Jojo Siwa’s Cringe Era: From Kid Star to Try-Hard

Jojo Siwa wants to be taken seriously, but her desperate attempt at reinvention is anything but serious.

Jojo Siwa through the eras.

Siwa built her brand as a child star, and for a while, she owned it. But then, the inevitable child star ego kicked in, and suddenly, making music for little kids wasn’t her thing anymore. A few years ago, I might have said she was an inspiration, a role model for young girls. Now? Every time she pops up on my phone, I feel an overwhelming urge to chuck it across the room.

If you’re wondering why, then you clearly haven’t seen the train wreck that is Siwa’s media presence over the past year.

And if you think I’m being dramatic, just listen to what she has to say about herself:

"I will never claim to be a singer, but I will claim to be an artist. I am giving the world art, and they might not like it, they might hate it, but they're enjoying it," Siwa said on Call Her Daddy. "And it's become a bit of a guilty pleasure for everyone."

Following the end of her Nickelodeon contract, Siwa finally had full creative control over her music and she took it in a drastically different direction. She went from singing about resilience and self-empowerment to releasing raunchy relationship songs, leaning heavily into a newfound (and frankly, unwanted) sexual persona.

Siwa still performs songs for her younger fans, like Boomerang and Every Girl’s a Super Girl, but now, she’s also pushing out tracks like Karma and Guilty Pleasure—songs she performs while grabbing her crotch and grinding on girls for the entirety of the set. And she does it knowing full well that many of her listeners are still kids.

Siwa drinks from a Titos bottle

during a performance.

But according to Siwa, this transformation was all part of the plan.

“I've seen people before me make this transition, I've seen how much I loved it, and I've seen also how much the world has criticized us, so I am ready for that," she said. "One thing that I think no one's done is given the heads-up."

Siwa flooded social media with content leading up to her new music, almost daring the public to believe she could be the next breakout diva. But she was sorely mistaken. Instead of the reinvention people wanted, she delivered a version of herself no one asked for. And yet, the backlash and controversy seem to be exactly what she was aiming for—a moment in the spotlight, whether she stands in it or merely lurks in its shadows.

One thing is certain: the spotlight will stay on her, but not in the way anyone ever expected.