JoJo Siwa releases new single ‘Raspy’ poking fun at controversies and haters
JoJo Siwa. (Raymond Hall/GC Images)
JoJo Siwa. (Raymond Hall/GC Images)
JoJo Siwa is back with “Raspy”, her first original single since the much-memed release of her cover of Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes”.
On the hip-hop leaning “Raspy”, the 22-year-old singer and former Dance Moms star notes the internet’s frenzied reaction to her husky vocals on her version of “Bette Davis Eyes”.
“Eyes like Bette Davis, hear my voice and you know what my name is,” she spits on the lyrics of the opening verse. “Wise beyond my age, that’s what happens when you’re little and you’re put on the stage.”
Siwa previously said that she uses a particularly raspy voice on her version of “Better Davis Eyes” to honour Carnes’ original.
On the “Raspy” chorus, JoJo Siwa urges that her voice only gets husky when she’s happy. The release of her smokey “Bette Davis Eyes” cover came weeks after she confirmed that she was in a relationship with her fellow Celebrity Big Brother contestant, Chris Hughes.
“Raspy, Raspy, Raspy, I get raspy. You know I’m raspy, you see I’m raspy,” she croaks on the chorus.
The lyrics of the second verse of “Raspy” poke fun at her own, numerous media controversies, and the online trolls who continually try to mock her as a result.
“Say what you want, go ahead, try to insult me. I’m sulking, I’m sulking. All press is good press. ‘Hey JoJo, you’re a mess’ – OK?” she shrugs on the opening line of verse two.
“Karma never came, yeah, she’s still a traitor,” she raps, alluding to her 2024 song “Karma” and her cover version of Olivia Rodrigo’s song “Traitor”, both of which set the internet alight.
“Look back and laugh, not with anger, don’t want the songs, but I’ll keep them comin’,” she continues, brushing off trolls who have urged her to stop making music.
In the song’s most impressive moment, verse two then interpolates a viral quote from Abby Lee Miller, who tutored Siwa on Dance Moms when she was a little girl.
“JoJo!,” Miller’s voice shrieks, before Siwa of today responds: “What?”
“Have you learned nothing?,” Miller’s quote ends.
Verse two also sees Siwa josh at her own 2024 interview with Mario Lopez, in which she donned a bedazzled construction worker’s jacket and taught him the much-mocked dance to “Karma”.
“No one’s made this dramatic of a change, I sound insane,” she continues, referencing her own comments about her major look transformation that she debuted as part of the rollout for “Karma”.
“I blame my age and the stage, dare I say, ‘She’s raspy today’,” she adds.
In a statement explaining her inspiration for “Raspy”, Siwa said: “Everyone is different, and every voice is different, mine is just a little extra raspy.
“Loads of people have asked me how much I smoke to get my voice like this, but the truth is, I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life, the rasp is all-natural baby.”
“Raspy” is streaming now.
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