July 30, 2024 • 22 mins
It was the song that changed JoJo's entire career... It's Karma. JoJo sets the record straight. Did she or did she NOT write the song? Who was behind the iconic music video?! Where did the dance known as the "Karma shake" come from?? We're giving you a behind-the-scenes look at it all.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Jojasua now with me Joja Ciua, an
iHeartRadio podcast. Welcome back to joonas here now. I hope
you all have been having an incredible July. I have
been having the July of a lifetime. Honestly, July twelfth,
I think was the best day of my life. That
is when my EP Guilty Pleasure came out with five
(00:21):
new songs. Honestly, I'm surprised that I remember the date
July twelfth. I all the time people will be like,
when did Karma come out? And I literally look down
because I have it on my hand tattooed four five,
twenty twenty four, and so then I will never forget
when Karma came out. I feel like I need to
get Guilty Pleasure tattooed the date of it. I have
my big old Teddy Bear tattooed. It's the Teddy Bear
with wings, with the goggles, with the construction visitors, a
(00:43):
whole thing on my arm. But I feel like I
I feel like I gotta get the date on that too,
just like a little song something. I also want to
get a new tattoo, like right around my elbow on
the front. I feel like, I gotta, like really keep
this sleeve going, but I don't know what I want.
If you have any tattoo suggestions, let me know. Anyways,
not the point of this podcast. The point of this
podcast is to talk about my golden goose egg, little
(01:08):
tiny baby, perfect project Karma. Now, if you don't know,
April fifth, Karma is the day that Karma came out,
and that day truly changed my life. I don't think
I necessarily expected Karma to do what it did. I
mean it, it exploded, and it's unreal. It's unreal to
(01:28):
see the response of Karma versus Guilty Pleasure, and I
honestly enjoy it. I said, when Guilty Pleasure was coming out,
everyone was like, what are your expectations? What are your
number of expectations? And I was like, well, the thing
is is I was like, everyone, of course is going
to compare it to Karma, right, But Karma was so
much more than just a music drop. Karma was a
full career shift and it was such a big play
(01:52):
and I I'm truly, so so so proud of that
big play, but it was it was wild. It's wild
for me to look back and think about because I'm like, man,
I knew what I was getting myself into, but I
don't think I really knew what I was getting myself into.
I mean it was. It truly has become a piece
(02:12):
of my life history and is one of the most
significant moments in my career. Is the day that Karma
came out. Anyways, today I want to take a trip
down memory lane and I want to talk about five
things about Karma that you don't know are hidden, are
things that I've kept secret or I mean I got
I got a whole list of things. I got five
different things, some about the song, some about the video,
(02:33):
and I think we should just freaking get right into it.
So Karma. There's been a lot of controversy here surrounding
this song, and one of the things that I would
love to clear up and say very straightforward, I did
not write Karma. This is not a song that I wrote.
(02:53):
It is my song, but it is not a song
that I wrote. Now, the thing is, you can own
a song without writing it. And a lot of people
right now coming at me you steal your songs? Yeah,
can it? With all my might? That is the most
wild concept to me and me and all my industry
friends look at those comments. I mean, we actually like
(03:14):
laugh because it's just so funny. No one, no one
truly understands how it works. And that's totally okay. But
Karma was actually wrote twelve years ago for an artist,
and this artist is a very very well known artist
and was a part of the writing it. This person
who was very very well known didn't want their name
(03:35):
attached to it because they wanted me to have my
own moment. And at first I questioned, like if that
truly was the reason they didn't want to have their
name attached to it, and it truly was, and I
we had a great conversation about it, and I'm very
very grateful for that because it would have it would
have shifted the narrative of the song and of the
moment of the career shift. And so for that, I
(03:55):
am so grateful. And I'm just I'm I'm just I
just I wish I wish I could say, but I
can't say. But it's really freaking cool how this song
came to be, the era of life and world for
this person that was originally wrote for it came to be,
and then how it fell into my lap is truly
amazing and then you know, obviously people on the internet,
(04:20):
there was another person that recorded a version of Karma
after the very very original there's another person and this
another person recorded it and never released it, did film
a video for it, but never released it. All of
a sudden, I release Karma, and all of a sudden,
there's another girl that is like, this is mine? What
where did you come from? This is mine? And so
(04:42):
even though she did it first, I guess it was
not hers, she never rightfully owned it. And it is
something that I wanted to rightfully own and so I
do rightfully own and so that was a big thing.
And then there's controversy of who wrote it. And the
truth is the writers on the song are this team
called rock Mafia. Now you know rock Mafia. You've heard
them in some of your favorite songs. Can't Attended by
(05:03):
Miley Syres and it says rock Mafia. There's a bunch
of Selena songs, I say rock Mafia. You can hear
their little added thing out of producer tag in so
many songs. Another fun thing that's fun is if you
look at the Descendants track that just came out, and
you know the song off with their Heads lead read
read read they did that song as well. They've done
(05:24):
a ton of my songs. They've done my song yesterday smiles.
Today they did this song. Obviously, they did Karma, and
they've done oh my god. We have done five other
songs together. We've done so much together that are just
not out yet. Anyways. I remember the first time they
ever played me Karma. And the girl's name is Antonina,
and Antonina is a freaking magician in the music world.
(05:47):
She is unreal. She's a genius and I love her
with all my heart. First day that I ever recorded
with her was for a total different song. It was
a sad love song and it was really hard, was
really emotionally draining, and I was like, I don't think
I can come back to this, like now I associated
with all these crazy memories, like this is wild. And
then as I'm leaving, she was like, I have a
song that I like think might fit your vibe and
(06:09):
she played me Karma and she played me the original
original demo of this person who I freaking loves voice
on it, and I was like, holy cow, like yes,
I want a song like this, like I would love this,
like you can make this and she was like well,
actually I did make this. She was like and like,
it's never been out, like, do you want to put
your voice on it? And scene? So I was like, yes,
let's schedule a day, let's do it. So then I
(06:29):
recorded Karma. I recorded a couple different versions of Karma
because I wasn't ready to say I was a bad girl.
I was not there yet in life. So I was like,
you know what, let's say she was a bad girl.
Let's say you were a bad girl. And so we
we recorded it in a lot of different ways, and
then two years later, when it was finally time for
it to be released, we had all these versions and
I was like, you know what, I was a bad
(06:50):
girl is the winner. It is strong, it is powerful,
and that will make a statement, and it sure as
hell did. I think that's one of the biggest things
right now for me with my career, everything is about
making a statement. Whether that be a good statement, a
bad statement, a positive stavement, a negative statement. Let's just
make a statement. It doesn't matter anyways. That is my
story on writing Karma, which I did not do, but
(07:15):
the amazing team of Rock Mafia did. The second thing
that I want to talk about is actually the Karma
music video. So the only music video that I've ever
done prior to Karma that was a two day music
video shoot was for my song High Top Shoes. Back
of the Day. Everything else was only a one day.
Boomerang was one day, Knagaanster one day, Hold the Drama
one day, Every music video was one day. However, High
(07:35):
Top Shoes was a double double day music video shoot
and we did it over my birthday. It was so
much fun. I got to have my best friends in it.
It was a blast. Also, something crazy that's really random
right now is because Kelly Sweeney's dance is going viral
right now. She's the one and I just talked about
it doing the red Dance from Descendants because she's like
been going so viral and she's been social media. She's
(07:58):
crushing it on social media. Her dances crush it, like
all of it. It's so fun to me because I
remember Kelly was actually a dancer of mine for years
and and she did so much with me. But High
Top Shoes music video was one that she was in.
She was in the High Top Shoes music video and
like we were twelve and like I anyways, it's just
it's fun to see how everyone's growing up and everyone's
(08:19):
path that they're taking, and it's fun to see people
that you know be successful. And it makes me really
happy whenever I see people that I know be successful. Anyways,
back to the point. Point was music video Shoes two days.
So our first day was everything you see on the boat,
so everything in white, all of that, all the like
white costume, all of that, and then also when I'm underwater,
so it was everything we did in white. And then
(08:39):
there's also the stuff in the pool. So we actually
shot the pool stuff at my director's house. Oddly enough,
in his pool, it was freezing outside. Luckily the director
had heated as pool. He heated it to ninety for me,
so it was like a hot tub, but outside it
was like hypothermic cold, Like it was so cool outside.
(09:00):
But I mean, it was so fun. And then our
second day, day two was our beast stuff. So anything
in the Black Beast costume, when I'm in the water,
when I'm in the tank, in the Black Beast costume,
everything on land, all of the Black Beast costume happened
on day two. And I arranged the shoot like that
because I knew I was gonna have more fun in
the Black Beast costume, because don't get me wrong, Like
(09:22):
I like looking cool, I like looking girly and pretty whatever,
but I like to look like radical and freaking epic
and like wild. And so when I knew what I
was gonna get to be in that Black Beast look,
that I was really gonna like it. So we saved
that for day two, and boy, oh boy, was I right.
That was so much freaking fun. The water that we
(09:42):
used in the tank on the day of the Black
Beast shoot was freezzing. It was only about you see us,
like how we're like dancing in the ocean that was
really only about two inches deep of water, maybe even
an inch and a half deep. And I mean, the
special effects team on my music videos is absolutely crazy.
The fact that they literally make it look like we
(10:03):
are on an island when we were in a set
in the middle of oh gosh, see me Valley somewhere
like crazy. They're freaking brilliant, and it's fascinating to get
to be a part of. It's so weird because it
feels like like we're creeping up on the one year
anniversary of filming Karma. It feels like I just got
(10:24):
home from that video shoot yesterday, and like that makes
me feel so excited for the future. Like I'm literally
gonna feel like I have kids tomorrow and that's crazy.
I love how that's when my brain goes having kids
and users the last thing on that day of the
music video, I remember we went so far over time,
and because I'm the one who pays for all my
(10:45):
music videos, so they're my projects, they're my babies, and
I invest everything in them, and I am responsible for
the financials and I love that because then it's it's
my set, you know what I mean, And so paying
for it that means I also if we go over time,
I am paying for it. And overtime is a lot
of money per minute. It is wild how it works. Uh,
(11:06):
But we were going overtime on Karma, and I just
kept joking with the director. I was like, well, guys,
everyone's getting over time tonight because we're not done. And
he told me, he was like, we can end now,
but like we don't have everything we need, Like it's
up to you. I told him. I was like, we're
not gonna we made it this far, Like we're not
gonna havel ass. The last bit now, like we were
gonna eliminate the shot of me coming out of the water.
(11:28):
So the shot that like you see me rise out
of the water, that's the shot where we're gonna have
to eliminate. And I was like absolutely not, like we
we have to have that, and thank god we did,
because that is one of the things that like the
Internet was like WHOA, what is this? And I mean,
I'm so grateful for that. Now. The next thing that
I want to talk about is kind of in the
same context but a little different. The crew on Karma.
(11:49):
There was over ninety people working on this project of
the Karma music video, which is crazy when you think
about it. Honestly, I actually there might even be over
one hundred because we counted ninety, but we only count
a crew. We didn't count dancers, and so it was
a little over ninety with crew, but dancers. There was
six dancers, There was the people on the boat, so
(12:10):
there was well over one hundred because on the boat
for extras, I think we had twenty extras plus the
six dancers plus the two girls, So well over one
hundred people working on the Karma music video. And truly
some of the crew, I mean I I've worked with
some of the crew for years. Of course, we had
my choreographer Richie, who I've worked with since I was nine.
On my first TV show he was a judge, but
(12:31):
then he started working with me on my career when
I was fourteen, So we have been together now for
seven years, which is just crazy. He does all my
music videos, all my live performances, everything. He's a brilliant
choreographer and creative director. He's brilliant. He's done Gaga for
the last decades like he's looking genius and I love
that man with all my heart. The music video director,
his name is Mark Klassfield. Mark has done all of
(12:52):
my music videos also since I was fourteen. Oh my gosh, wait,
that's so cute. Ritchie and Mark actually started with me
at the same time on the same video. They both
did Dear Eam as their first jojo project. That's crazy.
I didn't even realize that. But Mark has done all
my music videos since then. He he is brilliant And
when it came time to Karma, he actually wasn't the
(13:13):
first person that we called. We talked with some other people,
branched out a little bit, had some suggestions from other people,
and then I was like, what about the guy that
used to do my music videos? Mark? Like why are
we not talking to him? And my mom was like, well,
let's take a call with him. And Mark was like,
I've been waiting for this one. Let's go. Because Mark
had done Britney Spears, he had done some carcass like
he he has done so much over the years, and
(13:34):
so he had been waiting. And I feel like Mark
was one of those people who worked with me when
I was a kid, so that way he could work
with me when I was adult. And I'm so grateful
for that because he is a freaking brilliant human being.
Kat the photographer on that set of Karma. She she
is a She has an eye like no other. She
(13:55):
was the first person that has kind of brought an
element to me that I was like, wait, you came
up with that and I and that's crazy. I don't
know so that could happen because I normally come up
with all my own ideas. But she is she Okay,
she does. She does all of Ariana Grande's photography. And
when I found that out and I was like, wait,
she wants to worry with me? What I was like
(14:15):
there's literally no freaking way, and she did, and I
am so grateful for that because she truly has an
eye for art that I have never seen anything like.
She is the most chill but the most chill vibes.
She is just like, yeah, dude, we can do whatever,
like we'll make it sick. All of a sudden, I
showed up at my studio the next day and there
was a full photo shoot set up, people with walkie talkings,
(14:37):
and I was like, you planned all this and she
was like, yes, my team. And I was like, you
are the coolest human being literally ever, and so like, yeah,
all the photo shoot ideas those are all hers. It
was like, just show up where you're costume, to your
hand makeup and we will be good. And I was like,
all right, trusting the process and it was beyond my expectations.
The last person that I just want to highlight on
(14:57):
the team is my makeup artist. Actually, so typically I
do all my own hair and makeup. Okay, that's a lie.
I don't do my own hair. Typically, I do all
my own makeup, But for the Karma music video, it
didn't really work out timing wise for me to be
able to do my own makeup because when I do
it has to go makeup and then hair, and so
we didn't really have enough time to do that, so
(15:18):
they had to be done at the same time. So
we're like, all right, let's hire a makeup artist. Makeup
artist that we hired. Her name is Caitlin and she
actually did my makeup on Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition when
I was nine years old. So she worked with me
on my first show, and she worked with me on
Karma and she is freaking awesome. She she has. She
brought so many brilliant ideas to the team. She is
(15:39):
a genius. She's so talented in her work. Oh my god.
I remember sitting there just being like, man, you're really
good at what you do. Oh my gosh. There was
a disaster though, when we did the beast makeup, right,
so you know how you have the beasties started to
splatter pait my face and you would have thought, I
like you would have thought, like the world was coming
crashing down on me. I was like, what are we doing?
(16:00):
And she was like what it looks cool and I
was like no, And thank god we ended up taking
it off because everything worked out the exact way it
was supposed to do. But it was just a very
funny set memory where I was like, ah, all right,
I got two more things for you. First one the
(16:23):
dance that you know as Karma dance with the shake
with the jolt, that was not the original step. I
just saw a video of me doing the Karma dance
in Karma rehearsals and I was like, wait a second,
this was the version that we did in the video.
And I sent it to my choreographer, Richie and I
was like, Richie, there's no way and he was like, yeah, Judge,
n that's how it started. And I was like, when
(16:43):
did a transition to what it is now? And he
was like, I have no idea, but I love it,
and like He's like, you took it and ran with it,
and it's it was just a very more tame version
than what it is now. But what it is now
is it freaking works, and I will take it. But
it's so funny for me to being like, damn, really
we really go real full out now, But if you
(17:05):
look at the original version that I have, it's not
that extreme. And I'm like, man, we look like we're
marking it. We look like we can breathe. This is
kind of crazy, all right. The last thing that I
want to talk about is the timing of when we
filmed Karma. So it was a little crazy, and by
a little crazy, I mean a lot crazy. So basically,
I went from Karma rehearsal, Karma rehearsal, Karma Video, Shoot,
(17:29):
Karma video, Shoot, Karma photo shoot, Dick Van Dyke rehearsal,
Dick Van Dyke rehearsal, Dick Van Dyke Rehearsal, Dick Van
Dyke Shoot Hawaii for my Mom's birthday. So it was
nine days in a row of back to back, NonStop. Now,
the reason why I wanted to bring this up is
because during the Karma filming, I had gotten a video
of the Dick Van Dyke Step in Time choreography that
(17:52):
I was going to be doing on the Dick Van
Dyke TV special. And now here's why I'm so excited
to talk about this because Step in Time, the number
that I did on the TV special, just got nominated
for a freaking Emmy for Outstanding Choreography, And that blows
my mind. I literally when I tell you, I was
(18:15):
on set of Karma running Step in Time, and everyone
was like Jojo, what are you doing? And I was like,
you don't understand. Like, I have this big TV special
that I'm doing is for Dick Van Dyke, He's gonna
be there. I'm performing step in Time, dancing, singing, like
I have to have this down, like I need to
learn it off the videos, Like yes, I have rehearsals,
but like I need to know more, like I need
to learn it so I go prepared. And long story short,
(18:36):
it was just really fun to see me in the
Black Beast costume practicing Step in Time. It was a
little whack, but yeah. Just got nominated for an Emmy
for Best Choreography. The choreographer Alison Folk. She is so brilliant.
She had such a vision for this choreography and such
a vision. I remember when I took the call initially
about doing the Dick Van Dyke special. There was no
(18:58):
talk of me actually dance. It was only me singing.
And I was like, wait a second. I was like,
you're talking like Dick Van Dyke and like step in Time, right,
and they were like yeah. And I was like, well,
I need a dance and they were like you know,
you're like you're the artist on it and I was like,
ro right, but like that's part of what I can do.
I was like, I can just stand there and sing.
But I was like, but let's like really dance and
(19:19):
they were like what do you mean? And I was like,
let let me dance, like give me the steps and
like let's make a big number out of it. And
I was like, also, I can tap. And I was like,
I think it'd be really cool to put a little
tap section in the Dick Van Dike Special. And they
were like, wait, like you would be down to do
all this and like down to really go in. And
I was like, please, please let me go all the
way in, and so I showed up to rehearsals, showed
(19:39):
up prepared it it. The videos of me doing Step
in Time in the Beast costume are just fascinating, and
so that's why I wanted to kind of talk about it,
cause the timing of everything and the way that it
was like the like two most extreme opposite projects happening
at once in my life. Like here I am Karma,
black bet like new jumping in water, like going crazy
(20:03):
I'm an adult now to like step in Time, Steffen Time,
Come on, Mighty, Step in Time, flop like a party,
like the context blew my mind. I remember posting on
my close friend's story like today and yesterday. The difference
was crazy. But I loved both projects. And I am
so honored that I was able to bring Allison's choreography
(20:24):
to life, the production and producer and Dick Van Dyke's
vision to life. I mean to have them trust me
to let me be on that stage performing that number,
and that's the one that got nominated for the Emmy
is actually crazy and and mind blowing, and I am
just I'm so grateful. Anyone from the Academy, if you're
listening to this, please vote for step in Time to
(20:45):
win that Choreography Emmy. Allison deserves it, Dick Van Dyke,
everyone on the team deserves it. But either way, I
can't wait. I'm just I'm just so grateful. What a
freaking life it is, right, What a life I have?
What a life we all have? This It's like, if
I can give you all any advice. Time goes fast,
which is why I actually wrote the song Yesterday's tomorrows today,
because our time is borrowed and it's moving crazy fast.
(21:10):
Every tomorrow is the day we won't get back. I mean,
come on, those lyrics are so accurate and that's why
that song is one of my favorites. That song I
had for an idea for since I was fourteen, so
seven years now, and that is one of the songs
on my new EP, Guilty Pleasure. You can stream it now.
Everywhere you listen to music, you got choose your Fighter,
(21:31):
Balance Baby, Guilty Pleasure, Karma, and Yesterday's Tomorrows. Today. Man,
all I have to do is remember five songs, and
sometimes I forget about them. I love you all so much.
Thank you for listening to Josuo. Now make sure if
you haven't already obviously now I've told you everything about
the Karma music video, so go check out the Karma
music video. But I also did just release my new
music video for my song Guilty Pleasure. You can check
(21:52):
that out. Go to my YouTube search jojos a Karma,
search jojas you a Guilty Pleasure, or just search Jojo
See what it will all come up stream a new
music on my new EP, Guilty Pleasure, all five of
those new songs. Everywhere you listen to music, let me
know what you think. Really curious what your favorite is?
Let me know your favorite and that makes you come
back every single time I post a new podcast, so
you never miss out. I love y'all. Clyde loves y'all.
(22:13):
He's calm now he's sleeping. I love y'all and I
will see you guys next time. Be out. Thank you
so much for listening, everybody. Be sure to follow us
on Instagram and TikTok at Jojosa Now Podcast. Be sure
to write us a review and maybe, if you're feeling
to leave us five stars. I'll see you next week.
You're listening to Jojasua now with me Joja Ciua, an
iHeartRadio podcast. Welcome back to joonas here now. I hope
you all have been having an incredible July. I have
been having the July of a lifetime. Honestly, July twelfth,
I think was the best day of my life. That
is when my EP Guilty Pleasure came out with five
(00:21):
new songs. Honestly, I'm surprised that I remember the date
July twelfth. I all the time people will be like,
when did Karma come out? And I literally look down
because I have it on my hand tattooed four five,
twenty twenty four, and so then I will never forget
when Karma came out. I feel like I need to
get Guilty Pleasure tattooed the date of it. I have
my big old Teddy Bear tattooed. It's the Teddy Bear
with wings, with the goggles, with the construction visitors, a
(00:43):
whole thing on my arm. But I feel like I
I feel like I gotta get the date on that too,
just like a little song something. I also want to
get a new tattoo, like right around my elbow on
the front. I feel like, I gotta, like really keep
this sleeve going, but I don't know what I want.
If you have any tattoo suggestions, let me know. Anyways,
not the point of this podcast. The point of this
podcast is to talk about my golden goose egg, little
(01:08):
tiny baby, perfect project Karma. Now, if you don't know,
April fifth, Karma is the day that Karma came out,
and that day truly changed my life. I don't think
I necessarily expected Karma to do what it did. I
mean it, it exploded, and it's unreal. It's unreal to
(01:28):
see the response of Karma versus Guilty Pleasure, and I
honestly enjoy it. I said, when Guilty Pleasure was coming out,
everyone was like, what are your expectations? What are your
number of expectations? And I was like, well, the thing
is is I was like, everyone, of course is going
to compare it to Karma, right, But Karma was so
much more than just a music drop. Karma was a
full career shift and it was such a big play
(01:52):
and I I'm truly, so so so proud of that
big play, but it was it was wild. It's wild
for me to look back and think about because I'm like, man,
I knew what I was getting myself into, but I
don't think I really knew what I was getting myself into.
I mean it was. It truly has become a piece
(02:12):
of my life history and is one of the most
significant moments in my career. Is the day that Karma
came out. Anyways, today I want to take a trip
down memory lane and I want to talk about five
things about Karma that you don't know are hidden, are
things that I've kept secret or I mean I got
I got a whole list of things. I got five
different things, some about the song, some about the video,
(02:33):
and I think we should just freaking get right into it.
So Karma. There's been a lot of controversy here surrounding
this song, and one of the things that I would
love to clear up and say very straightforward, I did
not write Karma. This is not a song that I wrote.
(02:53):
It is my song, but it is not a song
that I wrote. Now, the thing is, you can own
a song without writing it. And a lot of people
right now coming at me you steal your songs? Yeah,
can it? With all my might? That is the most
wild concept to me and me and all my industry
friends look at those comments. I mean, we actually like
(03:14):
laugh because it's just so funny. No one, no one
truly understands how it works. And that's totally okay. But
Karma was actually wrote twelve years ago for an artist,
and this artist is a very very well known artist
and was a part of the writing it. This person
who was very very well known didn't want their name
(03:35):
attached to it because they wanted me to have my
own moment. And at first I questioned, like if that
truly was the reason they didn't want to have their
name attached to it, and it truly was, and I
we had a great conversation about it, and I'm very
very grateful for that because it would have it would
have shifted the narrative of the song and of the
moment of the career shift. And so for that, I
(03:55):
am so grateful. And I'm just I'm I'm just I
just I wish I wish I could say, but I
can't say. But it's really freaking cool how this song
came to be, the era of life and world for
this person that was originally wrote for it came to be,
and then how it fell into my lap is truly
amazing and then you know, obviously people on the internet,
(04:20):
there was another person that recorded a version of Karma
after the very very original there's another person and this
another person recorded it and never released it, did film
a video for it, but never released it. All of
a sudden, I release Karma, and all of a sudden,
there's another girl that is like, this is mine? What
where did you come from? This is mine? And so
(04:42):
even though she did it first, I guess it was
not hers, she never rightfully owned it. And it is
something that I wanted to rightfully own and so I
do rightfully own and so that was a big thing.
And then there's controversy of who wrote it. And the
truth is the writers on the song are this team
called rock Mafia. Now you know rock Mafia. You've heard
them in some of your favorite songs. Can't Attended by
(05:03):
Miley Syres and it says rock Mafia. There's a bunch
of Selena songs, I say rock Mafia. You can hear
their little added thing out of producer tag in so
many songs. Another fun thing that's fun is if you
look at the Descendants track that just came out, and
you know the song off with their Heads lead read
read read they did that song as well. They've done
(05:24):
a ton of my songs. They've done my song yesterday smiles.
Today they did this song. Obviously, they did Karma, and
they've done oh my god. We have done five other
songs together. We've done so much together that are just
not out yet. Anyways. I remember the first time they
ever played me Karma. And the girl's name is Antonina,
and Antonina is a freaking magician in the music world.
(05:47):
She is unreal. She's a genius and I love her
with all my heart. First day that I ever recorded
with her was for a total different song. It was
a sad love song and it was really hard, was
really emotionally draining, and I was like, I don't think
I can come back to this, like now I associated
with all these crazy memories, like this is wild. And
then as I'm leaving, she was like, I have a
song that I like think might fit your vibe and
(06:09):
she played me Karma and she played me the original
original demo of this person who I freaking loves voice
on it, and I was like, holy cow, like yes,
I want a song like this, like I would love this,
like you can make this and she was like well,
actually I did make this. She was like and like,
it's never been out, like, do you want to put
your voice on it? And scene? So I was like, yes,
let's schedule a day, let's do it. So then I
(06:29):
recorded Karma. I recorded a couple different versions of Karma
because I wasn't ready to say I was a bad girl.
I was not there yet in life. So I was like,
you know what, let's say she was a bad girl.
Let's say you were a bad girl. And so we
we recorded it in a lot of different ways, and
then two years later, when it was finally time for
it to be released, we had all these versions and
I was like, you know what, I was a bad
(06:50):
girl is the winner. It is strong, it is powerful,
and that will make a statement, and it sure as
hell did. I think that's one of the biggest things
right now for me with my career, everything is about
making a statement. Whether that be a good statement, a
bad statement, a positive stavement, a negative statement. Let's just
make a statement. It doesn't matter anyways. That is my
story on writing Karma, which I did not do, but
(07:15):
the amazing team of Rock Mafia did. The second thing
that I want to talk about is actually the Karma
music video. So the only music video that I've ever
done prior to Karma that was a two day music
video shoot was for my song High Top Shoes. Back
of the Day. Everything else was only a one day.
Boomerang was one day, Knagaanster one day, Hold the Drama
one day, Every music video was one day. However, High
(07:35):
Top Shoes was a double double day music video shoot
and we did it over my birthday. It was so
much fun. I got to have my best friends in it.
It was a blast. Also, something crazy that's really random
right now is because Kelly Sweeney's dance is going viral
right now. She's the one and I just talked about
it doing the red Dance from Descendants because she's like
been going so viral and she's been social media. She's
(07:58):
crushing it on social media. Her dances crush it, like
all of it. It's so fun to me because I
remember Kelly was actually a dancer of mine for years
and and she did so much with me. But High
Top Shoes music video was one that she was in.
She was in the High Top Shoes music video and
like we were twelve and like I anyways, it's just
it's fun to see how everyone's growing up and everyone's
(08:19):
path that they're taking, and it's fun to see people
that you know be successful. And it makes me really
happy whenever I see people that I know be successful. Anyways,
back to the point. Point was music video Shoes two days.
So our first day was everything you see on the boat,
so everything in white, all of that, all the like
white costume, all of that, and then also when I'm underwater,
so it was everything we did in white. And then
(08:39):
there's also the stuff in the pool. So we actually
shot the pool stuff at my director's house. Oddly enough,
in his pool, it was freezing outside. Luckily the director
had heated as pool. He heated it to ninety for me,
so it was like a hot tub, but outside it
was like hypothermic cold, Like it was so cool outside.
(09:00):
But I mean, it was so fun. And then our
second day, day two was our beast stuff. So anything
in the Black Beast costume, when I'm in the water,
when I'm in the tank, in the Black Beast costume,
everything on land, all of the Black Beast costume happened
on day two. And I arranged the shoot like that
because I knew I was gonna have more fun in
the Black Beast costume, because don't get me wrong, Like
(09:22):
I like looking cool, I like looking girly and pretty whatever,
but I like to look like radical and freaking epic
and like wild. And so when I knew what I
was gonna get to be in that Black Beast look,
that I was really gonna like it. So we saved
that for day two, and boy, oh boy, was I right.
That was so much freaking fun. The water that we
(09:42):
used in the tank on the day of the Black
Beast shoot was freezzing. It was only about you see us,
like how we're like dancing in the ocean that was
really only about two inches deep of water, maybe even
an inch and a half deep. And I mean, the
special effects team on my music videos is absolutely crazy.
The fact that they literally make it look like we
(10:03):
are on an island when we were in a set
in the middle of oh gosh, see me Valley somewhere
like crazy. They're freaking brilliant, and it's fascinating to get
to be a part of. It's so weird because it
feels like like we're creeping up on the one year
anniversary of filming Karma. It feels like I just got
(10:24):
home from that video shoot yesterday, and like that makes
me feel so excited for the future. Like I'm literally
gonna feel like I have kids tomorrow and that's crazy.
I love how that's when my brain goes having kids
and users the last thing on that day of the
music video, I remember we went so far over time,
and because I'm the one who pays for all my
(10:45):
music videos, so they're my projects, they're my babies, and
I invest everything in them, and I am responsible for
the financials and I love that because then it's it's
my set, you know what I mean, And so paying
for it that means I also if we go over time,
I am paying for it. And overtime is a lot
of money per minute. It is wild how it works. Uh,
(11:06):
But we were going overtime on Karma, and I just
kept joking with the director. I was like, well, guys,
everyone's getting over time tonight because we're not done. And
he told me, he was like, we can end now,
but like we don't have everything we need, Like it's
up to you. I told him. I was like, we're
not gonna we made it this far, Like we're not
gonna havel ass. The last bit now, like we were
gonna eliminate the shot of me coming out of the water.
(11:28):
So the shot that like you see me rise out
of the water, that's the shot where we're gonna have
to eliminate. And I was like absolutely not, like we
we have to have that, and thank god we did,
because that is one of the things that like the
Internet was like WHOA, what is this? And I mean,
I'm so grateful for that. Now. The next thing that
I want to talk about is kind of in the
same context but a little different. The crew on Karma.
(11:49):
There was over ninety people working on this project of
the Karma music video, which is crazy when you think
about it. Honestly, I actually there might even be over
one hundred because we counted ninety, but we only count
a crew. We didn't count dancers, and so it was
a little over ninety with crew, but dancers. There was
six dancers, There was the people on the boat, so
(12:10):
there was well over one hundred because on the boat
for extras, I think we had twenty extras plus the
six dancers plus the two girls, So well over one
hundred people working on the Karma music video. And truly
some of the crew, I mean I I've worked with
some of the crew for years. Of course, we had
my choreographer Richie, who I've worked with since I was nine.
On my first TV show he was a judge, but
(12:31):
then he started working with me on my career when
I was fourteen, So we have been together now for
seven years, which is just crazy. He does all my
music videos, all my live performances, everything. He's a brilliant
choreographer and creative director. He's brilliant. He's done Gaga for
the last decades like he's looking genius and I love
that man with all my heart. The music video director,
his name is Mark Klassfield. Mark has done all of
(12:52):
my music videos also since I was fourteen. Oh my gosh, wait,
that's so cute. Ritchie and Mark actually started with me
at the same time on the same video. They both
did Dear Eam as their first jojo project. That's crazy.
I didn't even realize that. But Mark has done all
my music videos since then. He he is brilliant And
when it came time to Karma, he actually wasn't the
(13:13):
first person that we called. We talked with some other people,
branched out a little bit, had some suggestions from other people,
and then I was like, what about the guy that
used to do my music videos? Mark? Like why are
we not talking to him? And my mom was like, well,
let's take a call with him. And Mark was like,
I've been waiting for this one. Let's go. Because Mark
had done Britney Spears, he had done some carcass like
he he has done so much over the years, and
(13:34):
so he had been waiting. And I feel like Mark
was one of those people who worked with me when
I was a kid, so that way he could work
with me when I was adult. And I'm so grateful
for that because he is a freaking brilliant human being.
Kat the photographer on that set of Karma. She she
is a She has an eye like no other. She
(13:55):
was the first person that has kind of brought an
element to me that I was like, wait, you came
up with that and I and that's crazy. I don't
know so that could happen because I normally come up
with all my own ideas. But she is she Okay,
she does. She does all of Ariana Grande's photography. And
when I found that out and I was like, wait,
she wants to worry with me? What I was like
(14:15):
there's literally no freaking way, and she did, and I
am so grateful for that because she truly has an
eye for art that I have never seen anything like.
She is the most chill but the most chill vibes.
She is just like, yeah, dude, we can do whatever,
like we'll make it sick. All of a sudden, I
showed up at my studio the next day and there
was a full photo shoot set up, people with walkie talkings,
(14:37):
and I was like, you planned all this and she
was like, yes, my team. And I was like, you
are the coolest human being literally ever, and so like, yeah,
all the photo shoot ideas those are all hers. It
was like, just show up where you're costume, to your
hand makeup and we will be good. And I was like,
all right, trusting the process and it was beyond my expectations.
The last person that I just want to highlight on
(14:57):
the team is my makeup artist. Actually, so typically I
do all my own hair and makeup. Okay, that's a lie.
I don't do my own hair. Typically, I do all
my own makeup, But for the Karma music video, it
didn't really work out timing wise for me to be
able to do my own makeup because when I do
it has to go makeup and then hair, and so
we didn't really have enough time to do that, so
(15:18):
they had to be done at the same time. So
we're like, all right, let's hire a makeup artist. Makeup
artist that we hired. Her name is Caitlin and she
actually did my makeup on Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition when
I was nine years old. So she worked with me
on my first show, and she worked with me on
Karma and she is freaking awesome. She she has. She
brought so many brilliant ideas to the team. She is
(15:39):
a genius. She's so talented in her work. Oh my god.
I remember sitting there just being like, man, you're really
good at what you do. Oh my gosh. There was
a disaster though, when we did the beast makeup, right,
so you know how you have the beasties started to
splatter pait my face and you would have thought, I
like you would have thought, like the world was coming
crashing down on me. I was like, what are we doing?
(16:00):
And she was like what it looks cool and I
was like no, And thank god we ended up taking
it off because everything worked out the exact way it
was supposed to do. But it was just a very
funny set memory where I was like, ah, all right,
I got two more things for you. First one the
(16:23):
dance that you know as Karma dance with the shake
with the jolt, that was not the original step. I
just saw a video of me doing the Karma dance
in Karma rehearsals and I was like, wait a second,
this was the version that we did in the video.
And I sent it to my choreographer, Richie and I
was like, Richie, there's no way and he was like, yeah, Judge,
n that's how it started. And I was like, when
(16:43):
did a transition to what it is now? And he
was like, I have no idea, but I love it,
and like He's like, you took it and ran with it,
and it's it was just a very more tame version
than what it is now. But what it is now
is it freaking works, and I will take it. But
it's so funny for me to being like, damn, really
we really go real full out now, But if you
(17:05):
look at the original version that I have, it's not
that extreme. And I'm like, man, we look like we're
marking it. We look like we can breathe. This is
kind of crazy, all right. The last thing that I
want to talk about is the timing of when we
filmed Karma. So it was a little crazy, and by
a little crazy, I mean a lot crazy. So basically,
I went from Karma rehearsal, Karma rehearsal, Karma Video, Shoot,
(17:29):
Karma video, Shoot, Karma photo shoot, Dick Van Dyke rehearsal,
Dick Van Dyke rehearsal, Dick Van Dyke Rehearsal, Dick Van
Dyke Shoot Hawaii for my Mom's birthday. So it was
nine days in a row of back to back, NonStop. Now,
the reason why I wanted to bring this up is
because during the Karma filming, I had gotten a video
of the Dick Van Dyke Step in Time choreography that
(17:52):
I was going to be doing on the Dick Van
Dyke TV special. And now here's why I'm so excited
to talk about this because Step in Time, the number
that I did on the TV special, just got nominated
for a freaking Emmy for Outstanding Choreography, And that blows
my mind. I literally when I tell you, I was
(18:15):
on set of Karma running Step in Time, and everyone
was like Jojo, what are you doing? And I was like,
you don't understand. Like, I have this big TV special
that I'm doing is for Dick Van Dyke, He's gonna
be there. I'm performing step in Time, dancing, singing, like
I have to have this down, like I need to
learn it off the videos, Like yes, I have rehearsals,
but like I need to know more, like I need
to learn it so I go prepared. And long story short,
(18:36):
it was just really fun to see me in the
Black Beast costume practicing Step in Time. It was a
little whack, but yeah. Just got nominated for an Emmy
for Best Choreography. The choreographer Alison Folk. She is so brilliant.
She had such a vision for this choreography and such
a vision. I remember when I took the call initially
about doing the Dick Van Dyke special. There was no
(18:58):
talk of me actually dance. It was only me singing.
And I was like, wait a second. I was like,
you're talking like Dick Van Dyke and like step in Time, right,
and they were like yeah. And I was like, well,
I need a dance and they were like you know,
you're like you're the artist on it and I was like,
ro right, but like that's part of what I can do.
I was like, I can just stand there and sing.
But I was like, but let's like really dance and
(19:19):
they were like what do you mean? And I was like,
let let me dance, like give me the steps and
like let's make a big number out of it. And
I was like, also, I can tap. And I was like,
I think it'd be really cool to put a little
tap section in the Dick Van Dike Special. And they
were like, wait, like you would be down to do
all this and like down to really go in. And
I was like, please, please let me go all the
way in, and so I showed up to rehearsals, showed
(19:39):
up prepared it it. The videos of me doing Step
in Time in the Beast costume are just fascinating, and
so that's why I wanted to kind of talk about it,
cause the timing of everything and the way that it
was like the like two most extreme opposite projects happening
at once in my life. Like here I am Karma,
black bet like new jumping in water, like going crazy
(20:03):
I'm an adult now to like step in Time, Steffen Time,
Come on, Mighty, Step in Time, flop like a party,
like the context blew my mind. I remember posting on
my close friend's story like today and yesterday. The difference
was crazy. But I loved both projects. And I am
so honored that I was able to bring Allison's choreography
(20:24):
to life, the production and producer and Dick Van Dyke's
vision to life. I mean to have them trust me
to let me be on that stage performing that number,
and that's the one that got nominated for the Emmy
is actually crazy and and mind blowing, and I am
just I'm so grateful. Anyone from the Academy, if you're
listening to this, please vote for step in Time to
(20:45):
win that Choreography Emmy. Allison deserves it, Dick Van Dyke,
everyone on the team deserves it. But either way, I
can't wait. I'm just I'm just so grateful. What a
freaking life it is, right, What a life I have?
What a life we all have? This It's like, if
I can give you all any advice. Time goes fast,
which is why I actually wrote the song Yesterday's tomorrows today,
because our time is borrowed and it's moving crazy fast.
(21:10):
Every tomorrow is the day we won't get back. I mean,
come on, those lyrics are so accurate and that's why
that song is one of my favorites. That song I
had for an idea for since I was fourteen, so
seven years now, and that is one of the songs
on my new EP, Guilty Pleasure. You can stream it now.
Everywhere you listen to music, you got choose your Fighter,
(21:31):
Balance Baby, Guilty Pleasure, Karma, and Yesterday's Tomorrows. Today. Man,
all I have to do is remember five songs, and
sometimes I forget about them. I love you all so much.
Thank you for listening to Josuo. Now make sure if
you haven't already obviously now I've told you everything about
the Karma music video, so go check out the Karma
music video. But I also did just release my new
music video for my song Guilty Pleasure. You can check
(21:52):
that out. Go to my YouTube search jojos a Karma,
search jojas you a Guilty Pleasure, or just search Jojo
See what it will all come up stream a new
music on my new EP, Guilty Pleasure, all five of
those new songs. Everywhere you listen to music, let me
know what you think. Really curious what your favorite is?
Let me know your favorite and that makes you come
back every single time I post a new podcast, so
you never miss out. I love y'all. Clyde loves y'all.
(22:13):
He's calm now he's sleeping. I love y'all and I
will see you guys next time. Be out. Thank you
so much for listening, everybody. Be sure to follow us
on Instagram and TikTok at Jojosa Now Podcast. Be sure
to write us a review and maybe, if you're feeling
to leave us five stars. I'll see you next week.
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