“Thou shall not lie, thou shall not cheat.”

Students reciting this line are not reciting a Shakespearean-era poem or lines of the Ten Commandments. Rather, the jeering voices of students are replicating a lyric from Jojo Siwa’s new single, “Karma.”

The internet personality and celebrity’s April 5 release of “Karma” saw a drastic rebrand for the singer. Dressed in bold black attire and dramatic eye makeup, she made a complete 180 from her past style of bright colors and sparkly accessories.

Siwa diverged from her 2015 breakout role on the reality show “Dance Moms” and launched a successful children’s entertainment career. Her venture in music started with her 2016 debut single “Boomerang,” and was followed by single and extended play releases. The release of “Karma” comes as Siwa’s first release after her 2019 extended play “Celebrate.” “Karma,” however, faced criticism due to its controversial origin.

The new song was produced by Rock Mafia, a production team including producer Antonina Armato and Tim James, both of whose names are listed in the track’s credits on Spotify. 

Before Siwa’s release of “Karma,” speculation on the song’s history created links with other singers, including Miley Cyrus. In a Twitter exchange with Rock Mafia in 2012, Cyrus sent a tweet to the producer duo telling them to “not forget about” her, to which the duo replied with the hashtag “#karmasab***h.” After uncovering this exchange, users found more history in relation to the song.

A demo recording and music video of singer Brit Smith’s rendition of “Karma,” entitled “Karma’s a B***h” was leaked online and garnered attention across several social media platforms. Nine days after Siwa’s release of  “Karma,” Smith posted her rendition of the song. Smith claimed to have recorded the song back in 2012 and later re-recorded it to release in 2024. It ranked No. 8 on the U.S. iTunes pop charts, while Siwa’s version only reached No. 89. 

Along with the origin’s criticisms, Siwa has faced heat from viewers centered around the “Karma” music video and posts from her personal social media accounts. The music video was choreographed by Richy Jackson, who has in the past collaborated with artists such as Lady Gaga. Negative comments were made about Jojo’s new movements in her controversial choreography on multiple social media platforms, including Instagram. 

“Unrelease this song,” Instagram user sleepyabby_1 said. 

“Thou should not release another music video,” Instagram user pay.pay333 said. 

In the midst of all the negative comments written towards Siwa, there are those who express their support for her and her music. 

“No one puts JOJO in the corner. Your spirit is pure, authentic, and beautiful,” Instagram user antoninaarmato said. 

Students, like online viewers of the song, find it to be a failure. 

“I personally have a different taste of style, and I’m not really into JoJo Siwa. I think it was creative but I wasn’t really feeling it,” Reva Mehrotra ‘26 said. “I think she’s trying to go through this change because I think she’s trying to market herself more in the industry. Maybe she’s still going through it. But I think she’s just in the middle of transitioning.”

No matter what direction Siwa’s unpredictable imaginability might take her, it’s clear this time, thou did not release a worthy song.