Ep.317 – What is going on with JoJo Siwa???

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Musicians and other artists, break down joggers, deep dive into band biographies, and much, much more. This is the widow tale music speaks podcast with Blake Mosley, James Totts, and Amanda Dolan.

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Wooden words for Real Music Week's podcast, where we fight depression with the power of music. I am neither Tony Romo or scooter from the Muppets, but I am your professional handkerchief, James Cox.

Hey. And I am commonly referred to as the loudest guy in the room, but only when I'm playing the drums. I am your endless source of useless music knowledge. My name is Blake Mosley, aka Brosely, aka emo bmo.

And.

And then.

Hold on. Hold on. Oh, and you're a dance mom.

I guess today I'm a dance mom. Your brother.

No, no, no. You're bros. Lee Cyrus.

No, no, I'm not a dance mom. Never mind. Not a dance mom. What am I?

I thought we discussed your bros, Lee Cyrus.

Oh, yes. Brosly Cyrus. Sorry. I have to update that for my intro, which you can now purchase by.

Our picture of Rosalie Cyrus. And it's pretty. Pretty spectacular.

Pretty rad.

Yeah.

Go buy a shirt. Yep.

And then there's me, Amanda Dolan. I may not know the name of the song, the artist, or the album like the other guys here, but chances are I will sing along loudly, proudly, and poorly. Just ask my kids. They'll also tell you I'm not a regular mom. I'm also not a dance mom or stage mom or a momager or any of those. So, yeah, those are the moms. I'm not.

Yeah, it's all. It's all about the moms that you're not.

Mmm.

Because I'm. I mean. And, yeah, it is, actually. There's a whole lot of, like. Okay, like the mom that you don't want to be and the mom, you're not. In addition to the mom, you are. And how you show up for your kids. Like, it's true that it's all of it.

Hey, Blake, did you. Did you just. Did you just down some coffee? Like. Like, Jesus?

You bet I did. I just threw it back, and it just slid down my gullet, and I am good to go.

There you go, Rock.

If that reminded you of your college days, but something tells me that that wasn't you.

That wasn't me. No, I didn't. I didn't drink in my. My college days. To let it be known, I did not drink in my college days. Um, that. I was like, that was not, uh, something that I did at that time. I mean, I drink from time to time now, and it's like I'm, like, a one and done kind of guy. Um, like, uh, just because I casually. I casually do it, like, never wanted to get blitzed and, like, you know, forget the. Eat the whole evening or anything like that. But, no, I've been. I do guzzle coffee like that pretty frequently, though.

Well, especially when it gets to, like. I know with tea. For me, if it gets, like, my hot tea gets to a certain point.

Yeah.

Like, it's almost gonna. It's almost too cold. It's too. Still warm enough. Like, I'll chug it so that it's not that weird room temperature. So, yeah, I'm. Does this mean that, like, neither of you all have done a keg stand in your.

No. Heck, no. I would never do anything like that.

Oh, me either. Oh, yeah.

I mean, yeah.

Have you ever done.

Now, James, different story. He invented the keg stand.

I do the handstand first, and then I swig it.

You know, it's. Yeah. Cake stands are wild. College was a wild time.

Yeah.

This is the. This is one of those times where I'm so grateful that there is not. There was not a lot of digital media at that point in the world in my life through that, honestly, I'm.

Glad you said that, too, because that reminds me of something we're going to talk about a little bit later. When it talks about when we talk about, like, our adolescence and, like, you know, social media and smartphones and, like, things maybe we did whenever we were young and stupid. Right? And then, like, thank God it wasn't as publicly advertised as it is with some people who are celebrities. You know, even that ties in very well. I'm glad you said that.

Yeah. And I think that's the thing, is, like, I know for my age, James as well. Like, you know, I didn't have my first email address until I was, you know, just out of high school. Or maybe I think it was my, like, the summer between my freshman or my senior year of high school and freshman year of college. Yeah. So. And I still have that email. It's a hotmail account. I'm not sure. I don't think you can get hotmail accounts anymore. I don't know.

I don't think so. But I hear about people who have hotmail accounts now, and I'm like, yeah, man, what are you talking about?

And, but, like, here's the reason I still have the Hotmail account is because that was, like, my, I mean, it wasn't just my first email, right. But it was also the email that everyone has. Like, I know that somebody that I know in college might still have that email as a way to get in touch with me. And so I don't want to get rid of it now. I don't really use that, like, to send to things. It's kind of my junkie email. Right? It's the one that, like, if I sign up for a newsletter or, you know, I want that 15% off. It goes there.

That's where you send all the spam.

Yeah, but, like, I also don't want to get rid of it because, like, what if.

Yeah.

Somebody wants to get in touch with me. And I'm also saying that as somebody that has quite literally had the same phone number for 20 years, I get it.

Two numbers. I think when I got, when I first got my cell phone, I have had two numbers, so I don't know.

And, well, I got a question.

No, I. I've only had two phone numbers my whole life, too. Just, just two. So I kept it very, very simple. But I've got a question for you guys, because we're talking about, you know, our younger days and the celebration of, of, you know, whatever and how we choose to celebrate these things. And there was a certain holiday that happened on Saturday of which a lot of people seem to enjoy and take part in, and that would be record store day. So how did you guys enjoy your record store day? And how did you, how did you spend that record store day? Because that's the only holiday that happened on April 20.

That is the only on, yeah, 420. That is, you know, okay, I'm, this is totally, I'm taking a far left turn here for a second.

Okay.

Until recently, I did not realize that. I believe that is also Hitler's birthday, which is just interesting. Like, random fact.

Is it really?

I'm gonna double check, but I am. Like, I'm gonna look it up.

I'm looking up. It was okay. Oh, my God. Well, happy not birthday to Hitler is what I saw.

I know. Yes. But I just. It was one of those, like, weird, random facts that, you know, popped up and I was like, isn't that interesting? You know, for national record day here, it was pouring rain all day. It was one of those, like, you don't want to get out of bed. Like, we just didn't do anything at all. And, you know, I've shared with the guys, like, it's been a really rough, like, week and a half for me just personally, and so I needed that. Like, just. Just by myself with my kids, you know, taking care of my soul. So, yeah, I didn't get out, but there was. There's a used bookstore, but they also sell records. And there was a whole line out the door, apparently, like, on, like, people were camping out. So it's pouring rain and there's, like, 50 people camped out to get in and buy records, which is kind of cool.

Yeah, it's. It's interesting to see, like, the. Especially this day and age where you don't buy a record just because, like. And that. And that is your first experience, like, watching, you know, or listening to it for the first time. Like, it used to be, like, the excitement of, like, oh, I gotta go get this album. It's from my. My favorite band, and I haven't listened to it. I hope it's good. You know, now we can just pull it up on Spotify and we'll listen to it or whatever. And that's exactly what we did. Because, you know, miss. Miss Taylor Swift absolutely graced us with another banger of an album, um, entitled, uh, the, uh, tortured poets department. And I love it. We listened to it, like, all day Friday while we were working. Um, and then, like, you know, record store day was Saturday. So the idea was like, hey, let's listen to the album Friday. Let's. Let's get our initial thoughts on it. If we really like it, we'll go buy the vinyl. And then boom, she drops a surprise, like, extended edition of it. Like, another, like, double album with, like, 15 extra songs now, that was not available on vinyl. Like, they sold for, like, variants, with each one of them having, like, just one bonus track on each of the things. So we chose the record with our favorite bonus track, which was the black dog. I really like that one. It's really good. Yeah. So I've thoroughly enjoyed the new album. I was going to ask you, Amanda, I know you're a swiftie. I don't know if you listened to the new one yet.

Okay. So I did not stay up late Thursday night to hear it at midnight because I'm old now. I did, like, at the gym, while I was on the treadmill, I was listening and also reading the lyrics at the same time. Because the lyrics are always fire.

Gut wrenching. Exactly.

Yeah. Yes. And I was kind of blown away. And let me be. I'm going to be real honest, to begin with, I was like, God, these sound the same.

Sure.

And I know that that was like, to be fair, it was 630 in the morning and I was on the treadmill. And it's. But I did listen to it. And then, like, the more I've listened to it, the more I'm like, oh, I really like that one. Oh, that's a good one.

And that's exactly how I felt. Yeah.

It just. At the beginning, I was like. I wasn't unimpressed. I just wasn't like. I was like, I feel like I've heard this from her.

Sure. You're. It's like you're waiting on it to, like, take effect. Like, you're waiting for it to, like, almost make sense to you. And I feel like that's any album. Like, our first impressions of an album because we already have it in our heads. Like, this is how I want it to sound. So when it doesn't sound like that, we're kind of like, okay, I'm gonna have to listen to it a few times. I even did that with the new Blink 182 album. And there's. That's my favorite band. You guys know how I feel about that band. But upon, like, relistening to it, I was like, dude, good Lord. This. This whole thing is great from. From front to back. It is so good. And that is exactly how I felt about Taylor Swift's new album. Listening to it again all weekend. It has just been really good, like, on here, too.

I'm looking at the.

I have not listened to her album.

Oh, you should listen to it, man. It is. It is great. And, you know, like, there's been some people, they're like, I don't know. This isn't my favorite one. But then, like, if you think back to, like, folklore, remember how much of a. I didn't like that? Exactly.

A lot of people.

A lot of people are like, no. Yeah, they're. You're listening to folklore and evermore and they're like, I don't know how I feel about that. And then here we are four years later, and now it's like, everyone's top three, because you find it's like it finally makes sense to you, right? And then you see it in a new light, and you start, like, you read the lyrics differently, you listen to it differently. You can hear the emotion, like, in her voice for some of the songs, too. And you're just like, this is really good. This is really depressing, but it's really good.

Yeah, I remember, like, what? So the who's afraid of little old me? I was in the car with my daughter, and that song came on. It was the first time I'd really heard the lyrics, and I was like, who's afraid of little old you? Me. You just did a freaking world tour. You're dating, like, this football player, and you just recorded a double album. Like, I'm afraid of you.

I'm sorry.

Have you met, like. But not maybe in the way that she intended, but no, I'm a little bit terrified of her because she's. She's like, she's talented. Like, whether or not you like her music, I don't feel like many people, many sane people, anyway, can be like, she doesn't have talent, and she's not a hard worker.

Here's what I'm going to. Here's what I'm going to say. Because the common. The common theme that I hear about, like, people. It's hard to find people who are casual Taylor Swift listeners, right? You're either all in and you consider yourself, like, a swifty, or you're like, you won't give her the chance, and you just automatically hate her because the rest of the world loves her. So I feel like a lot of people. Like, a lot of neckbeards. I think a lot of gatekeepers are very anti Taylor Swift just because she's popular. But if you take the time to get to learn what her songwriting style is, you realize pretty quickly, is she the best singer in the world? No, not even close. She doesn't claim to be either, but she is one of the best songwriters I have ever, ever, ever heard of.

And she's an incredible performer.

Yes.

Right? Like, yes, absolutely. And here's the thing is, like, I don't know out there, like, if any of y'all have tried to sing and dance and do that for 3 hours straight with some costume changes thrown in, like, do you know the level of fitness and, like, stamina that that woman must have?

Exactly. Right.

Like, the training that you go through with that. I mean, it's just so. Yeah, it's hard for me to. I'm afraid of her. Yeah, like that. Like I said, who's afraid of little me? Like, I am. I'm afraid of her.

And you bring that up about her, like, performing and stuff. And, like, you know how she trained for that. She ran on a treadmill for 3 hours while singing her songs.

So it's interesting because there was a video that I saw of something that we're going to discuss soon.

Yes, I saw the same video. I'm so glad we're on the same page with this. This whole thing, because James doesn't know much, and we are about to rock his world, because today we are talking. Yeah, go ahead. Sorry.

And sidebar. Okay, so you sidebar. You all like justin and timberlake, right?

Oh, yeah. I like justin timberlake.

I'm agreeing with.

I mean, I. He's fine, blake.

Yeah, he's all right.

There's, uh, all you like. Just because he's coming to Columbia for, like, interesting. Beyond that, have. Have you all listened to his new. Seen his new video? When I heard his new song, no, I have not. Wonder where think it's called no angels.

Okay.

I think it's total crap.

Total crap. You heard it here first.

I'm doing. I've had other words to facilitate in there. I figured this was a family show, you know, and. Yeah.

Well, let's. Let's save it with this.

Do you.

How do you feel? You like Post Malone, right?

I do.

Okay.

I do.

The first single from the new Taylor Swift album is called fortnight. Not spelled like the video game spelled the actual proper way to spell fortnight. Spoiler, you know, spoiler alert. It's not just a video game, but it is featuring post Malone, and it is very good. He is also in the video, and there's a part where, like, her, like, she has the same face tattoos that he does. It's really funny, but, like. Yeah, it's a really cool music video. It's very well done. Ethan Hawk is in it. That's cool. I love Ethan Hawk. He's. He's the man.

The actor.

The actor. Yeah. He is in the music video.

So check that out. Yeah, yeah. I just love.

Do a reaction video. Do a reaction video for our YouTube to. To the new Taylor Swift song.

So you said you have never met a casual Taylor and guy, right?

No, I haven't. It's either all in or you hate her.

I'm your casual dude because proven me knocking down barriers.

Here we go.

I don't. I don't like her, but I don't not. Not like her. You know, one thing, she's kind of like. Like in between. She has good songs, she a bad song. I don't.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, like, sure. Style from 1989 with miss, my favorite. But that's just one song out of her class.

Yeah.

Kellogg. So I'm your catalog fan, so you can't see one. Cuz I'm.

It proved me wrong, but prove me.

Okay, so. So what is the deal with Jojo Siwa here? Cuz we're gonna talk about that today. And Amanda and Blake are gushing over this. I'm like, what's the big deal? I have no idea, but I do. Simmons. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, but see, that's. That's the furthest I know of judge. I mean, I've heard of her, but not, you know, not like y'all.

It's. So I don't know how we're gonna figure out, like, how to. How to get this going because, you know, she's got to start early on.

Right.

She has some major conference way back in the day, you know, but then again, I really don't know. So please fill me in.

See, I would argue that some of her controversies were not really hers. They were like, the shows that she was on, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, correct. Because she got her start as a dancer. Really? Yeah. Not a musician. I've heard her say several times that she's a performer. Like, she's not a singer, she's not a dancer.

She's a one way.

She was a big youtuber at one time. Right. Okay.

Yeah, there's. There's been some YouTube stuff, I think, like, as far as, like, my first. The first time I remember hearing the name Jojo Siwa, I was at a birthday party for a friend's daughter who was. That was the theme of the birthday party was Jojo Siwa. So this was probably like 2018, 2019, something like that.

Neon, kind of like big bows.

Right, exactly. Boomerang was the big. The big song. I'm a comeback. Like a boomerang. That was. They put. Because they played it over and over and over again. I remember just sitting there, like, with my little red solo cup and my, like, very thin slice of little Caesar's pizza at this birthday party for this child that I don't really know who it was. I was just there.

Little.

And, um, I am less. Yeah, little Caesars. There you go. And I just remembered a song like. Yeah, I don't know what you say. I'm a comeback like a boomerang. And so I just kept saying that for, like, the rest of day, and I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna come back. Like a boomerang. And I made a big joke about it, and then, like. But the whole birthday party was, like, rainbows, neon colors. They had a little stage set up for, like, all the little girls to, like, dance, and they had a dance party, and they were singing the songs and microphones and everything, so. But I was like, I have no idea who this person is. I'm sorry. I'm completely out of the loop. My niece was, like, past the point of being into Jojo siwa, but my goddaughter was very into Jojo Siwa, and I just didn't realize it until that birthday party, and I was like, oh, okay, I get it now.

So, yeah, I guess, like, my daughter was a little bit into her, but mostly, like, just, like, the big bows and.

Right. The bows were a big thing. Yeah.

But, um, like, I remember her more from, like, the dance moms, you know, like, and the drama, the. Yeah, like, the cattiness. That was that. And that was.

Yeah.

You know, that show was not really designed for kids. I'm sure kids watched it, but that was a. You know, that was for grownups, and it's. I have opinions about that. I never. I've watched a few episodes. It was not like my. It's not my jam.

Sure.

But, like, I have opinions about, like, when you do that to your child, and I did. Said do that. Like, it is. I have. I have lots of opinions. Thoughts, opinions. Feelings about. What's the word I want to use here?

Momagers.

Oh, I was gonna say exploiting your.

Child, but, yeah, exploiting your child 100%. That's exactly what was going on. Uh huh. Yep.

And. Yeah, and that being said, like, I do, you know, child stars are a thing, right? Child actors, all of that. Yes. And I'm here for that if that is what your child wants to do. And Jojo, maybe, you know, like she said, she says she's a performer, and so she may have been all in for this.

Right.

But I just. I don't know. Child stars give me the ick sometimes, and for whatever reason, like this.

Sure.

This latest transformation with Jojo has given me a weird vibe.

Yeah. It's kind of hard to watch. And we'll get into it, and we'll kind of see why. And we're going to fill James in because he's completely out of the loop about what's going on with Jojo Siwa, and, like, he doesn't know about, like, any of the tick tocks, which is where I've gotten a lot of my information from, because it is. It's a very hot topic on tick tock right now. It's kind of like. It's so funny. Me and Ally were talking other day about, like, TikTok trends, and, like. Like, since I have joined tick tock and since Allie got on tick tock, we'll find all these videos, and our algorithm. Our algorithms are, like, pretty much the same. We. Because we find the same things funny. We like the same lot of same music, stuff like that. So, you know, it kind of came up. It's like, have you seen, like, all this Jojo Siwa stuff? Like, her, like, new song and her reinventing herself is, like, this bad girl image. I was like, yeah, I've been seeing some stuff. I don't really know what's going on to it. And then you go down a rabbit hole, and then we just, like. It's all we talk about. We did the same thing with, like, the. The submarine last year that, like, imploded, and, like, all the memes that came from out of a terrible situation. Absolutely gut wrenching, awful. The death of five people who went to the depths of the ocean to see the Titanic, and they all died. But there was many a meme that came from it, and, like, so many TikToks, and we were just like, now we're here with Jojo Siwa, and there's some parts of it that are really funny, and then there's some parts where you stand back and you're like, this is just really sad. At the end of the day, a lot of this is just really, really sad.

So, yeah, so let's.

I don't know.

Let's get into it a little more.

Let's dive into it. Let's. Let's fill James in. Um, all right, James, you ready? Ready, ready. Freddie, I got some videos for you to play, too. Um, and he's got queued up, so we're going to do some comparisons a little bit later to kind of get you guys an idea, um, if you're also kind of out of the loop on who this Jojo Siwa character is. Um, but, yeah, let's. Let's get into it. So, Joel, Joanie. Jojo Siwa. Siwa is her actual last name. So I say, james. Our actual last name, Siwa, was born May 19, 2003. American singer, dancer, actress, and Internet personality. From 2015 to 2016, she appeared as a dancer on two seasons of the reality television show Dance Moms alongside her mother, Jesselyn Siwa. In 2017, see what signed to Nickelodeon. Oh, boy. We're gonna talk about some Nickelodeon stuff later, too. And if you guys have seen, like, the quiet on set documentaries, a lot of. A lot of troublesome things happening with Nickelodeon.

I've heard of it, but. But I'm aware of what.

Yeah, yeah, it's a lot. So, anyway, yeah. Science and Nickelodeon acted in various shows and films under Nickelodeon. She released several children's songs and her own film, the J Team. Her music video to her song about bullying, boomerang, that was my song. Song has been viewed nearly 1 billion times. She was included in times annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020. And oh, my, how times have changed even since then. It's. It's. Anyway, in 2024, she launched her adult music career with the single karma and its music video, which kind of brings us to a lot of stuff that we're going to talk about today and kind of like, where we're going to try to pin down, like, maybe what's going on with Jojo Siwa? Because that is ultimately, everybody's question is, like, just what is happening with Jojo Siwa? Because it's like she's gone off the deep end and we're gonna. We're gonna try to die that down, but, yes, so, yeah, she's, she's. She was a child star and got really popular on a tv show. Very popular with, like, like the young, like a. Like, the young girl demographic was her. Her thing, right? Like big bows. She sold the crap out of some bows. Every little girl you saw within a, you know, five mile radius had a giant bow on top of their head.

Lots of, like, neon colors and. Right, and.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot of color. A lot of color.

Yes, a lot of color.

You had a lot of color.

And now.

Yeah, a lot of color. Very, very colorful. Okay, so now let's dive into her career a little bit. So see why started her career as a top five finalist and the youngest contestant on the second season of Abby's ultimate dance competition. Produced by Abby Lee Miller of dance Moms fame, she appeared on the show with her mother, was eliminated in week nine. See why soon began to appear on Dance Moms, beginning with auditioning for Miller's ALDC dance competition team in 2014, being selected for the team in early 2015. In May of 2016, see while released her songs Boomerang and I can make you dance Boomerang addresses the subject of online bullying, so that's good. Its video has been viewed more than 950 million times and received over 5 million likes. In 2018, Seawall was named the breakout Artist of the year by vivid seats. And again, reading all these, like, accomplishments that she's had where she's winning, like, awards and things like that, and being named all these different things, like, she's winning most influential person, whatever, and advocacy for bullying and things like that, it is like, it's great. And you're like, okay, cool. Like, especially back then, it was like, oh, I mean, all right, cool. Like, hopefully she doesn't fall down the same. Into the same trend that, like, a lot of young child stars, especially ones who, like, grow up with, like, a squeaky clean, like, made for children type of image, and then they hit, like, a certain point in their life where they're like, I want to break away from that, and I'm just going to show the world how bad I am. And then what happened? But exactly that. And it's not always done poorly. There's some people who actually very successfully can pull that off where they make the switch. I think. I think Miley Cyrus did it okay. Olivia Rodrigo did a great job at that. It wasn't. It wasn't like, I don't know, it just didn't catch everybody off guard. Taylor Swift did a great job with that. I think with the reputation album, she really, like, solidified that, and she was like, I can do it. I can do it well. Britney Spears, I think, did it well. Miley Cyrus even did it well. Even. There was a little bit of a period there where people like, all right, what's. What's happening with Miley Cyrus? But ultimately, I think she. She made that switch from, like, Disney Channel, pop sensation made for young girls, and then was like, you know what? I'm actually, like, a very talented musician. I'm a very talented vocalist songwriter, and I'm going to prove myself in my adult years and show you that I am more than just Hannah Montana. But Jojo Siwa is struggling.

Yes. And I have thoughts and feelings about all of that.

Okay.

But, I mean, well, I just think that I don't know how to. Sometimes I think, like, Olivia Rodrigo, I'm gonna use her as an example.

Yeah.

Her switch for me, like, in my experience, was pretty seamless.

Yeah.

Like, she left that child stuff behind, and then she released this album.

Right.

And that, you know, I was not sure what I was expecting from that but it came out and I was like, this is authentic. Like, I felt like it was her. You watched her sing, you watched her, you know, the videos, and it was, it didn't feel like she was a whole different person.

Yeah.

And I would argue the same for even, like, for Miley Cyrus. Like, I mean, yeah, Hannah Montana, right? Two people, right? She was Miley and Hannah and all that. But when she, like, left that character, if you will, behind, like, it still felt. Yeah, like there was a, there were a few, like, bumps along the road, but it still felt like her.

Sure.

This. I don't know if it feels like, like, it feels. It feels like one. Was one side of Jojo. Jojo was, was completely inauthentic.

Yeah.

That is how it feels to me.

That's the best way to describe it. Exactly. It's, it's almost like we talk about plants a lot. Like, with, like, industry plants or whatever. Um, and Jojo Siwa very well could be an industry plant. Um, like made for, again, like Nickelodeon child star, made for children. Made to entertain children. Your demographic is young girls. That is what your whole, that's what your music is dedicated towards. Uh, your, um, product line, every, every type of toy that you have your face on, it's all for young girls. Right. But I mean, eventually you're going to grow up and then you don't. You are not the, the main focus of those young girls and you are trying to reinvent yourself as this adult artist. But it's almost like, it was, like, so extreme. I mean, look at how extreme Jojo Siwa was as a child star. The brightest colors, the, like, ponytail, the ponytail, the bows, the eccentric dancing, the. Every. Everything you can say about her during that time was, like, cranked up to, like, a thousand percent. Right? And then out of nowhere, it's like, I'm a bad girl now. But it, like, didn't work because you're like, hold up. You were literally, like, just a few years ago talking about how you're going to come back, like a boomerang. Is this, is this what your idea of a boomerang is? Because it ain't working. I'm sorry. Just not. It just didn't land for whatever, whatever reason. And I think that's a good way to put it. It just doesn't feel authentic. It's all. It feels like it was almost constructed.

Yes. And it, and I. Maybe it was, you know, like, maybe it's so big and, like, it feels that inauthentic because, like, it was intentionally that way because now here we are talking about her, and so everyone else is talking about her, and so she's getting all of that publicity. Yeah, the word I'll use.

Yeah, that's one way to put it.

A nicer one, right? Nicer word. Yeah, nicer word.

I'm trying to be.

Trying to keep it pg. So she was included on Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in September of 2020 and on Fast Company's queer 50 list in 2021, which I, for some reason, don't have more. We'll talk about it more. But, yeah. So around this time, too, she also came out, and January of 2021, she.

Was 17, almost 18.

Right. And then comes out and then like that. I remember that was a big deal, too, because a lot of people were like, oh, my God, this child star, you know, whatever. And that's. That's a whole nother like thing that people can. Can do. That was. That wasn't that big of a deal to me. I was kind of like, okay. Like, sure, yeah, makes sense for me.

I was like, awesome. Like, I'm excited that she, like, shared who she is.

Right.

And that, you know, people can see what it means to be not straight wherever she lands on that.

Yeah.

But.

Well, let's. Let's jump around a little bit then, because I. I'm going to. I'm going to jump down a little bit and kind of talk about that a little more. Then we'll go back to kind of, like, more present day stuff. So, see, while was in a relationship. Tick tock, star Mark Bontempo, which I'm not sure who that is. From August to November of 2020, see, why came out as being part of the LGBTQ community on social media in January 2021. As Amanda said, when a fan then asked her what her label was, see, why added that she does not label her sexuality. I think that's just a cop out whenever you, like. Don't know how to respond to someone's answer. Well, I don't put labels on things. Anyway. Anyway, as she, quote, doesn't really know this answer. There you go. You could have just said, I don't. I don't really know. Right? Yeah, like, you don't know.

Let's.

You have no idea.

17.

Right. Exactly. Anyway, she later stated, quote, technically, I would say that I am pansexual because that's how I have always been my whole life is just like, my human is my human. Very common phrase with a lot of pansexuals is I'm just attracted to this human, whether they be male, female, whatever. There's no that being the pansexual way. So in the same interview, Siwa mentioned that she also uses the terms gay and queer. She has since confirmed that she is not attracted to men. So then that would kind of rule out the pansexual thing.

Right.

Um, and, uh, anyway. And please, like.

And that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, uh, about all that, but, like, that's what it sounds like to me, so.

And would that rule out bisexual, too? Because, I mean.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it would. I mean, because if she says, and that's a whole other story, that's a hold.

Right. Exactly.

Okay. All right.

But it's just. It's important to talk about that because it kind of adds to, like, you kind of have to. Like, we're trying to make sense of how Jojo Siwa thinks, and I think a lot of what she does is, again, I think she may be a plant. And, like, during this time, too, it was also very. It was also very popular for a lot of celebrities to come out with in. In different ways. And so I think that may have just been a trend. Like, I'm a hop on the trend of, like, coming out the closet. I'm gonna tell people I'm this, this, and this.

Okay.

But then, like, people actually in the community are reaching out to you and, like, okay, well, what about this? And she's like, uh, I don't know.

Again, she was 17. Like, I am just gonna, like, I'm gonna keep, like, 17.

Yeah.

Stress the point. Yeah. She is young. Yeah.

I think that that's important to note that, like, all of this is happening, and she is still not even legally allowed to vote.

She is a child. She's still a child.

She is a child. I mean, I think she's still a child.

Yeah.

She's not even 21 yet. She'll be 21.

Exactly.

But, yeah, she's a child during all of this.

Exactly.

Right. And coming out at the age of 17, no matter who you are, whether you are a, you know, household name or you are just, you know, just whatever, not. There's no just anything like. But if you're, you know, the kid that lives down the street or is in that, you know, coming out at 17 is a lot like that, surely you don't know what kind of backlash you're gonna get from different people.

Right?

People have their opinions. I have my opinions.

Yeah.

You know, it's. And it takes a lot to, like, it's brave to do that.

Sure. Yep.

And she got some. Some blowback from it from all different sides.

It was from a lot of different sides. It almost feels like. Like her coming out. Not only did it, like, kind of, like, displease a lot of parents who maybe, like, didn't, like, have the same morals or didn't believe the same things and kind of like, oh, my God, like, you know, this child star, this idol for my. My young daughter now coming out of the closet, like, what do I do as a parent? You know, it's like, well, you know, you don't really have to do anything. You just let your kid enjoy her music, if she still enjoys her music.

So.

So what? Um. And then. And then she was also getting blowback, like, from the LG LGBTQ plus community because they're kind of like, I don't. I don't think you. I don't think you know what you're talking about. So it was just. It was kind of, like, from. From different angles. And again, let that play into, like, everything that's currently going on with her. Like, and. And again, like Amanda said, she's 17 years young whenever all this is going on, but anyway, so on April 4 of 2022, she was announced as a judge for the 17th season of so you think you can dance along with Matthew Morrison and Stephen Witch boss. On January 26, 2024, she was announced to be returning as a judge for the 18th season, replacing Nigel life. And my notes.

Let's go.

Let's go. There we go. Let's go. That guy. I know him. Hey, I know him. Who had earlier announced his withdrawal from the upcoming season. Okay, you ready, James?

Sure.

This is where it's going to get real fun.

Gets wild here.

This is where it gets wild.

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Okay, we're back. Sorry. We had a little bit of an emergency. I had. Excuse me. I had a little bit of an emergency last week, and I had to, like, storm out of here in the middle of recording this very enticing and entertaining episode on Jojo Siwa that we have started. So we're going to finish it now. So. But here's the thing, y'all. We jumped around in our notes a little bit because that was my fault again.

And I don't think that might have been my fault.

No, it's my fault because I was like, oh, let's go ahead and talk about this while we got it here. But. So that is my fault.

I will.

I will take that. So we jumped around in the notes a little bit. So if you hear us repeat something, just bear with us. Please don't.

Because we said it twice.

Yeah, because we said it twice and you had to hear it. We don't go to Apple. To apple itunes and podcasts and leave us negative reviews and all the things.

No, don't do that, though.

Hunt you down.

Go to apple tunes and do it. Because there's no surprise. Yeah, Apple tunes works.

Apple tunes. Go to Apple tunes and give us a rating, you jerks. All right, so we're back. We're going to finish up our. Our episode on. On Jojo Siwa here. And right before I had to leave in such a hurry, we were about to get to, like, the most recent updates that we have with Jojo Siwa, and that includes the release of her new single. But of course, it wasn't just as easy as her putting out a new single. There was a lot of drama that followed that. So here we go. As of recently as this month, on April 5 of 2024, she released her official debut single as an adult artist, Karma, which received mostly negative reviews. Sorry, it did get mostly negative reviews. In an interview at the I Heart Radio Awards, she claimed that she had been waiting to rebrand for a few years and wanted to achieve that what Miley Cyrus did with her bangers era. The issue, mind y'all, is that I'm gonna. We're gonna jump around a little bit again in February. No, no, no. Never mind. I'm jumping around way too much. Okay, so basically, the big controversy is people found out pretty quickly that this new song, karma, was not actually a song that she wrote. Now keep folks like, let's. All right, let's take this with a grain of salt. A lot of the popular music that you know and love was not written by the person that is performing it. That in fact, nine times out of ten they didn't write it. They have a group of people who actually get together, come up with these songs. You know, basically, like someone will write a song and it's like thrown into a pot for a million different artists to kind of pick and choose from. Right.

Yeah, they kind of shop it around, try to find the right person.

Exactly. And that's what happened here. But it happened like, twelve years ago. That's the thing. Um, so, yes. So originally this song was written and was pitched to Miley Cyrus, which would have been right around the time that Miley Cyrus was having her big, like, transition from being a teen pop star to an adult pop star.

Was it during her Bangers era?

I think so. When the Bangers come out, let's look. Let's take a look here. So Miley Cyrus Bangers fourth studio album released September 30, 2013. So this is around that time.

Okay.

And Bangers is the one with, like, wrecking ball, right?

Yes, yes.

Well, wrecking ball. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Great song, by the way. I like this. Yeah, I do, too. Yeah. Great song. It was. And she did, and like we kind of mentioned before, she did it well, like, she did the whole, like, I'm not a teenager anymore. I'm not this little girl. Quit viewing me as Hannah Montana. I am an, I am a adult and here is my life and career as an adult artist, like it or not. So the song was pitched to her. Miley Cyrus passed on it, you know, not a big fan. So what happens is it ends up going to an artist by the name of Britt Smith, who. Who then actually released it. Like, actually went through, recorded it, made a music video for and everything, and released the song. But it wasn't a hit. Like, it wasn't like no one, no one really remembers it, right until Jojo Siwa comes out hers. And they're like, wait a second, hold up. She's talking about this new song. She's reinventing herself. She's making it sound like she wrote, she wrote the song, all these things. And that's what I don't understand about where Jojo Siwa is coming from. It's like, we live in a day and age where you can figure stuff out on the Internet pretty darn quick, right? Exactly. Like, Amanda can find stuff on the Internet. Super quick. My wife can do the same thing. Allie is really, she's a good, like, Facebook sleuth. She can find out everything you need to know about somebody within, like, ten minutes of you, of you giving them, giving her their name. It's amazing. Just the Internet do just like what?

Just the name. That's all you need to give her.

Just the name. Just give her the name. And she's like, I'll find it. Everything I can.

It does help if you know where they were born or that they lived in or they went to or their parents name, sibling name. Like, if you get one additional bit of information, that's all she needs. Right.

It's even better. Exactly. So the Internet figured out pretty quick, Britt Smith is one that actually, like, released this song. And again, she didn't write it. No, it was written for Miley Cyrus. That was, that was who was in, in mind to sing it. Whenever this song was written by whoever, doesn't matter. But Britt Smith actually, like, took the song, she released the song, got a music video. Go along to it. Go along with it. And James, you've got those pulled up. So I think it's like around the minute mark, let's listen to Jojo Siwaz version, and then let's compare it to the Brit Smith version and let's just hear how similar they are.

Okay. Here.

And honestly, yes. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

Okay. So here is. Yeah, this is a Britt Smith version. So here we go.

Okay. Let's take a look.

It was a matter of time before I blew it.

Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Timber league. Timberland. Yeah.

Let it. Let go a little bit. Let's get to the chorus. Let's take a listen. Big promotional for the beats by Dre. Right. That was a big thing, like ten years ago. Yeah, I like it. All right. Yeah. Honestly, it's not a bad song. Not a bad song. Right. But, like, wasn't a big, wasn't a hit at all. And, you know, Timbaland's on the track, he's in the music video. You know, it may have been written by him. Again. I don't know. It really doesn't matter. Doesn't care. So Smith releases that, but it's, it's, it's not big. Whatever. So Miley, not Miles, hours. So Jojo Siwa comes out with her version. And why don't we take a listen to that, pull that up, and we'll, we'll compare the two. Because I don't know, y'all, you know, someone can take it, as we've learned on cover wars, you can take a song and you can make it your own, even if it's a cover. So, you know, maybe. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe it's better. Let's take a listen and see.

All right, here we go. See what?

Okay.

That'S when I get caught.

Karma's a bitch.

I shoulda known better if I had.

A wish I would have never left around when I saw the picture and.

Her, I felt a night twist karma's a bitch. And she's with you right now.

Now.

I mean, to me, it's.

I mean, I'm no musical expert here, but.

But what?

Just not. I'm not a musical expert.

You're not?

Okay. It is. It is pretty much line by line, same song. The exception is the. The chorus is a little bit different. Right. I would have net Britt Smith. I would have never messed around. Like, you know, kept it pg. I mean, they do say karma's a bitch, right? But, like, I would have never messed around in Jojo Siwaz version, I guess, as more of a way to, like, I'm gonna prove to everybody that I'm an adult artist. I'm gonna say I would have never f'd around. Oh, but she says f'ed. Instead of, like, saying the f word, she just says f to where I'm like, if you just. What? You're gonna imply it, you might as well just say it.

That's still PG, Jojo. So it's.

Well, yeah, maybe that's, like, the PG, you know, she's still. Yeah, but also, okay, I mean, it's not. And I would argue, too, that the ten years difference makes cursing more acceptable or more, you know, like, in the norm.

Sure.

Yeah, yeah.

But still, like, it's. It's a word and messed and f'd. Like, there's not.

Yeah, I mean, odd choice to me. I don't know. Like, when I heard it and I heard the original, I was like, wait a second. So, like, from the get go, it's been messed. But they had the. They made the conscious effort to say, okay, we're gonna say f'd around. Um, instead of messed around, but we're not going to say the f word. We're actually going to say spelled out e f f ed f. That. That is a strange decision to me.

Yeah, that is kind of weird.

It just kind of irks me. Like, I would rather you just go ahead and say it, and then the radio edit would just, you know, cut it out altogether.

Senior radio edit could have been or. Right, right. But the radio edit could have been after or Walmart.

The full Walmart version out. Totally. I mean, I don't. You know, I don't know if you remember those Walmart versions, but they totally bleeped out, you know, the cuss words.

Oh, yeah.

Altogether.

I remember that.

I love that. Yeah. So, okay, so now Jojo Siwa has got this. This new single out, right? And people are starting to rip her apart on TikTok. Um, and normally, I am not a fan of watching people tear celebrities down, especially young celebrities. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, you know, we. A couple years ago, we did a episode on Britney Spears.

Yeah.

We talked about everything that Britney Spears went through and how traumatic it was for her, and the whole situation is just terrible. And we were like, my God, like, when has it. When did it become cool to make terrible. Right. Of celebrities for mental conditions that they have or they're put in impossible, terrible situations?

But, see, I think that's the difference for me is. I don't know that. And I don't know. I don't get the feeling that, like, Jojo Siwa is having, like, a actual, like, mental breakdown. Like, her mental health, like, a mental illness, is not being treated. I don't know that.

Yeah.

I don't. However, we do know that that was what was happening with Brittany.

Right. That's the difference.

That's the difference for me.

Exactly.

And perhaps we will find things out in the future, you know, at later dates that there was something else going there. But I I don't know. I have other thoughts and opinions that are just my personal opinions and have nothing. Like, I don't have proof.

I think the difference. Like you said, we don't have any kind of proof that there's any. Anything mentally going on with Judge Osiwa other than the fact that she is just young and she is overly confident. And I will make fun of somebody who thinks that they are, like, when they're too. Right. When they think that they're better than everyone else. Yeah, I am. When you're not, I will make fun of that all day long. I think it's hilarious, which is why I have spent the past several weeks scrolling through, tick tock, watching all these videos of people doing things like. Like, making fun of Jojo Siwa's, like, transition into a adult artist. Because it is funny to watch, because she. If she was genuine and if. If she, like, just tried a little bit harder to be herself.

Yeah.

Then it would be, like, your art is your art, and I will respect your art. The thing is, your art is not your art because it's not horse. And it is. It is like, it is someone else's. You're trying to take the credit for.

It report from twelve years ago.

Yes.

And I think another piece for me that, like, is part of my issue with Jojo's is versus Britney is. I feel like Britney mostly harmed herself, right? Like, she was, like, she wasn't out there, like, tearing a bunch of other people down. Like, she was. She shaved her own head. Right? Like, she didn't make someone dance while they were bleeding after surgery, you know? Like.

Right.

And so I think that's a difference for me, too. Is that, like you said, it's that I'm like, I'm so important you have to, like, bow to me and do whatever I say, and that's not cool.

Yeah, well, I want you to play one more video, James. Actually, I got two more videos I want you to play. Cause, like, James is still not totally aware of, like, this whole situation. No, but I want you to play that video of her getting interviewed at some kind of, like, red carpet event. Because that is what people have been making other than the actual, like, song. They've been making fun of this interview. This is what she's.

You're talking about. You're talking about where she's. You talking. Yeah, you talk. You talk about the one where she looks like Gene Simmons here, where she's.

Dressed like Gene Simmons. This is when she was debuting her new look. And just. And like, just. Just take a listen to the. It's very short. It's like a real. Or whatever. Like a tick tock.

So, dream guest on my podcast. Oh, my gosh. I mean, honestly, let's spice things up. One of my exes.

Oh.

Dream.

Yes.

What about podcasts?

Dream gas in my podcast.

Yeah.

Um, so again, like, cringy, right? Like, we're like. I'm like, oh, God, I'm dying. I'm dying on the inside. I'm cringing because, like, that is not spicing things up to me. Like, I'll be honest with you, Jojo. I don't give a crap about your exes. Really don't give a crap about you and where you're at currently with your music. I really don't give a crap about any of your exes. I couldn't even name you any of your exes. In fact, we have already mentioned a couple of your exes in this episode, and I've already forgotten about them, because it doesn't matter.

I'd have to go look.

Here. Right, exactly. Your life is not interesting enough to me that I would hear that and think, oh, my. She said one of her exes. Oh, my God. Like, I don't. I don't care.

I might find it interesting. Only, God, this. I'm turning into this person that I like because I think it would be a train wreck. And, like, I want them to call her out, but, like, that's why I want. Yeah, like, but it's okay. It's not that I want to see her crash and burn, but it's like, if she's gonna call those things out, like, there's repercussions to your actions.

Yes. Yeah.

So I guess that's. That's part of it for me.

So that. That right there turned into a tick tock sensation. Everybody was dressing like her. Everybody was, like, recreating this TikTok. And it's. It's been funny to watch. But another one of the things that a lot of people have been poking fun at her at, not only was the karma song just, like, number one, like a complete ripoff and stolen from an artist from twelve years ago that you never mentioned at all, and you were hoping the Internet would never find out about, apparently there's another song on her new album that is the same exact deal. I couldn't. I couldn't remember the name of it, and I didn't have time to look and everything, but apparently there's another one too. But James, pull up the video of her dancing, because the dance for this music video and this song is. Okay, I'm not even gonna. I'm gonna let you watch it, and then we're gonna talk about it.

Okay.

And just. It's easy to point out which one is Jojo Siwa because there's a.

She's.

She's whipping her head around and her, like, ponytail looks like a helicopter. So the one that. The one that looks like she's about to throw her neck out, that's Jojo Siwa. Okay, so.

Okay, so here we go. Okay, here we go.

All right, let's take a look. No, that's it.

Okay.

Okay, so.

All right, so play that again. I want you to play it again, and I want you to look at the other people that are dancing. Okay? Watch everybody else get some help. Okay. Okay. They're, like, editing the same. Sorry. But, like, look at everyone else dancing to it, right?

What's the. Why is she dancing a lot harder than they are?

Exactly.

It's weird.

Dance itself is not bad. It is just her that makes it cringey. Right.

And what's interesting is on TikTok, because I went down the same rabbit hole, I think that James or Blake went down maybe a little different side of it, but there were other, like, dancers that did the choreography that. That was there, and it was really spectacular, but it looked so different from the way that she did it. And it was interesting like, that. It was like, oh, the choreography isn't bad. Like, it's her. And I'm not a dancer. I don't know. I just know what I like to watch.

Yeah.

So, you know, it's. But there's a lot that, you know, there's a. There's a lot about her that's just. Yeah, there's a lot going on right now.

Yeah, yeah.

And I think to kind of sum it all up, we can go ahead and wrap up here because there's a lot more that goes on with her. Like, we didn't get into all of the controversies, but, like, do you remember the card game that she had? It was kind of like, I watched a YouTube video on it. Sloan on YouTube on. If you guys have ever seen any of his videos. But he covers, like, celebrity gossip and all that stuff. I love celebrity gossip. I'm here for it, I think. Yeah, I want the tea. Give me all the tea. I love it. But Sloan does a great job, and he was covering this, like, jojo Siwa saga, and he talked about some of the controversy surrounding her. Like, there's the pop group with her, like, being, like, verbally abusive to, like, young girls, like, while they're performing. All that, like, in their headsets, like, you suck. All that. Go down that rabbit hole if you would like. Some of it's really upsetting, but there's one that's, like, really weird to me, and it's the card game that she had that was kind of, like, cards against humanity, but it was, like, four kids, right? So. But it would have questions like, has anyone ever walked in on you in the bathroom or stuff like that? Like, this is a kids game, and it's, like. It's, like, very. And it's more than just, like, one question in there. Just kind of, like, that's weird. There were, like, ten questions that were very inappropriate for a kids game. And now with everything that we know. Because Nickelodeon kind of, like, bought Jojo Siwa, right? That was their product. Hannah Montana was Disney's thing. They were trying to recreate that. Nickelodeon was trying to have their own thing like that with Jojo Siwa. So Nickelodeon and everything we know about Nickelodeon now, thanks to the quiet on set documentary and all the abuse and everything that's been going on with Nickelodeon for decades, it is just. Is so gross to think about that. Like, how does stuff like this slip through the cracks? And Jojo Siwa made an announcement shortly after all this was, like, 2021. I had no say in any of that. I am so sorry. I would never want to. And I. And I believe her. I honestly believe that. I totally believe that. But I'm like, how did we let it slip through the cracks? People had to sign off on this and say, yep, this is fine. This is totally fine. Like, what. What are we doing?

And I feel like in those situations, multiple people had to sign off on those things.

Yeah, agree.

Like, this was not just like, one random person, like an intern that was like, oh, yep, that looks good, right? No, exactly. There's other stuff there and.

Right.

And, you know, I think when not to get, like, too much into it, but, you know, I think her. The mom, the manager. Yeah. Like that. The momager and all of that. I think that that plays a role in some of this. And I think. I don't remember if I just mentioned it to y'all or if I mentioned it while we were recording, but for those of you out there that don't know, if you are under the age of 18, 15% of your earnings are required to go into something called a Kogan account. And that is to ensure that, like, you have money when you are, you know, an adult for what the work that you did, because it was so often that kids didn't get anything, you know, once they turned 18, their parents had everything.

Right.

So now 15% doesn't sound like all that much, but then you've got to remember, right, that we're talking, like, there's managers and publicists and, like, all of those people that are taking some of the money. Yeah, but what was wild to me is that when she turned 18, she says that she gave half of that to her parents because she didn't want them to, like, have a hard time. Yeah, I believe she bought them a house and some other things. And great, if that's what you want to do. But also, like, as a parent, I would be like, no, that is your money. Like, you have. You've already, like, supported this family while all of this was going on, like, while you were doing your thing, and I had, you know, to take time off from work and. Right, but. But this is a whole other. I don't know. It's just. It's a weird.

Yeah, it is. That's very, very weird.

I don't have other words for it. It's just weird.

Well, it's just the. It's. It's almost really. I mean, it's sad to watch, too, right? Because, like, I mean, as we mentioned before, if, like, if we had cameras and entered and, like, the Internet was as big as it is now, back when we were 2021, you know? Like, I'm sure there's a lot of stuff that, like, we did that. Like, if it was public knowledge and it was displayed for the world, especially if we were a celebrity and literally anyone had access to it, right. We would. We would. We would be mortified. I know. I would be like, oh, my God, I'm so glad that wasn't, you know. Yes.

I'm so grateful that social media was, like, digital media period, was not a thing.

Yes. Right. When I was in school and. And it was in its infancy whenever I was, like, when I was 2021 years old, you know, like, MySpace had been around, but, like, you couldn't, like, do a whole lot on MySpace. Like, Facebook was around, but you couldn't do a whole lot on Facebook. So it was just. It, like, I. Yeah, I'd be absolutely mortified if all of my stuff like that had been out in the open for people to see, and every embarrassing thing that I did, it was getting ripped apart on the Internet. So in that sense, like, I do. I do feel bad in a way, but at the same time, if she wasn't such an overly confident person, and there's no humility whatsoever with any of her, any of her art forms, whether it's her dancing or her singing or whatever, if there was any trace of humility, I would not harp on it so bad. But the fact that she thinks that she is the pioneer of number one, she's like, I want to create something called gay pop. Like, dude, it's 2024. What do you mean, gay pop there. Gay pop has been around for decades. Like, have you not heard of Elton John, of Queen, of David Bowie, of whoever? The list could go on gay pop, right? Exactly. Like, there have been gay pop pop artists for years, and you're not some kind of pioneer just because you are in that community, right? Like, there. There are plenty of people who have done this before you. Please sit down. You are. You are not that special. I promise you that. And then to claim the song as if it was her own, and then to get called out on for. I think it's hilarious. I think her dancing skills are way over the top. Calm down a little bit. Right? Well, you know, I'm okay with that. Yeah.

She was on a podcast. That's the call her daddy, I think, is the name of the podcast. I don't know who the. I think there's two figures.

Yeah, yeah.

But in there, she said something along the lines. Well, I put it in quotation mark, so no such thing as stealing.

That's a lie. Okay.

That's what she. Like, that is. That is a. And it's. And it was in, like, I put it in quotes, in my notes. So that means that, like, that is what she said. I bet you other notes that. That are.

I bet you she's like, there's no there. I bet you she said there's no shuts. Like, stealing. But borrowing is totally accepted here. Right?

Technically, it's the same thing, like, plagiarizing, like, I don't have a problem. Or sampling, even. Right.

Like, okay, yeah, like, you use something.

And give them credit.

Right?

But that's the thing. It's like, if you're not giving someone credit and you're not, like, acknowledging this other person's impact.

Right?

Like, that's. That's theft. Like, that's not cool, right?

No, exactly. Right? That's my thought process. You did not. You tried to take the credit for that song, and it was not yours to take credit for.

And if you had said, you know what? I heard the song. It was fantastic, and I wanted to record it. Here's the thing. It's like, that would have been the end of it. Nobody would have talked about it again.

Nope. Like, okay, cool. It's the fact that you tried to hide it, that is what makes me so mad. And I think that's why the Internet was like, hold up.

You need.

You need to sit down for a minute, because you're not. You're not as hot as you think you are. You're not as talented as you think you are. I think she is talented. I don't think she's the best singer, because God knows she's trying to post his TikToks of her singing Ariana Grande songs and stuff.

And it's like, I would love to. Like, if we could just pause there for a minute, because I know that most of you all know, when I interview an artist, I often ask, what do you do to take care of your vocal health? Because, like, mental health. Vocal health. If you're not taking care of your voice. And there was a very specific, like, TikTok, I think it was that I saw. But she talked about how she had ruptured a vocal cord, and it is very clear. Like, you can go back and you can see where it was. I think it was Olivia Rodrigo. She was trying to.

Yes, that's what it was.

And she went, like, to a really out of her, like, comfort zone. And here's the thing, is, like, she already has that raspy voice, so, like, embrace that. Like, again, this is, like, don't try to be someone or something you're not. Like, be your own thing, but if you are straining to your voice like that, you're hurting yourself. Like, truly. I mean, she ruptured a vocal cord, and that is her. Like, that's how she earns money. You know, that's, like, what. Who was the football player? Like, walked out onto the field funky and ruptured his Achilles tendon?

Yes.

Yeah, yeah. So, like, that's the kind of thing. I mean, it's the same type of thing. Like, you gotta take care of yourself. And then there's this part of me that's like, what are you teaching kids? Like, young girls that are looking up to you about.

Yeah, yeah.

Being authentically yourself. And that comes from a mom of teenagers. I don't want my kids to feel like they can't just be who they are.

Yeah.

You know, like my son with the most epic mullet ever.

It is. It is very great.

It's like. It's kind of the coolest. I mean, I know I'm his mom, and so I'm partial, but, like, it's impressive. Yeah. And. And then, like, my daughter, like, she. You know, like, her style is her own, and it's awesome, but if she tried to sing, like, I'm going to choir banquet for her later tonight, and if she tried to sing, like, half these, you know, pop stars out there, she would not sound good, because that is not the way her voice is, like, created.

Right.

And so I think that, like, to try to be someone you're not is. Especially as a. I would argue that even if she doesn't want to be, she's a role model.

Yeah.

Like, you know, because of where she started and all of that, but.

Yeah, well, I remember her in those. In those multicolored bows in her hair. And she does all the kids, though.

Yeah.

And then. Yeah, that was years ago. And then I finally saw her dress up like Gene Simmons. I'm like, what's going on here? This is what.

Well, and you know the thing about, like, those. The bows and that tight ponytail, like, she caused herself to go, like, bald. Like, she created, like, bald patches from pulling her hair so tight. Okay, so again, like, don't cause yourself harm, right? Trying to be someone that you think you're supposed to be.

Yeah.

Yeah, I like that.

Absolutely. Is that our mental health minute for the day?

It kind of is. It actually is. So I was going to talk about self compassion. So this is something I talk to my clients about a lot, which is.

Okay.

Like, so this is your mental health minute. We're gonna talk. Are we. Are we good?

Yeah, we're good.

We get to go with the jingle for the mental health minute. I'll work on that.

I'll get back to you. We need to come up with one for that. So, mental health minutes, we're gonna talk a little bit about self compassion. So, this is something I talk to my clients a lot about. So it's so easy for us to have compassion for others, right? Like, we see someone is struggling and, like, you notice that, and then you, like, feel compassion, like you're suffering, and that that is part of, like, being human, and then you understand and love on your friend or whoever, because, like, you know that it's not. There's nothing wrong with them. Like, they just, you know, whatever, something happened, they're feeling crappy. And so we respond to others, like, with that warmth and understanding and kindness and a desire to help. But we often don't do that for ourselves because, remember, like, our voice is the one that we hear the most often. Right? Like, and so when you do something that you don't feel great about or something happens, you've got to stop saying, I'm the worst, I'm inadequate, I made a mistake, or that whole idea of, I'm just not going to feel this. I'm just going to ignore the pain or get caught up into all of that. One of the things that I talk to my clients about is the, yeah, this is really hard right now. And then sometimes, like, one step further, like, doesn't it make sense that this is hard right now based on whatever else is going on in your life? And so you're kind and understanding when you're, like, experiencing a failure and we all have failures or, like, you know, make mistakes and you can't be perfect. So there is a, like, website that I give to everyone. It's super easy. It's self dash compassion.org dot Kristin Neff. She's here in Texas. She created this idea. She's got some really great resources on that website. And so I really would encourage you, like, when you're feeling like you want to, you know, beat yourself up, like, take a minute and say, nope, I can be compassionate towards myself and that, like, I'm human and of course I make mistakes. Things aren't always going to go the way I want them to, but, like, I am okay. And this is just, you know, the reality and that I am gonna be fine and I'm gonna screw up, but I'm awesome because I'm a human and I'm unique.

So.

Yeah, but check out that website, too. Really something I share all the time because they're great. There's great resources and information. There's some, like, cool practices, like some like, meditations and mindfulness techniques. And I think it's really important because quit beating yourself up. Like, one of my best friends said this to me once when I was talking poorly about myself. She looked at me and she said, don't talk about my best friend that way.

Yeah.

And it's that same idea, like, like, talk to yourself in the nicest ways you can. And it's hard. It takes practice. So. Yeah. Like, start practicing.

Yeah.

And give yourself that grace and compassion that you give others because I would argue that you might be more deserving of it than others for yourself. So.

Sure.

Nice.

Absolutely.

That's what I got.

I love that. What a great mental health minute. Actually, can we post a link to that in the show notes this episode? Is that possible?

I will send that to you, James, to make sure you've got that because it's really. It is easily. I would argue that it's the website that I give the most to people. Besides, like, links to Amazon books. Like, if we take, like, links to all of Amazon books, like, that's the one that I give the most.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Too.

It's just.

It's powerful.

So send it on over and I'll put that in the.

I will.

I love that.

Yeah.

I'm going to use it for myself, too.

Yeah.

That sounds awesome. Yeah.

Awesome.

I need a little self love every now and then.

There you go.

Well, man, what a great episode. Um, and, and what's so funny? Because we need a lot of self love for ourselves, but I think Jojo Siwa needs to, like, calm down a little bit with.

She needs to calm down and calm down.

A little humility.

Yeah. I mean, that's. I have opinions about, like, when you aren't told. No, when you're young.

Yeah.

I think you forget you don't know that.

Right?

You don't get everything.

True that. True that. What a great way to wrap it up again, sorry, everybody, that this one took a little bit longer. Life happens, and that's just the way.

So we are going to show some compassion towards Blake for taking care of the things that were the most important in that moment, which was not this. This is important to him, but his family.

Right? Yes. Yeah.

Absolutely. Comes before this. And that is why we had to hit pause, so amen. There you go, man. Anything else, guys?

Oh, I got that. Yeah.

Dream guest of my podcast. Okay. Sorry. I had to get it in one more time. There it is. It's out of my system. I'm good.

You know, now, you know what?

One of my exes on. On here. That's for sure. But anyway.

Oh, I'm sorry. You said that. And it reminded me. Last thing is at the lake house, we have the back porch that I like to call the veranda because it makes me feel fancy. It's not really, but I like to pretend. So Michael said he's going to get a sign that says live, laugh love on Amanda's veranda.

There you go.

I love it.

And I was like, don't you dare. But I'm just waiting for, like, the next time I go for him to have, like, painted it on the wall or something. So hopefully there's not that, but yes, live. But that would be better. Live laugh. Flint biscuit. I love it.

Yeah. We need a shirt.

I want it on a shirt really bad. I keep asking my sister in law to get it for me.

Be amazing.

Hell, I can make.

There needs to be more of those kinds of things.

I can make the shirt, you know?

Hello.

Thank you. Etsy. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Let's make our own. Let's put it on the website. Live laugh. Live laugh.

Did you say let biscuit?

No, the one that. The one for the veranda.

Oh, Amanda.

Live laugh. Love on Amanda's veranda.

Yes.

But can we do a, like, live laugh, limp bizkit and do a mashup of Blake Mosley and, like, get on.

Okay. Yes.

I was like, Fred, what is his last name? I was gonna mess it up.

Yeah.

Cause you all wear the hats the.

Same way, right, when I would wear it all the time. I do wear my hats backwards a lot of times. So, Jeff, if you're listening, we know you are.

We need a limb. Biscuit.

I need you to. I need an AI created image of me as Fred Durst. We'll put it on a shirt live. Laugh with lint Biscuit.

There you go.

Perfection.

Awesome.

Yes. And with that, thank you for listening to the show today. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe and leave a rating, a review on Apple Podcast or any other place you can.

Yeah, that's right. And if you'd like to follow the show on social media, we're on Facebook, we're on X, we're on Instagram, we're on the TikTok. And when you're done searching for all the Jojo Siwa videos that we talked about today and you're laughing your butt off, you're reposting, you're liking, you're sharing, you need to just give us a follow and then where you can also, like, reshare, leave us comments. Let us know what you want to see more of on any of those things. We'd appreciate it. Just search for when words fail, music speaks, podcasts do the dang thing.

That'll work. That'll work. Or would you like to be interviewed on the show? If you're a musician, please reach out to [email protected]. [email protected]. Or Amanda Dolan. That's d o l I n. I love doing that. I don't know why. Your name is [email protected]. Or you can mess with us on any of the social sites mentioned before.

And please subscribe to our YouTube channel where you can watch interviews, music, video reactions, vinyl showcases, and more. You can find that on YouTube.com. When words fail, music speaks, be sure to turn on the notification bell so you can be notified when new videos are uploaded. And if you are currently watching this on YouTube, we need a, we need a soundtrack for this.

I didn't get that belly flop.

Belly flop on that, like, button.

Yeah. All the people are screaming, running, children.

Crying, screaming, you know, so I don't know.

Okay.

So for all you do links to find out more about us or to buy some of our merchandise, including you can buy a t shirt of a Blake linen. You need to buy that shirt. So go over to Wyndhamurchville music.com, click on the shop tab. It's all right there for you. So, yes.

Yeah. And soon to come, Blake Durst.

Blake Durst. Yes.

You keep an eye out for it. That's right. Or is it Fred Moseley or Fred Moseley?

I like that better.

I like Fred Moseley better than Blake Durst.

Right?

Fred Moseley. I like that. It's okay. It all works. It's interchangeable, right?

That's right. Yeah.

It's all fun.

If you don't mind, check out my other podcast. It's called South Carolina Spook show. I'm doing a lot of stuff over there. Just did my first interview, which I've been trying to do for months. And I want to do more of those interviewing people to talk about their own personal ghost stories and paranormal experiences. I sat down with my brother in law, Brian, who I used to do the not religious podcast with, and we talked about not only his haunted apartment that he lived in here in Ouija board at the time that he. He played with a Ouija board and brought a wacko doll to life. Dead serious. Said he saw it happen. So anyway, don't mess with Ouija boards. People don't listen. Yeah, do not mess with Ouija boards. They're. They're very scary. This. The story is truly terrifying. So if you want to go listen to that, check out some other stuff I've been doing. It's all about true crime, paranormal stuff from the state of South Carolina. Got stuff in the works for some new episodes coming up here soon. It's available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Awesome. And then check me out at the mental society. You can check out the podcast or go to thementalsociety.com. There's a lot of resources there. I'm just kind of back, getting. Getting back into things. Share some stuff about my personal adventure with ADHD. Got something coming out because I've had a pretty heavy couple weeks around loss. So sharing resources and information about all of that. And I'd love to have some more interviews, people with their stories about mental health, because that's a thing. We need to talk about that more. Check that out. I'd love for you to do that.

That's how you unitement. It is. Awesome. So go to those podcasts and subscribe and like, and review all of them, especially this one and theirs, too. But we want to thank you. Thanks again to our sponsors for this episode, Bonescoffee and bedhelp.com. Remember to use our discount code. Musicspeaks one word at checkout for 10% off your [email protected]. And also remember to go to betterhelp.com musicweeks. You also get 10% off your first month of therapy and get matched with a therapist that is perfect for you.

All right, are we all done?

Yo, we're gonna thank our set.

Yeah. Yeah. And Jojo Siwa. Sit down, please. Jesus.

Sit down.

Sit down.

She's gonna track me down. She's gonna. Like. That is. That is good. What? I'm gonna see her dancing and whipping her head around like during my sleep paralysis, right?

Yeah.

She's gonna wake up, so it's okay.

So, until next time.

As long as you're prepared, right?

As long as I'm prepared. It's all matters.

Yeah. So, until next time, everybody. Thanks again.

And always remember, when words fail, music speaks.

There you go. Bye, guys.

Never after round.