5 Things You Didn't Know About Karma

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 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 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 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 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 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, 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. 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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

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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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. 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. 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 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 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

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

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

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 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 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, 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 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 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 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? 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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, 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 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 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

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 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 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 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. 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, 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 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. 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.