and her mother have since come in for criticism.

06:07 And in a text, Jhessalyn says,

06:10 "Angie, I'm really tired of it. I work really hard. I've gone over and above and beyond for

06:16 you and your kid. There's food at the house. They're not overworked. If you're gonna work

06:20 for me, you cannot act like an a**hole. End of story."

06:24 In general, XOMGpop appeared to channel much of what had made Siwa famous to begin with,

06:29 lots of fun and lots of energy. But there have now been doubts cast in terms of the sincerity

06:34 of that image. Shortly afterwards, Siwa made headlines again, although this time due to a

06:38 dramatic change of image, and thanks to a new comeback single that... divided fans, to say the

06:44 least. "I swear I did it all for fun and it meant nothing."

06:49 With "Karma" in 2024, Siwa released her first official single in four years, and long gone

06:55 were the days of "Boomerang." In place of all the bright colors and sparkle was an all-new

07:00 and much darker look. "Karma's a b*tch, oh, oh, oh, and she's with you right now."

07:07 Commenting on the rebrand, Siwa herself suggested that no one else of her generation had ever made

07:12 such a dramatic change. She's also on record implying that she started an all-new music

07:17 genre with what she terms as "gay pop." The comments certainly drew attention. Most famously,

07:23 she was parodied by Chloe Fineman on Saturday Night Live. "I used to be Rainbow Sparkles and

07:28 now I'm Black Sparkles." The sketch also sparked debate, with some claiming that it was unfair,

07:35 but in general it marked perhaps the first major turn of public opinion against Siwa.

07:40 Add into the equation that "Karma" isn't an original song by, or for, Siwa,

07:45 and public opinion takes another slide. "Well, I'm gonna pick me you and her, I don't deny it's real."

07:51 "Karma" had originally been written for Miley Cyrus, who passed,

07:54 so singer Brit Smith recorded it in 2012. While that version was also scrapped,

07:59 an animation studio that worked on the music video uploaded it to Vimeo the following year.

08:03 In a move that made Siwa's rebranding even messier, Smith's version resurfaced when Siwa's

08:12 was released, and by many metrics, it actually outperformed its contentious remake.

08:17 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about

08:27 our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.

08:33 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.

08:38 It's certainly been a journey to get to this point. After initially making a name for herself,

08:42 JoJo Siwa promptly soared to become a tween idol extraordinaire,

08:46 breaking the internet, selling out arenas, topping the bill, and making it all seem pretty easy.

08:56 But fame is fickle, and celebrity comes at a cost. Now, more than ever before, Siwa is under

09:02 the public glare. Her evolution, until now, has been quite the ride. But can she ride out any of

09:10 the problems and pitfalls that have and might come her way? Will her rebrand work out in the long

09:15 term? Or has she just plain lost touch with what it was that made her successful to begin with?

09:20 As always, let us know in the comments how you see it. And, if you'd like to,

09:27 shout out your favorite JoJo Siwa moment while you're there.

09:30 "Love yourself today, 'cause baby, you were born this way."

09:33 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.

09:38 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.

09:43 [Music]

Category

Transcript

Recommended