Karma (Really Is a Bitch)
Cover versions, authenticity, virality and controversy in JoJo Siwa and Brit Smith's 'Karma'
On April 5th, 2024, JoJo Siwa released her new single ‘Karma’. The song acts as a departure from Siwa’s earlier work as a child star on reality TV, where she specialised in G-rated, syrupy pop tunes marketed to kids, sold alongside a vast range of ditzy merchandise. With ‘Karma’, Siwa is attempting to distance herself from her Nickelodeon past while venturing toward a queer adulthood.
In an interview with Billboard, Siwa speaks of the song’s intention:
‘I wanted it to be as bold and as ballsy as possible. There is nothing more ballsy than this song’ (Siwa in Kelly 2024).
‘Karma’ itself is sonically reminiscent of early 2010s pop music: think Kesha’s ‘Animal’ era, or Miley Cyrus’ ‘Can’t Be Tamed’ era. It features colourful hooks, punchy synths, and vibrant lyrics which are all palpable qualities distinct to that era of pop. Siwa fully intended for this sentimental effect, speaking with Billboard about her inspiration for the track:
‘I mean it’s no secret that my transition is heavily inspired by Miley Cyrus of course … what a moment. Like it or not, everyone knows that moment and I think that made such an impact … Miley’s flip, Miley’s switch, Miley’s turn was the greatest thing I’ve witnessed with my own two eyes’ (Siwa in Kelly 2024).
The transition Siwa is speaking of is her shift from child star to serious adult performer, like Cyrus did back in 2013. ‘Karma’ presents Siwa as a ‘bad girl’, a queer woman ready to dominate, both in her own personal life and in the public sphere. However, the general consensus online denotes otherwise with few believing this new persona: bad girls don’t usually have to tell everyone they’re bad. For Vulture, Jason P. Frank states that ‘Karma’ has ‘a thumping, uninspired beat, with faux-edgy lyrics (“She said ‘bitch’!”) performed with all the conviction of the elementary-age students who used to be her fans’. For Exclaim!, Sydney Brasil suggests that Siwa has ‘no real commitment to the bit … as if Siwa herself isn’t fully sold on her new persona’. In one video essay with over 650,000 views, French states that Siwa’s rebrand gives her ‘second-hand embarrassment’; in another with over 1.5 million views, Belle identifies it as ‘messy’. Just one look at the multiple Reddit threads dedicated to the song reveal a far-reaching belief that ‘Karma’ is inadequate in its attempt to be, as Siwa thinks, something radical. As Chloe Fineman suggests in her impression of Siwa on SNL:
‘I used to be rainbow sparkles, now I’m black sparkles!’ (Fineman for SNL 2024).
It is important to understand the context surrounding the release of ‘Karma’ and the controversial, even provocative, comments Siwa made regarding her intentions behind the song. In her interview with Billboard, Siwa states that:
‘I said it back in the day when I first signed with Columbia. I said, ‘I want to start a new genre of music’. And they said, ‘What do you mean?’, and I said, ‘Well, it’s called gay pop’’ (Siwa in Kelly 2024).
Her assertion that she had created a new genre called ‘gay pop’ went viral quite instantaneously, prompting vast outrage amongst queer fans and musicians alike. Many were quick to correct her, citing various queer musical artists across contemporary music history (Freddie Mercury, George Michael, k.d. lang, etc.), as well as countless interpretations of gay pop that exist within our current cultural zeitgeist. On TikTok, queer musical duo Tegan & Sara and pop pioneer Charli XCX used subversive wit to poke fun at Siwa’s comments, ridiculing her declaration that she came up with ‘gay pop’.
Yet, when Siwa was asked to respond to the outcry, she doubled down: ‘I’m not the president [of gay pop], but I might be the CEO, or the CMO’ (Siwa for TMZ 2024). She goes even further when attempting to surmise how ‘Karma’ aligns with her new ‘gay pop’ genre:
‘It was songs like ‘Applause’ by Lady Gaga, it’s the ‘On My Own’ Miley Cyrus, ‘Can’t Be Tamed’ Miley Cyrus … it’s that world of music where it’s not necessarily ‘pop’, it’s not giving you Katy Perry ‘California Gurls’ pop, it’s giving you Lady Gaga ‘Judas’, you know what I mean?’ (Siwa in Kelly 2024).
No, JoJo. We don’t know what you mean.
As Frank states for Vulture, ‘when all you’re doing is regurgitating other people’s efforts, you end up with a facsimile of a changed image’ (2024). In other words, Siwa is presenting something inauthentic and drab. The idea of authenticity, and what it means to be authentic, is a guiding force within the popular music industry. A popstar classified as ‘authentic’ yields way more lucrative power, artistic weight, and cultural capital than a popstar who isn’t perceived as such. In regards to popular music, Mayhew posits that ‘if something is authentic it is assumed that it is believable and reliable, that it is genuine and thus acceptable’ (1999, p. 64). While authorship, production choices, vocal cadence and genre principles are all indicators of an ‘authentic performance’, authenticity within popular music is often more nuanced than that. Armstrong observes that to be considered an authentic artist, one must be natural and without artifice and ‘a way to accomplish naturalization, for artists to legitimize themselves, is to demonstrate the historic links between the artists and others already acknowledged as prime figures in the field’ (2004, p. 338). Sure, Siwa is referencing these artists, songs, and moments in recent popular culture that have inspired her new single, but ‘Karma’ still stands as an example of what Frank noted: a facsimile, or collection, of these moments. Siwa’s outward insistence that ‘Karma’ acts as something revelatory or significant makes her and her artistic output significant for all the wrong reasons. Frank continues: ‘the central problem is that it’s so transparently that — a recalculation of a brand. There’s no sense that there was any real artistic muse, from her or from anyone else on her team’ (2024). While she continues to preach that ‘it’s always been so genuine, my career’ (Siwa in Kelly 2024), her incessant claims of such ideals correspond adversely with the very image that Siwa is attempting to conjure. The fact that Siwa is constantly asserting the exact ways she feels consumers should be interpreting ‘Karma’ is a critical part of the problem. In an interview at the GLAAD Media Awards, Siwa stated that ‘here’s my thing: this moment of making it very clear that we are going from child star to adult artist is very important to me’ (Siwa in Kelly 2024). However, stating it in such a pragmatic and literal way lends nothing to Siwa’s case. Keightley suggests that authenticity is a ‘term affixed to music which offers sincere expressions of genuine feeling, original creativity, or an organic sense of community’ (2001, p. 131), all of which Siwa is seemingly lacking. While you can indeed craft an artistic transition, as many influential performers have done in the past, the principles of authenticity indicate that it shouldn’t feel this forced: the consumer should be relishing in the end result undistracted by the cogs and machinery that helped to create it. Siwa suggests that whether you ‘like it or not, you’re gonna look’ (Siwa in Kelly 2024). We’re looking, JoJo, but for a different reason.
Amongst all of this online discourse, another version of ‘Karma’ by a different artist was uncovered on the video-sharing platform Vimeo. ‘Karma’s a Bitch’, recorded in 2012 for Interscope Records, was originally intended to be singer Brit Smith’s major label debut, with a music video already filmed and edited. Unfortunately, it was scrapped at the last minute in favour of ‘Provocative (hiDhi)’. The latter performed poorly on the charts, and Smith was promptly dropped from Interscope, eventually deciding to retire from music for good.
Nevertheless, Brit Smith’s version of the song resurfaced online twelve years later, a week after Siwa’s version came out. Quite immediately, a consensus was formed: people liked ‘Karma’s a Bitch’ more. A brief look at the comment sections on the first viral clips of Smith’s version reveal this sentiment:
‘this version is WAY better’ (38.9k likes).
‘brit smith queen of pop!!’ (30.4k likes).
‘wait this version is so good.’ (6,774 likes).
‘so it wasnt the lyrics, it was just jojo’ (112.4k likes).
‘nah this slaps wht did jojo do’ (53.7k likes).
‘That sounds so much better’ (17.8k likes).
Due to her version’s hugely positive reaction, Smith finally released ‘Karma’s a Bitch’ on the 14th of April, 2024, twelve years since recording the song.
As such, Smith’s version affords a new perspective in the analysis of Siwa’s perilous rebranding. I argue that the virality of both versions of the song, specifically Smith’s, reveals how Siwa’s ‘Karma’ has come to resemble a cover version of Smith’s ‘Karma’s a Bitch’. I support Solis’ definition of the cover version in which a ‘previous recording is necessary, but not sufficient’ (2010, p. 298) since Siwa’s was technically released before Smith’s, even though a recording of Smith’s existed for twelve years prior. As such, Siwa’s cover of Brit Smith’s ‘Karma’s a Bitch’ provides ‘a particular set of ideas about authenticity, authorship, and the ontological status of both original and cover versions’ (ibid.).
Siwa has claimed since the release of Smith’s version that:
‘It’s an old song, I was pitched it, I loved it, was obsessed with it so I grasped onto it … That’s a very normal thing … What happens is people write songs and they just don’t do anything with them and then a few years later it makes more sense for another artist’ (Siwa for TMZ 2024).
Siwa is correct in thinking this – there are numerous pop hits that were initially recorded by someone else before their official, wider release. Examples include ‘Telephone’ by Lady Gaga which was initially recorded by Britney Spears, ‘Diamonds’ by Rihanna which was initially recorded by Sia, and ‘Breakaway’ by Kelly Clarkson which was initially recorded by Avril Lavigne. One extreme example is ‘The Middle’ by Zedd featuring vocals from Maren Morris which was recorded by a vast array of other artists before going to Morris. These included Demi Lovato, Carly Rae Jepsen, Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX, Camila Cabello, Elle King, Tove Lo, Daya, Lauren Jauregui, and Anne-Marie, just to name a few. However, I contend that ‘Karma’ does not align with these examples of a ‘rerecording’. Thus, ‘Karma’ is interpreted in an alternate manner in contrast to these examples due to the largely negative reaction the song was already garnering prior to Brit Smith’s release, as well as the apparent focus on the song’s intentions, its background, and its authors.
Cover versions of songs commonly expand on the original songs’ genre and style, ‘often to radical effect’ (Barron 2010, p. 213). As Siwa is attempting a radical departure from her former artistic persona with ‘Karma’, the release of Smith’s version of the song has exposed Siwa’s failure at such radicalism. If we view Siwa as an interpreter of ‘Karma’s a Bitch’, someone attempting a re-contextualization of the original, we can adopt Plasketes’ stance:
‘Measuring the interpreter's skill, in part, lies in how well the artist uncovers and conveys the spirit or essence of the original, and enhances the nuances of its melody, rhythm, phrasing, or structure. In the process, the interpretation might offer a fresh insight into the song, its composer, or a particular period’ (1992, p. 11).
Siwa has indeed recontextualized ‘Karma’s a Bitch’, yet her version lacks the ‘spirit or essence’ of the original. ‘Karma’ offers no understanding of the original song’s time period, nor does it enrich any of the original song’s key features. What Siwa does offer though is a monotonous, derivative version of the early 2010s style of pop music she was attempting to reference, all because that version already exists. If we continue to read Siwa’s version as a cover of Smith’s, it can be argued that ‘Karma’ even borders on parody. As Plasketes contends, ‘novelty and parody have been among common cover characteristics’ (1992, p. 7) and ‘some suggest that the novelty or parody dimensions of covers align more closely with a gimmick’ (p. 8). Fittingly, that is exactly what ‘Karma’ looks like, sounds like, and feels like: a gimmick. Railton and Watson contend that ‘cover versions of songs must be distinctive enough to show the creative impress of the performers who rework them’ (p. 74). As such, Siwa’s lack of ‘creative impress’ proves that ‘Karma’ is simply not distinctive enough. Bombastic in all the wrong ways, ‘Karma’ sits precariously between ‘homage and imitation’ (p. 10), obscuring any potential artistic or musical merit. From this angle, ‘Karma’ can sincerely be criticised for its ‘lack of originality, needless repetition, [and] imitation’ (ibid.).
It is also important to note Brit Smith’s history as a failed popstar who is only now, twelve years later, receiving her flowers, and how this history further encourages her superior position. Michniewicz and Edelman hypothesise that ‘people react to underdog musicians with greater interpersonal liking and a greater desire to see them succeed as musicians’ (2021, p. 184). The ‘underdog’ narrative is a tale as old as time and can often reap immense advantages for a musician classified as one, whether that be culturally or financially. Several comments on Smith’s TikTok account align with this hypothesis:
‘FROM UNKNOWN TO LEGENDARY IN A WEEK’ (193.6k likes).
‘it’s not fair that you sat on this for over a decade. you absolutely killed it’ (51.6k likes).
‘GET YOUR SONG BACK QUEEN!!!!!’ (37.1k likes).
‘Get signed and send it to pop radio! Keep the momentum going!’ (2,842 likes).
‘FINALLY GETTING THE RECOGNITION YOU DESERVE <3 <3’ (161k likes).
It is almost as if with Brit Smith’s release, consumers are offered a contrapuntal version of ‘Karma’ which makes possible a comparison and critique against Siwa’s. As effective as Siwa’s version is as a bright, punchy pop song with an elaborate, high-budget video, it is almost as if Smith’s version allows us to realise something quite pertinent: Brit did it better. ‘Karma’s a Bitch’ is a portal to 2012, a succinct snapshot of early 2010s pop that is genuinely and honestly a product of the early 2010s (unlike Siwa’s). What Smith provides is a gateway to many pop consumers’ adolescence, offering a nostalgic snapshot of a bygone era of pop music. While Siwa may think she has offered the same nostalgia as Smith, her unrelenting attitude that she has makes ‘Karma’ all the less appealing.
Siwa was right about a few things. In her interview with TMZ, Siwa contends:
‘‘Karma’ is such a head turner, ‘Karma’ makes you go ‘what!?’, ‘Karma’ makes you listen, ‘Karma’ makes you ask, ‘Karma’ makes you confused. And so, whether people like it or not, marketing plan worked’ (Siwa for TMZ 2024).
You’re right about that one, JoJo: ‘Karma’ definitely makes us confused. And yes, perhaps her marketing plan did work. But at what cost? As of May, Smith’s ‘Karma’s a Bitch’ has peaked at No. 40 on the Official Singles Sales Chart while Siwa’s ‘Karma’ stalls at No. 76.
I guess karma really is a bitch, then.
BIBLIOGRAPHY –
Alter, R. & Frank, J.P. (2024). ‘Is JoJo Siwa’s ‘Karma’ a Flop or a Flop?’. Vulture, online at <https://www.vulture.com/article/jojo-siwa-karma-bop-or-flop.html> (accessed 14 May 2024).
Armstrong, E.G. (2004). ‘Eminem's Construction of Authenticity’. Popular Music and Society 27/3: pp. 335–55. Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group.
Barron, L. (2010). ‘Camp Transitions: Genre Adaptation and the HI-NRG/Dance Cover Version’. in G. Plasketes (ed.) Play it Again: Cover Songs in Popular Music, pp. 213–20. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing.
Belle, G. (2024). ‘Jojo Siwa’s Messy Rebrand’, YouTube video, online at:
(accessed 14 May 2024)
Brasil, S. (2024). ‘Karma Is Not JoJo Siwa’s Girlfriend’, Exclaim!, online at <https://exclaim.ca/music/article/karma-is-not-jojo-siwas-girlfriend> (accessed 14 May 2024).
French, J. (2024). ‘Jojo Siwa’s Rebrand Gives me Secondhand Embarrassment’, YouTube video, online at:
(accessed 9 May 2024).
Keightley, K. (2001). ‘Reconsidering rock’. in S Frith, W Straw & J Street (eds.) The Cambridge companion to pop and rock, pp. 109–42. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kelly, T. (2024). ‘Jojo Siwa Opens Up About New Song ‘Karma,’ Drastic Rebrand, Miley Cyrus Inspiration & More’. Billboard, online at <https://www.billboard.com/video/jojo-siwa-billboard-news-interview/> (accessed 19 April 2024).
Kelly, T. (2024). ‘Jojo Siwa Teases Her Dramatic Shift From Child Star to Serious Artist | GLAAD Media Awards 2024’. Billboard, online at:
(accessed 2 May 2024).
Mayhew, E. (1999). ‘Women in Popular Music and the Construction of “Authenticity”’. Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies 4/1: pp. 63–81.
Michniewicz, K. S. & Edelman, L. L. (2021). ‘Underdog status yields support for musicians’. Musicae Scientiae 25/2: pp. 176–88: SAGE Publications.
Plasketes, G. (1992). ‘Like A Version: Cover Songs and the Tribute Trend in Popular Music’. Studies in Popular Culture 15/1: pp. 1–18. Popular Culture Association in the South.
Railton, D. & Watson, P. (2011). Music Video and the Politics of Representation. Edinburgh University Press.
Siwa, J. (2024). ‘JoJo Siwa Defends 'Karma' Song, Explains How It Became Hers’. TMZ, online at <https://www.tmz.com/2024/04/12/jojo-siwa-defends-karma-song-brit-smith-miley-cyrus/> (accessed 19 April 2024).
Siwa, J. (2024). ‘JoJo Siwa Walks Back Claim She Invented 'Gay Pop,' Gives Credit to Others’. TMZ, online at <https://www.tmz.com/2024/04/10/jojo-siwa-walks-back-gay-pop-claim-karma-music/> (accessed 14 May 2024).
Solis, G. (2010). ‘I Did It My Way: Rock and the Logic of Covers’. Popular Music and Society 33/3: pp. 297–318. Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –
Reddit threads:
<https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1bw2stl/jojo_siwa_karma/> (accessed 10 May 2024).
<https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1bw8ky2/jojo_siwa_karma_official_video/> (10 May 2024).
@teganandsara (response to ‘gay pop’):
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(accessed 14 May 2024).
@charlixcx (response to ‘gay pop’):
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(accessed 14 May 2024).
@britrosesmith (Brit Smith’s post about ‘Karma’s a Bitch’):
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(accessed 15 May 2024).
@nbcsnl (Chloe Fineman’s impression of JoJo Siwa):
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(accessed 15 May 2024).
@hsteven004 (viral clip of ‘Karma’s a Bitch’):
(accessed 15 May 2024).
@bornwithsynth (viral clip of ‘Karma’s a Bitch’):
(accessed 15 May 2024).