You're listening to Jo Just Sea Now with me Jojo Seua and iHeartRadio podcast.
Oh, welcome back to Jojo Say you on now. You know my friend actually yesterday was like, you know, you have different voices and I was.
Like, what do you mean?
And she was like, well, you have like your and I was like, oh wait, actually before you answer that, I know what you mean. And I was like, I have my like excited voice, my quiet voice, my scared voice, but then I also have my random British accent that comes out occasionally. And she was like, yes, that's what made me think of it as your random British accent that you do occasionally. I don't know why it comes out.
I think it's I think it's like when I'm nervous, but like right now, I'm not nervous at all, so I don't I don't know. I have not quite put my finger on what it is. No, do you know what I wonder if it is. I'm gonna start thinking about this and see if I consciously do it like this. But one of my best best best friends is English, and so when I think of like if I say something that like I hear her say, like when I
just said, put my finger on it. She has this funny saying which she's like, not not doing it, put my foot down, put my foot down, not doing it. Might that's how like, that's one of her saying. So when I say put it makes me think of Kuz. I don't know anyways, not the point point is welcome back to Joe, just do it now today. I am so excited to talk about this. I just had the best freaking week of my life. Actually the best and the hardest mentally physically, but it was so freaking rewarding.
I just got off done doing my first live performance as an adult, as an adult artist in Miami at Miami Beach Pride, and holy how was it amazing?
I mean it was.
It was beyond what I ever expected it to be. I don't really know, like going into it, I didn't have any expectation. I'm I'm about to so basically the only concept of Pride that I have in my head right is I did the weeho Pride Braide. I did it two years ago. It was awesome, such a fun day.
But I that's very different than like a performance right at like Pride, and then the only like concept of performance that I have is back in the day when Asia and when I had a TV show called Raising Asia, she performed at Long Beach Pride and so I remember seeing that, and so for me that was kind of my expectation of what it was gonna be, like a couple hundred people fun. I thought it was gonna be during the day. I thought it was just gonna be like a chill, little shindig.
Like mainly, I was like, I'm.
Also doing it for like the video to have on social media, Like there might not be a lot of people there, but then like, but I'll have the good video for social media. That was like my concept and thought of like how I was getting myself to do it on a big level.
Right.
Anyways, So I got the offer to do Miami Bride, I said yes, And when I got there, I got to the stage, I did soundcheck and it was empty doing soundcheck, and I was like, oh wow, this is actually like a really big area of land that this could be. But I was like still even then, like I bet like two thousand people are going to be here, and like out of those two thousand people that are gonna be here, like maybe fifteen hundred I'll watch the performance like that's like that was the goal that I
was achieving. I thought I was gonna be able to like see the end of people and like that would be that and it would be like mingly. But freakin' heck was I wrong. I was so wrong. I got on stage and it is just a sea of people, and I'm gonna go back and go talk about rehearsals and talk about the performance and backstage in Miami. But I got to start off this podcast by saying, to the fifty five thousand people that showed up.
One thank you. I love you.
You were the best freaking audience for my first performance. You were the best audience ever. But I that is triple the size of my biggest crowd in my past. That is I mean, it blew my mind. Not only wasn't my biggest crowd, but it was also my performance broke the record for Miami Pride attendance. The president of Miami Pride came up to me after. That's a tongue twister.
Miami Pride president. He came up to me after and he was just telling me, he was like, we have never had an energy like this in the audience, and he said, And you broke the record by a landslide, he said, And I was like, really, how many people were there when he told me? Fifty five thousand. When I tell you, I took a lap, I literally ran away came back sobbing.
I didn't know what to say, I didn't know how to feel. It was. It was the most.
Magical feeling, literally ever. And then I was talking to one of my dancers because she had lived in Miami for a while, and she was like, yeah, normally there's like thirty thousand people, Like I kind of expected there to be like twenty thirty. And I was like, no one felt like telling me this beforehand, Like I didn't know it was going to be that big, and then for it to be that big already and then to have my performance in me being there break the record that,
I mean, blew my mind. I'm so excited because now I get to do it again at Chicago Pride, and I get to do it again at Pittsburgh Pride. It is going to be so much freaking fun. Okay, let's go back, let's no reverse to rehearsals. So I started off doing Miami Pride rehearsals. We started we had. It was actually pretty chaotic because we didn't have that much
time to rehearse. It was actually really stressful. We were supposed to shoot a music video the day before rehearsals, but then I was like, you know what, put the music video on hold because I really just want to focus on my Pride and it would have been way too much. So thank god we did that. Anyways, though, we start Miami Pride rehearsals, we have five songs, well, we have balance, maybe choose your fighter Karma boomerang, and
then there was a fifth song in the set. We were supposed to do five songs, and at that point in time, we had five songs and five days of rehearsals, and so it was very tight, very crammed, and very stressful. Are we going to make this happen? And of course we were. I mean it was no sweat off of anybody, but it was like, we got to keep it pushing. We can't get lazy any day. The Miami rehearsals, I got to have some of the best moments and some
of the hardest moments of my life. I We're in rehearsals and we rehearsed at my studio, studio see what, and studio see what. For me, I've talked about this before, is kind of like my safe space if a therapist was a place to studio see what is my therapist. I true really love it out there. It really is a safe home for me. I mean I spend as
much time there as I do at my house. And so being in that space on this week where mentally I had been going through so much with things going on on the internet, things going on behind the scenes, things getting out that I didn't even know existed, Like what the fuck is happening? And my thing is is as long as I'm covered on the back end and I didn't do anything wrong.
I've realized that the world.
Is just kind of theorized on things, and the world is going to think things without even knowing them, and I've kind of had to accept that, and I kind of had to accept my fate. Also in this time is when the So You Think You Can Dance trailers started to come out, and so You're thinking his trailer was getting you know, a bit of a bit of heat because people didn't like A that I was a judge and B they didn't like the new format and at this point one two actually two of the top ten,
and are my dancers for this Miami Pride performance. And I'll talk about all my dancers in a second. But I was telling them. I said to them, I said look, because they felt bad that I was getting the heat. And I was like, look, here's the thing, like, I don't care if I'm getting the heat and if the format's getting the heat, because I know that I can handle it. Like I don't I don't mind being the punching bag for the show, Like as long as you
guys aren't getting the heat, like, let's freaking go. Then I realized something, and this is what really got me through rehearsals is and through last week, was look, if I am the world's punching bag for a second, that means that somebody is having more fun bullying and destroying me than they are somebody at school, than they are somebody else on social media. And the thing is, I know that I can take it. I know that I
will be fine. I'm gonna be upset at times, of course, but I know I have good people around me, and I know I'm gonna be okay, and I'm gonna get through it. But I don't know if anybody else could get the heat that I am getting right now and keep it pushing. And so I'm very grateful to a in a very strange, messed up way, just let me have it, because it's all I got right now. But I am almost grateful that I'm getting the heat because I know that somebody else isn't because I am, so
that's kind of made me feel better. There was a few days of rehearsal where I left the studio and had to take a couple of phone calls and came off those phone calls sobbing because I was like just why, like what what?
Why? This is enough?
Like let's like people need a can it basically and beat it. But I walked back into the studio and rich was like, Jojo nish, what.
Do you need?
And I was like, Richie's my choreographer, and I was like, Richie, play the song, let's do the set, and all my dancers like, let's go, let's do it, because that's that's what makes me happy, being in that room, running that show, performing, entertaining, and so I was like, let's just freaking go. I also when we're in those rehearsals. I mean, it is the best group of people at the studio. We have my videographer Cameron, who is so fun, so chill, with
my choreographer Richie Jackson. I mean, Richie is one of the most legendary choreographers out there, and he has created some of the most iconic dances, and he has done everything with me since Dariam Music video, so he's he's been in my bubble for a very long time. He was also a judge on my first show, Abbey's Ultimate Dance Competition. He's Lady Gaga's choreographer and creative director. He has worked with literally every artist. He's he's the best
guy ever. His assistant Ian Mackenzie, who is also freaking incredible, phenomenal. And then my dancers. We have Madison Alvarado.
Who is.
Insanely talented. We have Malia Murray who is also insanely talented. She has been with me since Dreamed the Tour twenty twenty two. She's I mean, both of those two girls are family to me.
And then my boys. We have CJ.
Jensen, who's actually done performances with me since I was fourteen. At the Kid's Choice Awards so he has been with me now for almost seven years, which is crazy. We have Braylan, he is Braylan and Madison actually are both the two dancers that are in the top ten of So You Think You Can Dance, and they are Braylan.
Braylan was our baby.
We always do a set baby on a set Grandpa who is our youngest, who's our oldest. And Braylan actually for this project was set baby and he freaking crushed it. And then there's a dancer. His name is Joseph. I'm gonna butcher his last name it's like something like sis s z E k U l A. I literally don't even know where to begin with that. Joseph did Karma with me. That was the first time I met him. He is freaking awesome. And then Diego, I'm also gonna butcher.
Diego's last name pass pass Pasila plus I gotta find it. I really gotta find it. P A S I L l A S. And he asked Diego that today. Diego is literally one of the best dancers in the freaking world. He he actually won the TV show World of Dance with him and his two friends. They were a trio and they won. So yeah, a freaking incredible group of people at the studio literally at all times. And then for like our last two days of rehearsal, my mom
was actually up there. She was doing wardrobe and costumes with Gabby, who is our assistant helper dancer, she's she does a lot of things. And then Kristin, who is actually one of the x MG pop kids, her mom. So yeah, Kristin was out there, Gabby was out there, my mom was out there.
It was a freaking party.
It was a lot of work and a lot of hours and a lot of training, but it was so much fun. Of you and if you know me, you know I can spend hours at that studio. But figuring out the set and the choreography was actually, I mean, it was no joke. These numbers are very fit, physical. I'm I'm singing and then dancing, and I'm partnering with I'm always partnering with Madison in the set, which is I mean, we have so much fun and.
We put on a freaking show.
We entertain We are not a singer, we are not a dancer, but we are an entertainer and we I'm saying we as in me, but we freaking entertained, and whether the audience likes it hates it, they are definitely entertained by it.
And that that's what I was put on this earth to do.
So I'm very grateful that I get to do that, and I'm grateful that it worked. The end of every rehearsal, we always say are high and are low? Oh my gosh, in the audio team. Wait, I forgot about the audio team. We had these three boys who are my audio team, and they are phenomenal, so fun I was when I was talking about highs and lows. Just now reminded me of them because they always had the best high and lows.
But honestly, towards the end of rehearsals, like the last two days, I actually stopped doing lows and I only had everybody say they're high because truthfully, the reason why is because my loaves were too low and I didn't want to bring them up, didn't want to talk about them, didn't want to bring them into the room, didn't want
to bring that energy into the room. But my loaves were very low, and I wanted to keep the vibes happy for everybody because at the end of the day, that room's energy revolves around my energy.
You know what I mean.
When I am the boss in this situation, I'm the one that is in charge of everybody. If I'm down, everyone's down. If I'm up, everyone's up. There was actually this funny moment in rehearsals where I was down.
We were choreographing Boomerang. I was just not in. I was not invested.
It was the day that I was lower than low, and all of a sudden, we take a break, we come back from break, and Richie was like, go from the top, We're changing this whole thing. Troops and then everyone like tapped in.
I tapped in. I told the dancers.
I was like, here we go, let's get it together like this, we're being embarrassing right now.
Let's find it. And we found it.
The new versee is what made it on stage and I am so happy because of the new version. Ah so freaking good. So it actually wasn't until it was Actually it was pretty early on. It was like day two of rehearsal because we had done Karma. No, I'm sorry, it was day three rehearsal because we had done Karma. Choose your Fighter and then Balance Baby and next in the set was supposed to be uh ah, do I want to tell you what it was? Now? I don't want to tell you what it was. There was supposed
to be another song. We ultimately decided that that song is too big of a power move in the future of my career that we didn't want to put it out there in just a quick performance. And it was very important to us to hold onto it and make that song a reveal at a time, because it is such same way that Karma was a head turner, this song is the next head turner, and so it was very important to us that we held onto that and
we didn't reveal it right away. And it was a tough decision because creatively, half of my team wanted it there, and then creatively half of my team didn't want it there. And so ultimately that then comes down to me to make the final decision. And I know I'm making half my team happy one way and half my team happy the other way. But I have to eliminate all of that, really figure out what makes sense, and then go with that.
Cause even even for me, you know, I actually I probably would have been more happy and more satisfied if I did do that song because I would have gotten to do another song, which I would have loved, but ultimately, in the scale and the scope of my career, it made sense to not perform that song, and so.
We're holding it, We're saving it.
I don't think I'll end up doing it at Pittsburgh Pride, but I think I'll for sure do it at Chicago Pride. So I'll see you in Chicago and you will know what I'm talking about.
But that song.
Also, we're planning music video for next week, which I am so excited. Oh my god, I ah, oh, I didn't I didn't think I would be more excited for a concept than I was for Karma. And truthfully, as soon as we came up with this next step in this next music video, I honestly was like, well, good luck, Karma, I hope you do good. And I kind of like a borded mission on Karma and just like chucked it out for the last week and really started focusing on
this second music video. So I'm really excited about that. Anyways, wrapping up rehearsals, we ended rehearsals, flew out, landed in Miami at six in the morning, went to sound check at nine in the morning, ordered some of many food, got back from sound check, started doing my makeup. For anyone that doesn't know, I do all my own hair and makeup. Not hair, that's a lie. I don't do that anymore. I have an incredible HAIRSTYLI his name is Corey, But I do all my own makeup.
Still.
There's a couple of reasons why I Number one, efficiency, I'm a really fast makeup artist. I can get that thing on and a couple couple honestly, like, depending on the look. If I'm doing the black Beast makeup look, now, I can get that on in literally forty five minutes. This makeup look, though, because it was white, it required a bit more time because it required drying and then reapplying and drying and reapplying and then drying and reapplying. Had to a couple layers because it was a white
beast makeup look. But we got it on took like two and a half hours for context. The Black Beast makeup on set took four and a half hours. And so I can get that on real quick, and I just enjoyed doing it. Gives me, It relaxes me, It gives me a creative outlet and then yeah, my two girl dancers, Malia and Madison, they both came over to my room. We had a warm up party, we got dressed, we chugged celsies, and then we headed over to Pride.
We were backstage and we were just having fun like it was all like fun and games, and then all of a sudden, the announcer was like, you guys ready for Joe Joe, so you are, and the scream that was led out by the audience, I had never heard anything like it before. Before we go out on stage, I have a couple of things that I do. So I grab pull aside all my dancers and only the dancers, because me and the dancers, and one day if I
have a band, I would include them. But basically just the people that are on this stage, and pull everybody aside, and we all hold hands, and I give a speech, a motivation and for some a prayer. The thing for me is not everybody in the world believes in what I believe in, and I don't believe in what everybody in the world believes. And everybody has their own beliefs. That's the right of the world.
And so we do.
I do a speech that is basically, I say, no matter what you believe in, no matter if it's a figure, a crystal, manifestation, a religious thing, whatever it is to you, let that help you get through this performance. Please give your energy to that. Please ask that to help you push, to help you be inspired, and to help the audience
have a good time. And then I say, I say for me specifically, because I never want to make it too to I don't ever want to push anything on anybody, and so I always just say, and for me specifically, big man upstairs, thank you for giving me this gift. Thank you for giving me this ability and this body and these friends and this family of people to be on this stage with, and this audience of people to go on this stage four And thank you, and do me a favor, keep us all safe, help us all
have fun. And uh. Then you know, we give a little we give a little sign out, and then I just give a speech to my answers, being like, look, here we go. I always say, you're gonna be tired, You're gonna be hot, you're gonna be sweaty, you're gonna be in pain, your legs are gonna hurt. At the end of the day, no one cares. No one in the audience cares. I don't care while we're on stage.
I care when we're off the stage. Absolutely. When we are off the stage, I will get I will get off the stage and get you all the water, get you all a massage, whatever you need. I will care about you after. But when we are on that stage, no one cares. We keep going and we push and we give an incredible show. So enjoy being tired, because after we will fix it. But let's go on stage
and let's give it everything we got. And the dancers it's always like a funny type of tone, and so the dancers always laughing and we're all.
Like yeah, true, true, true.
And it's a very good vibe because you got to remember, these dancers are also my closest friends, and so we some most of my closest friends. I have a lot of close friends that are not dancers, but this group of people specifically are very close to me. Then you know, I break that up and I go over by myself. And this is something that I've done ever since Dancing with the Stars. First week of Dancing with the Stars, my partner Jenna was like, let's go pray, and I
was like, pray, let's go, let's do it. And I, I mean, I didn't know what to expect. I guess is a good a good way to put it. But she said a prayer and I was like, wait, I love this. And so now every time before I go out on stage, I say the same thing that she used to say, and I give a true prayer. And then I used to have this mantra that we would say to each other. I would say, we're prepared. She would say, we're excited, and then I would say and we have each other, or we would say together and
we have each other. And so now I say I'm prepared, I'm excited, and I have myself and I do it every single time. And then I get up, I do the dance. Moms wanted the advices and we want to the devices. We went to the Besties and we want to divices. I went to the wantedsciused knock, knocked, backcrack, backcrack every single time. I'll never do a performance with live doing that. Then hop my happy ass on stage and give the show for life. So then we went
on stage. I got my costume on. We're feeling good. We are having so much fun on stage. The stage was so slippery. I told my dancers, I was like, look, if I could do anything about it, you guys know I would, but I couldn't. And so I was like, everybody, hope for the best, try not to die.
And I told my.
Dancers, I was like, look, I need you next. I was like, don't injure yourself. I was like, if you can only go so deep and you play go that deep, we're all gonna be fine. And then, of course, I mean I plan out what I'm going to say to the crowd in some sort of way. Of course, I add lib like no other UH would Literally I told my son guys like, the only thing I'll go rogue on is my talking that I do for thirty seconds
will be fourteen minutes. Get ready, which did happen. But I uh, I started to talk to the crowd, and one of the things that I planned to say it was like, let me here, you scream, Miami, let them scream. And then I was gonna be like, oh, come on, I've had six year old scream louder than that. Making like a joke to my past right, but honestly, like I still made the joke, but as they're screaming, I was like, damn, that is the loudest scream I've ever
heard of all life. But then I still made the joke, and then they screamed even louder. Uh.
It was crazy. The crowd was crazy.
There was this person that wore a T shirt that had me getting paparazzi outside the sex store on it, and then I pulled that shirt on stage and put it on Madison. And then there was somebody holding up Jojo, have you learned Nothing? Poster with Abby's face on it, but Abby wearing the Beast makeup. There was so many posters, Everyone's singing, Oh my god. The way people sang thou shalt not lie, thou shall not cheat, Thou shall not get caught, or you'll end up just like me. I mean,
I have never heard anything like that. I mean it was it was crazy. I actually messed up in the performance, which I'm still so mad at myself for I I fucked up the second chorus of Choose Your Fighter. No one would know, but I know, and I can guarantee I will never mess that up ever again. I will have my shit together on that course for the rest of my life. But yeah, you know, I always have my answers before we go out on stage. I'm like I know, in rehearsals, I am hard on everybody about
being perfect in that room. But now on this stage, it's not about that. On this stage, it's about trusting yourself. You're gonna mess up. I'm gonna to mess up. We don't know where we're gonna mess up, but it's gonna happen, and we're gonna recover from it and it's gonna be fine. I just want you, guys, go out on stage, enjoy the hard work that you put in, and be proud
of the hard work you put in. But now let that hard work do the work for you and you just enjoy it, have fun, let the audience feel your fire.
And that's something that I truly believe in.
Because look, at the end of the day, you get into that performance once, I will never get to do that first performance ever again, and so we have to truly cherish every moment on stage. And so I make sure that I really get that into my dancers heads before I go out, and make sure everyone's energy is good. And we get on that stage, we do our thing and we get off, and honestly, when we got off
the stage, all the dancers were like celebrating. That was awesome, and I just kind of was standing there and I was like, I don't know how to feel right now. I was like I was very numb, which I haven't really felt before. It was like kind of like did that just happen? And it was almost like it was almost like how I would feel on Special Forces of just being like I'm I'm not scared, I'm not sad, I'm not I'm happy, but I'm not like showing it.
But I like don't know what to do right now.
And then when the President came up to me and he told me about the fifty five thousand people, I mean I lost it. I was running, I was crying. Then I was celebrating and super happy. Everyone was so happy with the performance.
Richie was so happy.
My mom we call her a Rod. She I know if a Rod says it was good.
I know a Rod. She would never lie to.
Me, and she would tell me, she would tell me one hundred percent if it was not good. And so when I got the A Rod's stay up of approval and she said we were good, I was.
Like, we're in. We did it, baby, we freaking did it. Yeah.
That and we went out to dinner after Madison made us all a reservation at Komodo in Miami, which was so delicious. If you were ever in Miami, please take a trip to Kmoto.
It is so good. Then all my dancers were not to live after.
They wanted to go out and go out, and I was like, y'all go live your life. I will be sleeping because I have pressed the next morning, so I went back to hotel, did my press the next day, ended up back in la that night, and now we're freaking here. We are getting ready to do it all again in a couple of weeks with Pittsburgh Pride and
then in a couple of more weeks with Chicago Pride. Also, you know me, you know how much I love and ador g Flip, And I just found out that g Flip is doing Pittsburgh Pride two days after me and I was told my whole team. I was like, extend it. I was like, cause I will be staying so stoked about that. Don't know why that side note came up. Anyways, That's pretty much the tea on Miami. It was so amazing.
It was so fun. It definitely fueled my fire. I find myself now that I'm home, I'm like, let's go, let's train, let's dance, let's stretch, let's work out. Like I'm very much so inspired to be back to that workhorse mode, which.
I am so happy about. And I've been. I've been training like no other.
It's been so good and I am ready to keep it freaking pushing. Thank you all for listening. I hope you enjoyed. I feel like this was like a really fast paced talking podcast. I feel like I was like really really inspired, really stoked, and just like kept going on my rants. I feel like sometimes I like slow down to try to think of my thoughts, but I feel like today I was just like, really, we kept it, we kept it pushing. Yeah, anyways, I need to stop rambling.
I adore you all.
Thank you for listening, and uh, I'll see you next time on JO Now or I'll see you in Chicago or Pittsburgh at Pride. I love y'all, Jesus, thank you so much for listening.
Everybody.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Jojosua 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.