Jojo Siwa: The radical evolution from glitz and glam to goth and gore

Dive into the deeper implications behind pop phenomenon Jojo Siwa’s shift from childhood innocence to explicit goth lyricism

“JoJo have you learned nothing!!??” In Dance moms, Abby Lee iconically yelled at a then quite young Jojo Siwa for her inability to act with the politeness that Ms. Abby Lee and her dance company demanded. In fact, a lot of people know JoJo Siwa not from her anti-bullying song ‘Boomerang’ or her blonde high ponytail secured with a JoJo-Bow-Bow, but rather from her iconic premier and outgoing personality on the hit reality TV show Dance Moms. 

In recent days, JoJo has transformed from her kid-friendly persona into a much more mature and goth-like personality, even sounding a so-called ‘alarm’ over all her social media that her content is for ‘mature audiences only,’ showing a shift in not only her outward appearance but her identity as an artist,  as she clearly exhibits a desire to break from the constraints of her PG past and take on a wild adult era personality. In her new music video Karma, Jojo follows a queer-relationship storyline and is depicted as wearing KISS inspired makeup and all-black bodysuits to highlight just a few parts of her transformation. 

In my opinion, I think that her transformation is quite simple to understand. Here, Hollywood witnesses another child star in her development into an adult career and life–a career that was previously stunted by restrictions put on her via agents and other companies such as Nickelodeon who profited off of Jojo’s appeal to young kids. Siwa simply wants to expand her identity and break free from the childish restraints of her old persona, developing herself into an entertainer that better reflects her authenticity as a queer young adult artist enduring the hardships of young love. 

Siwa has been recently dealing with backlash–especially on social media–as numerous people have mocked her new look and appear to take her less seriously than they did before, as one X user describes Siwa’s new song Karma as “Disney with cuss words.” People have continued to hate on Jojo for her sudden shift from her former-self, asserting that her shift hasn’t been significant enough. In comparing Jojo to other child stars ‘gone bad’ like Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, Siwa has received intense internet slander as some claim her singing and lyrics do not at all compare to these artists’ prowess when it comes to performing or crafting  songs. Despite this backlash, Siwa has remained genuine to herself and even embraces some of the hate while making cheeky remarks about how much publicity her transformation has been getting. For example, in one of her Tik Toks, Siwa rhetorically asks, “like it or not...what's been in your head the last 3 days?” 

So, to answer the rhetorical question of the iconic Abby Lee Miller, I would say that JoJo has in fact learned a lot, perhaps now actually understanding one of the most valuable lessons in her life: embrace your true identity despite the hate you may receive, and remember to stay authentic.

Ellie Calo