March 26, 2024 • 23 mins
"Karma" is here and JoJo is sharing the inside scoop!
JoJo spills all the tea about her initial thoughts on the song, her new tattoo, and why this album took TWO years to make!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Jojo See One Now with me, Jojo
Siua and iHeartRadio Podcast. Welcome back to Jojo Sewa. Now,
oh my gosh, we are First of all, we are back.
We were back in California. I am back in La
came home from Atlanta, had a great time there filming
(00:22):
So You Think You Can Dance. It was genuinely such
an interesting experience. I mean, everyone asked like, oh, did
you like Atlanta? Did you like Atlanta? And I was like,
I loved Atlanta, but I think I loved living alone
for the first time. And so I was like, I
don't know if it was Atlanta itself that I liked
or if it was the vibe of me being there
alone that I liked. I was like, I don't really know,
(00:43):
but I did like it and I did have a
great time. And now now the season of So You
Think You Can Dance has been airing. I'm gonna start
being on it very very soon, either this week or
next week, depending on the airing schedule, which I am
very very excited about. We are getting into the top ten.
The I mean, they are absolutely incredible, they are so amazing.
(01:05):
I'm doing new new music projects right now, and we're
in the process of creating our next visual and you know,
when you're creating visual, you're hiring a bunch of dancers.
And literally the first ten dancers on my list was
the top ten of So You Think You Can Dance,
because I got to know them for the last few
weeks and I got to I got to see their
work ethic and I truly want to give them the
(01:26):
opportunity and I just I'm so proud of them. I
can't wait for everyone to see the season. You know,
we did it. We're not live, it's it's it's definitely
pre taped, and so I of course know the results,
I know what ended up happening, and I know every
week to week of So You Think, but it every
single day, every single week was so inspiring as an artist,
(01:48):
so inspiring as a dancer, and so inspiring as a judge.
I mean seeing seeing what the dancers did and the
work they put in and the process for them was
was truly awesome. And now now the show's done and
been able to become friends with some of the some
of the top ten, you know, it's really cool to
see their perspective on everything. The new format is incredible.
(02:10):
Some people are having mixed reviews about the format. Personally,
I love it. I don't think I don't think the
world has seen enough of the new format yet to
be familiar with it, and so I think once the
world does get to see the new format more, they're
gonna really enjoy it. And I'm very excited for that.
But anyways, while I was in Atlanta, I had an
(02:31):
incredible meeting with my team over at my music label, Columbia,
and they gave me the green light that it was
time for Karma, my very first song to come out.
I am beyond excited. I have known since October twenty now,
(02:54):
maybe even a little bit before that, maybe like September
September twenty twenty three, that this was going to be
my first song out. We're gonna go down memory lane,
way way down today and then I'm going to do
another podcast where I talk about the visual aspect of
Karma and how all that was created. But I did
find out in September that Karma was going to be
the first song. This was the song that I wanted
(03:16):
to come first. We do have a lot of songs
done and a lot of songs in the bank, and
a lot of music that is ready to come out,
but I knew I wanted this first one to be
a moment, so I always wanted Karma. And then finally
in September, got the green light that it was going
to be Karma, and I got to run with my
music video concept, go for it, create the visual, do
exactly what I wanted to do. And then we still
(03:37):
didn't know necessarily timeline wise, when it was going to
come out. And then while I was living in Atlanta,
found out that it was going to be coming out
and I got the official date, I got the official
green light, and I was just so happy, so excited,
so ready for this new world, new era, new chapter,
(03:58):
I think is probably the best word. And to truly
become the musician and the artists that I've always wanted
to be. You know, I always have loved my career.
I've loved doing kids music, being a kids before and
I loved that, But I knew that I wanted to
be like Lady Gaga, like Miley Cyrus, like Freddy Mercury.
That was always my goal. And so to now be
(04:18):
able to tap into this adult out there, crazy, no
holding back, unrestrained, that world is all of my dreams
coming true, and I'm so stoked about that. Anyways, though,
now we gotta go way back in time so I
can give you the rundown on how Karma came to be.
I'm gonna go even a little bit for the back
(04:40):
that I was planning on. So right before I did
the final leg, the fifth and final leg of Dream
the Tour, all of my music was done through myself
and through Nickelodeon, right, and that was great. We kind
of it was very interesting. Nickelodeon is not a record
label necessarily, but they had the tools to help me
make music right. And so with my full three sixty
(05:03):
that I had in Nickelodeon, it did make a lot
of sense. We made a lot of great music. It
was awesome. But then when I did when I did
my movie The j Team, that is when my music
relationship with Nickelodeon got very, very rocky. Up until about
two weeks before the filming of the movie, they wanted
to put all of my old music in the movie,
(05:25):
which I understood and if it was a movie, that
would make sense. But because it was a musical, I
really I felt strongly that it needed to have its
own music, and it felt like we were writing this
movie but then trying to make my old songs make sense.
But then the old songs didn't make sense, and you know,
those songs at the time were four or five years old.
(05:46):
And I was like, if we're gonna make a musical,
we gotta we gotta make a musical. And so then
about two weeks before they were like, okay, we can
do new songs. And so then it was just a
speed mission and it was it was very tough to
get everything done. We did it while we were filming
the movie. We didn't have this song is done and
so that was very hard because we were filming with
demos and it was very very complicated. A lot of
people worked over time, including myself, but it was it
(06:09):
was worth it because we got we got the music
of our dreams. But could have been done a little
a little kinder, I guess. Anyways, so after after the
j team, I did have one remaining chunk of tour,
my Dariam tour to fulfill. We had already sold the
tickets but they were going to be I was going
(06:30):
to be on tour in twenty twenty, but then, of course,
you know, COVID happened, and so the tour kept getting pushed,
push pushed. At this point in time, it is like
mid twenty twenty one, and I wanted Dream the tour
to happen still. I was never going to give that
up no matter when that happened. And I was like,
I don't care if we do it in twenty twenty six,
I don't cancel it. Like, just keep pushing it. We
will be fine. But I knew after that I didn't
(06:54):
want to have any more music obligations with the network.
That was that for me was like I want to
do that. I want that to be amazing, But then
after that, I want to be done and I want
to be able to go on my own and go
do my own music and go start this process because
there was no there was no knew that was gonna happen,
and I knew that, and so I was like, let's
(07:14):
be able to start to work on new things right.
So then we were able to work it out. I
was supposed to be under my music contract for another
year year and a half with Nickelodeon, but we worked
it out. We gave them some sweet stuff in one lane,
and I got that in the other lane. And so
ended up working out that I could go and start
working on my own music, and I met with every
(07:36):
record label. I was so grateful that literally all the
all the record labels wanted to take a meeting with me,
and I wanted to take a meeting with them, of course.
And after meeting with all of them, Columbia was just
was my home and I knew it. I knew that
those people were my people. I felt the vibe and
(07:56):
it just it felt so right. And so that was
in the end of twenty twenty one. I'm I'm probably
gonna mess up some timelines, but that's okay. And then
when I was on tour final leg of Dream the
Tour in twenty twenty two, my core team from Colombia,
I had not signed with them yet. They came to
tour and they came to one of my shows and
after the show, we met in a VIP room. Had
(08:17):
got to meet all of them in person. They loved
the show, and that is where they brought my contract
and I actually signed a paper copy. Normally nowadays you
just kind of signed a digital copy and call it today,
but we did a whole spectacle. I signed with them.
It was awesome. It was the best day ever. And
it was like here we go, let here we go.
And the President of Colombia, Hey, Ron Perry, he came
(08:40):
to the show. And like, now, at the time, I
didn't know what it meant to have Ron Perry come
to your show. But now now looking back, I'm like,
holy shit, Ron Perry came to my Dream the tour. Okay, okay,
I will take it. So then it was go time.
(09:04):
The next week, they sent me some song demos and
I liked them all. One of the song demos I
actually actually still really liked to this day. And that
was that was two years ago. You know, they sent me.
I actually should revisit one of those that they sent me.
They sent me this one that was too scary for
me at the time, but now I actually think it
might be perfect. Oh I got a text ready after this. Anyways, anyways,
(09:27):
back to what I was talking about. So send me
a bunch of song demos and I loved them all.
Put my voice on a couple of them. Whatever, chilling
move on. Then then I go and I do a
couple of recording sessions. This it was fresh off of
Dream the Tour. So I ended Dream the tour in March,
and I started my recording sessions with Columbia and with
other producers and writers. I started that in March twenty
(09:50):
twenty two as well. So this has been two years
now of making this music and now it's finally starting
to see the light of day. It's been a long,
long two years waiting and holding it in and Karma
actually started in the beginning. Karma was not the first
one that I did, but it was one of the
first few that I did. I got pitched another song
(10:12):
that I really really like, and it's a it's a
very ballad, it's a power ballad. It's an incredible song.
And I got to it's with the music producers rock Mafia,
and they pitched this song to me and I loved it.
I was like, sign me up, I will be there,
right And so then what happened was this song is
it's a bit of a love song but also a
(10:33):
bit of a breakup love song, but it's it's it's
essentially the song in the context is you're still in
a relationship, but you're not okay, and that is kind
of the context of the song. And the day that
I was supposed to record that song is when I
went through my breakup and with my ex, and it
was very, very hard. It was our second time breaking up,
(10:53):
and so it was somehow it was harder than the first.
We had started dating again and that's when I got
pitched a song and I loved it, like didn't even
think twice about the story behind it. But then the
day that I was supposed to record it is the
day that we broke up, and I called. I called
my label and I was like, I can't go to day,
like I haven't stopped sobbing, I can't go. And my
(11:13):
label was like totally fine, like understandable, we'll make it work,
we'll cancel. And then somehow something else really sad. I
don't remember what the second thing was, but it was
almost like maybe like we had started talking again for
the third time, and then we stopped talking again. And
that also happened. On the next day that I was
supposed to record this slow ballid breakup heardbreak situational song
(11:36):
and I was like I can't go again, like I'm
too sad, like I can't do it. And this time
my label was like, you need to go, and I
was like, why I can't go? And they're like, because
look at the emotion you have right now, go put
it into the song. And I was like, you know, right, okay,
I'll go. So I go and I go, and this
recording session is fine. It's not It's not the best,
(11:57):
but it's not the worst. And then as I'm the producer,
Anthonyinna goes, I have a song that I want to
play for you. It feels right for you. I don't
know if you can have it because it's it's an
old song, and I have to get a lot of
rights and I have to get a lot of people
to sign off on you being able to do this song.
But I think you might be the person to have
this song. And she played me Karma or a version
(12:20):
of Karma. And when I tell you, I was on
my way out, ready to go sob in my car,
and all of a sudden, I just sat and was like,
this song is special. Karma is special. Now. This was
two years ago, so I was I was eighteen still,
and I was very afraid of the lyrics of Karma.
(12:40):
I wasn't ready to say I was a bad girl.
I wasn't ready to say I should have known better.
If I had wish I would have never fed around
another late night, another crazy mood, and I didn't think
twice what it would do to you. I didn't. I
didn't feel comfortable saying that yet. I didn't feel comfortable
singing that yet. But I told her, I said, this
song is special. I want it, but it can't be.
(13:04):
It's never, never gonna be my first song. I was like,
And I remember saying that. I was like, it's never
gonna be my first song because it's too much. I
was like, but but yes, like I want it and
it'll eventually see the light of day with me. And
this is when I was planning on my music coming
out in two months. Little did I know it was
gonna be two years. Anyways, So cut to I put
my voice on it and we sing it as it
is now, and this is the lyric saying I was
(13:26):
a bad girl. I did some bad things and we
sing it and I'm like, you know, I can't be
the bad guy. I'm not. I'm not I'm not a
bad girl. I can't be. And so then we did
a version where you were a bad girl, and I
was like, it's not hitting. Let's try she she is
a bad girl. And I was like, that's the one.
I love it. Then it's about anybody. And then cut
(13:48):
to a couple of months later, we go and we
do a secondary recording session on Karma because my voice
had changed a little bit, expanded, shrank, a little bit
of both, and so we were like, let's do another one.
And I was like, you know what, I'm ready to
say I was a bad girl. I'm ready to say
I did some bad things. I'm ready. I'm ready. And
this was only six months later, and so then we decided,
(14:09):
we were like, all right, we're gonna stick to the plan.
We're gonna do I was a bad girl. And still
with this song, I still didn't think it was gonna
be my first I still wasn't ready for it to
be the first song that was gonna see the light
of day. And then cut to December twenty twenty two.
December twenty twenty two, I was like, all right, I've
been doing music now for a whole year. I've got
(14:31):
lots of songs in my back pocket, none of them
are finished, but like, let's make a game plan. And
I made I made it one hundred and sixty page
document that I brought to my label and was like,
here's the order, here's the songs, here's a video coordinating
to each song. Here's what the wardrobes I want to be.
Here's what I want the tour to look like. And
I mean I pitched everything to the nines. We still
(14:53):
laugh about it to this day, because I mean I
really did my big one, pitching the whole whole plan
for twenty plus songs, and everyone at this I was like, Okay,
this is great, but like, no one's ready for this yet,
And I was like, right, I just wanted everyone to know,
like this where my head's at. And look, it was valid.
And somehow in twenty twenty three, at the very end
(15:14):
in twenty twenty two, at the very end of that year,
somewhere in there, I did decide that, look, I want
karma to come first. I want the first words that
the world hears from me as an adult to be
I was a bad girl. I think there's power in that.
I think it gives the flip that I want to give.
I think it gives the art that I want to give.
(15:36):
Take with it what you will. Am I a bad girl?
Am I good girl? You will never ever ever know?
But it's art. And that's all I want to do,
is all I want to do is create art. I
want to create music that people can dance to, that
people can enjoy, that people don't take too seriously. Do
I have stories that can relate to this song, Absolutely,
one hundred percent, but that's up to the viewer and
(15:59):
the listener to decide. But I ultimately and I'm really
excited to do the podcast where I get to talk
about my video vision because a massive part about why
I wanted Karma to come first was because of my
video concept that I have. It was the first music
video that I came up with out of all of
my songs, this was number one, and I came up
with it, and I came up with it at the
(16:20):
very end of twenty twenty two, and we didn't make
it until the very end of twenty twenty three, but
that same idea stuck around, and so get ready that
podcast will come next week where I deep dive into that.
And it's also coming out a little bit before the
music video comes out, so if you listen right away,
you will get to hear a little insider on the
music video before you see it. But anyways, so then
(16:41):
cut to twenty twenty three. Somehow in twenty twenty three,
I did four more recording sessions on Karma. We had
six sessions on Karma. We had versions of Karma. We
had different structures of Karma. I mean the bridge then
when I lay me down, sad is anybody next to me?
That whole part that was originally on one note that
was it was a flat monotone note, and it took
(17:03):
so long to record. We did a session just on that.
So because you know, it's it's it's hard to get
your voice to stick on one note on one breath
for the whole line. It's it's it's tricky, but we
have ended ended up getting it. And then we're like, mmm,
needs a little sway to it, and so then we
added a little bit of sway to it, and then
you know, there's parts of Karma. The thing with Karma
is as a song musically, it is at the top
(17:25):
of my range that when I saw the pix of
you and her, I felt the knife to us. That's
the top of my range. And I was a beg girl.
That's the bottom of my range. And so we had
to stretch my voice. We had to do days where
we did the low stuff days where we did the
high stuff days where it was like just scream to
get your voice there, like it was. It was not easy,
(17:45):
but I am very, very proud of the song that
it has become. I remember hearing it back for the
first time and being like, damn, like that's a record,
that that song is is that song is a record?
And then and then we decided that we needed to
change the production, whole production, We need to give it
(18:07):
to it. We did just you know, a revamp, revamp
because the song was originally the song was ten years old,
and so we did all feel like it it was
not outdated, but sound wise it felt you know, dated,
and so we were like, all right, let's let's let's
change it up a bit. And then it felt to
today and we were like absolutely not. This never got
(18:27):
no no way. So then it was a lot of
trial and air and trial and Aaron trying this, trying that,
trying this, trying that all. So I mean, we I
think this is version like twenty eight or twenty nine
of Karma in the production sense. Up until the very
very last week. The song goes and it gets mastered. Okay, oh,
(18:48):
this is actually kind of funny. This is so, this
is a story that'll end this podcast on. But so,
we were filming the music video right and I realized
about midway in through this last day of the music
video shoot that I gave everyone the wrong version. It's
my duty to send the direct to the version, to
(19:09):
send playback the version, to send the choreographer the version
of my duty, and I picked it up. I sent
them the wrong one. We have twenty eight versions of this.
Luckily I sent them number twenty six, not twenty eight,
and then it could have been worse, like it could
have been I sent number four, you know what I mean.
But what happened was then my label, after we shot
the video videos done, did all the ad libs that
were in the version that I sent. But then what
(19:31):
happened was my label sent me the final version and
they were like, hey, just want to confirm we're sending
it to mixing. You're good. And they sent it to
me and I was like, oh my god. No. I
was like, this isn't right and they were like, well,
this is the latest version. This is the one you
lost the frood what do you mean It's all right?
And I was like this isn't the one we shot
the video too. And they were like, okay, which one
did you shoot the video too? And I was like, well, look,
(19:53):
there is no difference, but one, I said, there was
one difference and it was the smallest, s the lightest.
It was a drum in the chorus that was throwing
everything off, and I was like, the version that we
did in the video is a little bit better, just
in this one part. It was when I saw the
fix of you I was on. I felt the knife twist.
(20:13):
It was on like literally one line. There was one
drum that was slightly different, and I told my label.
I was like, I don't know what it is, but
I think you'll be able to find it. Like good luck,
go trial it air. And about a day later they
came to me and they found the one thing that
was different, and then that they were like, all right,
so we'll take that out and we'll send it to mixing.
(20:34):
And I was like, perfect, send it to mix it.
We are good to go, and they sent it. We
got the song. The song is now up and running
on social media. The song officially comes out on April fifth.
It actually comes out the midnight like April fourth to
April fifth. It comes out at nine pm Pacific Standard
time on April fourth. I got the date tattooed on
(20:56):
my hand as soon as I knew when it was
coming out. So I have the day of Boomerang tattooed
on my left hand, and then I have the date
of Karma tattooed on my right hand. But I'm a
little pissed because I got four or five twenty twenty four.
But for me in the times when that I'm on,
the song comes out at four four, twenty twenty four,
So I actually have the wrong date tattooed on my hand.
(21:18):
Kind of pissed about it, but it's fine, and all
day on four to four, I'm saying, like, song comes
out tonight, not song comes out tomorrow. So little little,
little little TikTok about it. Definitely got the wrong date,
but technically it's four or five, but for me it's
four or four. Literally doesn't matter. It's being dramatic. Just
let it happen. But yeah, definitely have the wrong date
on my right hand. We're all gonna live. Okay. That's
(21:41):
a little sneak peek into the making of Karma the song.
It it was fun. It was hard, it was a push,
it was it was good, there was There's a lot
of lot of different versions of Karma that I hope
one day the world maybe gets to hear. I mean, like,
oh my god, imagine we released the original version. That
would actually be kind of sick. I don't think anyone's
(22:02):
done that, like released like the like demo version. Not
a bad idea. Actually might take that to the label today. Anyways,
I'm gonna go and I am going to go get
prepared for next week's podcast where I get a deep
dive into the music video of Karma. Because as much
as I love this song and in the song itself,
(22:22):
I am not and I never will be, just a singer.
I've always said I'm not a singer. I'm an artist.
I'm not a singer. I'm a performer because when it
comes to me as a person, I thrive in the
world a visual That's where I thrive. I always say
my label is in charge of what you hear. I'm
in charge of what you see and what you feel.
(22:43):
And Karma music video I ran. I ran as the
driver in that one, and I'm really proud of it.
I've got a lot of inside scoop on it and
how it came to be. So get ready because next
week we are deep diving into the Karma music video
and you don't want to miss It's all a little
sneak peak because it comes out like two days before
the music video comes out, so I'm gonna get a
(23:04):
little bit of inside a scoop. Anyways, I love y'all.
Thanks for listening, makes you come back, makes you follow me.
I have a write is Showaia. Check out my website
www dot Jojaswa dot com. Watch so you can dance
on Fox next day on Hulu. What else? I think
that's I think that's it. I think that's all my
oh my, oh my tea I got for the day.
I love y'all. Two says, thank you so much for listening. Everybody.
(23:28):
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 Jojo See One Now with me, Jojo
Siua and iHeartRadio Podcast. Welcome back to Jojo Sewa. Now,
oh my gosh, we are First of all, we are back.
We were back in California. I am back in La
came home from Atlanta, had a great time there filming
(00:22):
So You Think You Can Dance. It was genuinely such
an interesting experience. I mean, everyone asked like, oh, did
you like Atlanta? Did you like Atlanta? And I was like,
I loved Atlanta, but I think I loved living alone
for the first time. And so I was like, I
don't know if it was Atlanta itself that I liked
or if it was the vibe of me being there
alone that I liked. I was like, I don't really know,
(00:43):
but I did like it and I did have a
great time. And now now the season of So You
Think You Can Dance has been airing. I'm gonna start
being on it very very soon, either this week or
next week, depending on the airing schedule, which I am
very very excited about. We are getting into the top ten.
The I mean, they are absolutely incredible, they are so amazing.
(01:05):
I'm doing new new music projects right now, and we're
in the process of creating our next visual and you know,
when you're creating visual, you're hiring a bunch of dancers.
And literally the first ten dancers on my list was
the top ten of So You Think You Can Dance,
because I got to know them for the last few
weeks and I got to I got to see their
work ethic and I truly want to give them the
(01:26):
opportunity and I just I'm so proud of them. I
can't wait for everyone to see the season. You know,
we did it. We're not live, it's it's it's definitely
pre taped, and so I of course know the results,
I know what ended up happening, and I know every
week to week of So You Think, but it every
single day, every single week was so inspiring as an artist,
(01:48):
so inspiring as a dancer, and so inspiring as a judge.
I mean seeing seeing what the dancers did and the
work they put in and the process for them was
was truly awesome. And now now the show's done and
been able to become friends with some of the some
of the top ten, you know, it's really cool to
see their perspective on everything. The new format is incredible.
(02:10):
Some people are having mixed reviews about the format. Personally,
I love it. I don't think I don't think the
world has seen enough of the new format yet to
be familiar with it, and so I think once the
world does get to see the new format more, they're
gonna really enjoy it. And I'm very excited for that.
But anyways, while I was in Atlanta, I had an
(02:31):
incredible meeting with my team over at my music label, Columbia,
and they gave me the green light that it was
time for Karma, my very first song to come out.
I am beyond excited. I have known since October twenty now,
(02:54):
maybe even a little bit before that, maybe like September
September twenty twenty three, that this was going to be
my first song out. We're gonna go down memory lane,
way way down today and then I'm going to do
another podcast where I talk about the visual aspect of
Karma and how all that was created. But I did
find out in September that Karma was going to be
the first song. This was the song that I wanted
(03:16):
to come first. We do have a lot of songs
done and a lot of songs in the bank, and
a lot of music that is ready to come out,
but I knew I wanted this first one to be
a moment, so I always wanted Karma. And then finally
in September, got the green light that it was going
to be Karma, and I got to run with my
music video concept, go for it, create the visual, do
exactly what I wanted to do. And then we still
(03:37):
didn't know necessarily timeline wise, when it was going to
come out. And then while I was living in Atlanta,
found out that it was going to be coming out
and I got the official date, I got the official
green light, and I was just so happy, so excited,
so ready for this new world, new era, new chapter,
(03:58):
I think is probably the best word. And to truly
become the musician and the artists that I've always wanted
to be. You know, I always have loved my career.
I've loved doing kids music, being a kids before and
I loved that, But I knew that I wanted to
be like Lady Gaga, like Miley Cyrus, like Freddy Mercury.
That was always my goal. And so to now be
(04:18):
able to tap into this adult out there, crazy, no
holding back, unrestrained, that world is all of my dreams
coming true, and I'm so stoked about that. Anyways, though,
now we gotta go way back in time so I
can give you the rundown on how Karma came to be.
I'm gonna go even a little bit for the back
(04:40):
that I was planning on. So right before I did
the final leg, the fifth and final leg of Dream
the Tour, all of my music was done through myself
and through Nickelodeon, right, and that was great. We kind
of it was very interesting. Nickelodeon is not a record
label necessarily, but they had the tools to help me
make music right. And so with my full three sixty
(05:03):
that I had in Nickelodeon, it did make a lot
of sense. We made a lot of great music. It
was awesome. But then when I did when I did
my movie The j Team, that is when my music
relationship with Nickelodeon got very, very rocky. Up until about
two weeks before the filming of the movie, they wanted
to put all of my old music in the movie,
(05:25):
which I understood and if it was a movie, that
would make sense. But because it was a musical, I
really I felt strongly that it needed to have its
own music, and it felt like we were writing this
movie but then trying to make my old songs make sense.
But then the old songs didn't make sense, and you know,
those songs at the time were four or five years old.
(05:46):
And I was like, if we're gonna make a musical,
we gotta we gotta make a musical. And so then
about two weeks before they were like, okay, we can
do new songs. And so then it was just a
speed mission and it was it was very tough to
get everything done. We did it while we were filming
the movie. We didn't have this song is done and
so that was very hard because we were filming with
demos and it was very very complicated. A lot of
people worked over time, including myself, but it was it
(06:09):
was worth it because we got we got the music
of our dreams. But could have been done a little
a little kinder, I guess. Anyways, so after after the
j team, I did have one remaining chunk of tour,
my Dariam tour to fulfill. We had already sold the
tickets but they were going to be I was going
(06:30):
to be on tour in twenty twenty, but then, of course,
you know, COVID happened, and so the tour kept getting pushed,
push pushed. At this point in time, it is like
mid twenty twenty one, and I wanted Dream the tour
to happen still. I was never going to give that
up no matter when that happened. And I was like,
I don't care if we do it in twenty twenty six,
I don't cancel it. Like, just keep pushing it. We
will be fine. But I knew after that I didn't
(06:54):
want to have any more music obligations with the network.
That was that for me was like I want to
do that. I want that to be amazing, But then
after that, I want to be done and I want
to be able to go on my own and go
do my own music and go start this process because
there was no there was no knew that was gonna happen,
and I knew that, and so I was like, let's
(07:14):
be able to start to work on new things right.
So then we were able to work it out. I
was supposed to be under my music contract for another
year year and a half with Nickelodeon, but we worked
it out. We gave them some sweet stuff in one lane,
and I got that in the other lane. And so
ended up working out that I could go and start
working on my own music, and I met with every
(07:36):
record label. I was so grateful that literally all the
all the record labels wanted to take a meeting with me,
and I wanted to take a meeting with them, of course.
And after meeting with all of them, Columbia was just
was my home and I knew it. I knew that
those people were my people. I felt the vibe and
(07:56):
it just it felt so right. And so that was
in the end of twenty twenty one. I'm I'm probably
gonna mess up some timelines, but that's okay. And then
when I was on tour final leg of Dream the
Tour in twenty twenty two, my core team from Colombia,
I had not signed with them yet. They came to
tour and they came to one of my shows and
after the show, we met in a VIP room. Had
(08:17):
got to meet all of them in person. They loved
the show, and that is where they brought my contract
and I actually signed a paper copy. Normally nowadays you
just kind of signed a digital copy and call it today,
but we did a whole spectacle. I signed with them.
It was awesome. It was the best day ever. And
it was like here we go, let here we go.
And the President of Colombia, Hey, Ron Perry, he came
(08:40):
to the show. And like, now, at the time, I
didn't know what it meant to have Ron Perry come
to your show. But now now looking back, I'm like,
holy shit, Ron Perry came to my Dream the tour. Okay, okay,
I will take it. So then it was go time.
(09:04):
The next week, they sent me some song demos and
I liked them all. One of the song demos I
actually actually still really liked to this day. And that
was that was two years ago. You know, they sent me.
I actually should revisit one of those that they sent me.
They sent me this one that was too scary for
me at the time, but now I actually think it
might be perfect. Oh I got a text ready after this. Anyways, anyways,
(09:27):
back to what I was talking about. So send me
a bunch of song demos and I loved them all.
Put my voice on a couple of them. Whatever, chilling
move on. Then then I go and I do a
couple of recording sessions. This it was fresh off of
Dream the Tour. So I ended Dream the tour in March,
and I started my recording sessions with Columbia and with
other producers and writers. I started that in March twenty
(09:50):
twenty two as well. So this has been two years
now of making this music and now it's finally starting
to see the light of day. It's been a long,
long two years waiting and holding it in and Karma
actually started in the beginning. Karma was not the first
one that I did, but it was one of the
first few that I did. I got pitched another song
(10:12):
that I really really like, and it's a it's a
very ballad, it's a power ballad. It's an incredible song.
And I got to it's with the music producers rock Mafia,
and they pitched this song to me and I loved it.
I was like, sign me up, I will be there,
right And so then what happened was this song is
it's a bit of a love song but also a
(10:33):
bit of a breakup love song, but it's it's it's
essentially the song in the context is you're still in
a relationship, but you're not okay, and that is kind
of the context of the song. And the day that
I was supposed to record that song is when I
went through my breakup and with my ex, and it
was very, very hard. It was our second time breaking up,
(10:53):
and so it was somehow it was harder than the first.
We had started dating again and that's when I got
pitched a song and I loved it, like didn't even
think twice about the story behind it. But then the
day that I was supposed to record it is the
day that we broke up, and I called. I called
my label and I was like, I can't go to day,
like I haven't stopped sobbing, I can't go. And my
(11:13):
label was like totally fine, like understandable, we'll make it work,
we'll cancel. And then somehow something else really sad. I
don't remember what the second thing was, but it was
almost like maybe like we had started talking again for
the third time, and then we stopped talking again. And
that also happened. On the next day that I was
supposed to record this slow ballid breakup heardbreak situational song
(11:36):
and I was like I can't go again, like I'm
too sad, like I can't do it. And this time
my label was like, you need to go, and I
was like, why I can't go? And they're like, because
look at the emotion you have right now, go put
it into the song. And I was like, you know, right, okay,
I'll go. So I go and I go, and this
recording session is fine. It's not It's not the best,
(11:57):
but it's not the worst. And then as I'm the producer,
Anthonyinna goes, I have a song that I want to
play for you. It feels right for you. I don't
know if you can have it because it's it's an
old song, and I have to get a lot of
rights and I have to get a lot of people
to sign off on you being able to do this song.
But I think you might be the person to have
this song. And she played me Karma or a version
(12:20):
of Karma. And when I tell you, I was on
my way out, ready to go sob in my car,
and all of a sudden, I just sat and was like,
this song is special. Karma is special. Now. This was
two years ago, so I was I was eighteen still,
and I was very afraid of the lyrics of Karma.
(12:40):
I wasn't ready to say I was a bad girl.
I wasn't ready to say I should have known better.
If I had wish I would have never fed around
another late night, another crazy mood, and I didn't think
twice what it would do to you. I didn't. I
didn't feel comfortable saying that yet. I didn't feel comfortable
singing that yet. But I told her, I said, this
song is special. I want it, but it can't be.
(13:04):
It's never, never gonna be my first song. I was like,
And I remember saying that. I was like, it's never
gonna be my first song because it's too much. I
was like, but but yes, like I want it and
it'll eventually see the light of day with me. And
this is when I was planning on my music coming
out in two months. Little did I know it was
gonna be two years. Anyways, So cut to I put
my voice on it and we sing it as it
is now, and this is the lyric saying I was
(13:26):
a bad girl. I did some bad things and we
sing it and I'm like, you know, I can't be
the bad guy. I'm not. I'm not I'm not a
bad girl. I can't be. And so then we did
a version where you were a bad girl, and I
was like, it's not hitting. Let's try she she is
a bad girl. And I was like, that's the one.
I love it. Then it's about anybody. And then cut
(13:48):
to a couple of months later, we go and we
do a secondary recording session on Karma because my voice
had changed a little bit, expanded, shrank, a little bit
of both, and so we were like, let's do another one.
And I was like, you know what, I'm ready to
say I was a bad girl. I'm ready to say
I did some bad things. I'm ready. I'm ready. And
this was only six months later, and so then we decided,
(14:09):
we were like, all right, we're gonna stick to the plan.
We're gonna do I was a bad girl. And still
with this song, I still didn't think it was gonna
be my first I still wasn't ready for it to
be the first song that was gonna see the light
of day. And then cut to December twenty twenty two.
December twenty twenty two, I was like, all right, I've
been doing music now for a whole year. I've got
(14:31):
lots of songs in my back pocket, none of them
are finished, but like, let's make a game plan. And
I made I made it one hundred and sixty page
document that I brought to my label and was like,
here's the order, here's the songs, here's a video coordinating
to each song. Here's what the wardrobes I want to be.
Here's what I want the tour to look like. And
I mean I pitched everything to the nines. We still
(14:53):
laugh about it to this day, because I mean I
really did my big one, pitching the whole whole plan
for twenty plus songs, and everyone at this I was like, Okay,
this is great, but like, no one's ready for this yet,
And I was like, right, I just wanted everyone to know,
like this where my head's at. And look, it was valid.
And somehow in twenty twenty three, at the very end
(15:14):
in twenty twenty two, at the very end of that year,
somewhere in there, I did decide that, look, I want
karma to come first. I want the first words that
the world hears from me as an adult to be
I was a bad girl. I think there's power in that.
I think it gives the flip that I want to give.
I think it gives the art that I want to give.
(15:36):
Take with it what you will. Am I a bad girl?
Am I good girl? You will never ever ever know?
But it's art. And that's all I want to do,
is all I want to do is create art. I
want to create music that people can dance to, that
people can enjoy, that people don't take too seriously. Do
I have stories that can relate to this song, Absolutely,
one hundred percent, but that's up to the viewer and
(15:59):
the listener to decide. But I ultimately and I'm really
excited to do the podcast where I get to talk
about my video vision because a massive part about why
I wanted Karma to come first was because of my
video concept that I have. It was the first music
video that I came up with out of all of
my songs, this was number one, and I came up
with it, and I came up with it at the
(16:20):
very end of twenty twenty two, and we didn't make
it until the very end of twenty twenty three, but
that same idea stuck around, and so get ready that
podcast will come next week where I deep dive into that.
And it's also coming out a little bit before the
music video comes out, so if you listen right away,
you will get to hear a little insider on the
music video before you see it. But anyways, so then
(16:41):
cut to twenty twenty three. Somehow in twenty twenty three,
I did four more recording sessions on Karma. We had
six sessions on Karma. We had versions of Karma. We
had different structures of Karma. I mean the bridge then
when I lay me down, sad is anybody next to me?
That whole part that was originally on one note that
was it was a flat monotone note, and it took
(17:03):
so long to record. We did a session just on that.
So because you know, it's it's it's hard to get
your voice to stick on one note on one breath
for the whole line. It's it's it's tricky, but we
have ended ended up getting it. And then we're like, mmm,
needs a little sway to it, and so then we
added a little bit of sway to it, and then
you know, there's parts of Karma. The thing with Karma
is as a song musically, it is at the top
(17:25):
of my range that when I saw the pix of
you and her, I felt the knife to us. That's
the top of my range. And I was a beg girl.
That's the bottom of my range. And so we had
to stretch my voice. We had to do days where
we did the low stuff days where we did the
high stuff days where it was like just scream to
get your voice there, like it was. It was not easy,
(17:45):
but I am very, very proud of the song that
it has become. I remember hearing it back for the
first time and being like, damn, like that's a record,
that that song is is that song is a record?
And then and then we decided that we needed to
change the production, whole production, We need to give it
(18:07):
to it. We did just you know, a revamp, revamp
because the song was originally the song was ten years old,
and so we did all feel like it it was
not outdated, but sound wise it felt you know, dated,
and so we were like, all right, let's let's let's
change it up a bit. And then it felt to
today and we were like absolutely not. This never got
(18:27):
no no way. So then it was a lot of
trial and air and trial and Aaron trying this, trying that,
trying this, trying that all. So I mean, we I
think this is version like twenty eight or twenty nine
of Karma in the production sense. Up until the very
very last week. The song goes and it gets mastered. Okay, oh,
(18:48):
this is actually kind of funny. This is so, this
is a story that'll end this podcast on. But so,
we were filming the music video right and I realized
about midway in through this last day of the music
video shoot that I gave everyone the wrong version. It's
my duty to send the direct to the version, to
(19:09):
send playback the version, to send the choreographer the version
of my duty, and I picked it up. I sent
them the wrong one. We have twenty eight versions of this.
Luckily I sent them number twenty six, not twenty eight,
and then it could have been worse, like it could
have been I sent number four, you know what I mean.
But what happened was then my label, after we shot
the video videos done, did all the ad libs that
were in the version that I sent. But then what
(19:31):
happened was my label sent me the final version and
they were like, hey, just want to confirm we're sending
it to mixing. You're good. And they sent it to
me and I was like, oh my god. No. I
was like, this isn't right and they were like, well,
this is the latest version. This is the one you
lost the frood what do you mean It's all right?
And I was like this isn't the one we shot
the video too. And they were like, okay, which one
did you shoot the video too? And I was like, well, look,
(19:53):
there is no difference, but one, I said, there was
one difference and it was the smallest, s the lightest.
It was a drum in the chorus that was throwing
everything off, and I was like, the version that we
did in the video is a little bit better, just
in this one part. It was when I saw the
fix of you I was on. I felt the knife twist.
(20:13):
It was on like literally one line. There was one
drum that was slightly different, and I told my label.
I was like, I don't know what it is, but
I think you'll be able to find it. Like good luck,
go trial it air. And about a day later they
came to me and they found the one thing that
was different, and then that they were like, all right,
so we'll take that out and we'll send it to mixing.
(20:34):
And I was like, perfect, send it to mix it.
We are good to go, and they sent it. We
got the song. The song is now up and running
on social media. The song officially comes out on April fifth.
It actually comes out the midnight like April fourth to
April fifth. It comes out at nine pm Pacific Standard
time on April fourth. I got the date tattooed on
(20:56):
my hand as soon as I knew when it was
coming out. So I have the day of Boomerang tattooed
on my left hand, and then I have the date
of Karma tattooed on my right hand. But I'm a
little pissed because I got four or five twenty twenty four.
But for me in the times when that I'm on,
the song comes out at four four, twenty twenty four,
So I actually have the wrong date tattooed on my hand.
(21:18):
Kind of pissed about it, but it's fine, and all
day on four to four, I'm saying, like, song comes
out tonight, not song comes out tomorrow. So little little,
little little TikTok about it. Definitely got the wrong date,
but technically it's four or five, but for me it's
four or four. Literally doesn't matter. It's being dramatic. Just
let it happen. But yeah, definitely have the wrong date
on my right hand. We're all gonna live. Okay. That's
(21:41):
a little sneak peek into the making of Karma the song.
It it was fun. It was hard, it was a push,
it was it was good, there was There's a lot
of lot of different versions of Karma that I hope
one day the world maybe gets to hear. I mean, like,
oh my god, imagine we released the original version. That
would actually be kind of sick. I don't think anyone's
(22:02):
done that, like released like the like demo version. Not
a bad idea. Actually might take that to the label today. Anyways,
I'm gonna go and I am going to go get
prepared for next week's podcast where I get a deep
dive into the music video of Karma. Because as much
as I love this song and in the song itself,
(22:22):
I am not and I never will be, just a singer.
I've always said I'm not a singer. I'm an artist.
I'm not a singer. I'm a performer because when it
comes to me as a person, I thrive in the
world a visual That's where I thrive. I always say
my label is in charge of what you hear. I'm
in charge of what you see and what you feel.
(22:43):
And Karma music video I ran. I ran as the
driver in that one, and I'm really proud of it.
I've got a lot of inside scoop on it and
how it came to be. So get ready because next
week we are deep diving into the Karma music video
and you don't want to miss It's all a little
sneak peak because it comes out like two days before
the music video comes out, so I'm gonna get a
(23:04):
little bit of inside a scoop. Anyways, I love y'all.
Thanks for listening, makes you come back, makes you follow me.
I have a write is Showaia. Check out my website
www dot Jojaswa dot com. Watch so you can dance
on Fox next day on Hulu. What else? I think
that's I think that's it. I think that's all my
oh my, oh my tea I got for the day.
I love y'all. Two says, thank you so much for listening. Everybody.
(23:28):
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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