Former child actor and dancer JoJo Siwa has taken a turn, but it’s not a pirouette. Her claim to fame was her appearance and participation in the fifth season of Dance Moms, which launched her career on social media and ultimately propelled her career as a
YouTuber; Siwa has found herself deep in the music scene and has been publishing pop music since 2016. Her debut song “Boomerang” was released when Siwa was 12 years old and was just the beginning of her music career.
For many parents and children, Siwa’s music was a great family-friendly alternative to pop. Since the release of her new song “Karma” on April 5, 2024, many families have been disappointed by the news that Siwa intends to revolutionize her name.
In an interview conducted by Billboard after the release of her new song, Siwa tells reporters that she intends to make a new genre of music called “gay pop.” Not only does Siwa believe that her drastic rebrand is completely unique, but that she is inventing a new genre of music. This claim has caused serious outrage not only amongst the LGBTQ+ community but also among music critics.
For Siwa to say that she is creating gay pop is absurd. Take for example musical legends; Freddie Mercury, David Bowie and Prince, all icons in the gay community and singers representing multiple perspectives of the struggles and triumphs that the LGBTQ+ community faces to this day. If that is not enough, we can look at more recent artists like Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Girl in Red, all of which are women who have left their marks on the industry of gay pop.
Siwa states that her switch from child actor to singer has never been done before, however this is simply untrue. Miley Cyrus is the perfect example of someone who has already done what Siwa claims to be doing for the first time. Her career took off when she was a child actor on the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana. But now, 13 years later, this is hardly what she is known for.
Aside from the outlandish claims, the actual chorus of the song, “Karma,” was not even an original piece that Siwa or her producer wrote. It is not abnormal for songwriters to sell their lyrics, but in this case, Siwa stole the song from the original artist Britt Smith and claimed it as her own original piece. The chorus is identical to the original version. Since it has been brought to light that the song is not Siwa’s original work, critics of Siwa listened to Smith’s original version so many times that it reached number eight in the iTunes charts, completely knocking Siwa’s version off the list.
Siwa’s recent music stance has fascinated a lot of music lovers, but mostly for the worst. While Siwa claims to be inventing a new genre of music, she is merely discrediting the artists who came before her. Gay pop has existed for decades, and Siwa is not the first nor the last person who will share their experiences as a queer person through their music platform.
