00:00People forget that doing something repetitively over and over again, it can get very monotonous.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, where we'll be discussing 10 times the industry tried to make a musical
00:11act mainstream, but failed spectacularly.
00:21Jojo Siwa.
00:22In the late 2010s, Nickelodeon put a great deal of effort into making Jojo Siwa their
00:34next big star.
00:35Despite the push, she never quite reached mainstream stardom.
00:39Her initial persona was characterized by bright colors and a childlike enthusiasm, but she's
00:45since rebranded to look more gothic.
00:52Her 2016 track Boomerang has over a billion views on YouTube, but on regular streaming
00:59services, she's a long way from mainstream.
01:02After leaving Nickelodeon, she released the EP Guilty Pleasure, which received a fair share
01:08of negative criticism.
01:09Even though her music isn't as lucrative as hoped, she's still a prominent social media
01:14influencer.
01:15If you kept up with the charts during the 2010s, you may remember when it felt like Cuevo was
01:25a feature on every single charting track.
01:34His career was kickstarted as the frontman of Migos, a now disbanded rap group.
01:39Cuevo managed to get featured on a plethora of top 10 singles, from artists like Post Malone,
01:44Justin Bieber, and DJ Khaled.
01:53His first solo album made some noise.
01:56In 2023, his second album, Rocket Power, had moderate success, but it's a long way from
02:02mainstream.
02:03So he can hardly be considered a failure, but he hasn't become as big as the industry
02:07hoped.
02:08I took a loss, but you still gonna get beat.
02:11You still gonna get beat.
02:1250-50.
02:13This K-pop girl group debuted in 2022, and quickly achieved global fame with their track
02:19Cupid.
02:25They wouldn't maintain this momentum for long, however.
02:28In 2023, the group filed a lawsuit against their label, Attract.
02:34The court sided with Attract, and the case was dismissed in August 2023.
02:39Soon after, three of the four members were fired.
02:42They've since hired four more members, but the scandal has seriously tanked their reputation.
02:47Subsequent releases haven't come close to reaching the fame of Cupid, and they're unlikely
02:51to recover.
02:56The fired members have started their own group, Abloom, which achieved moderate success with
03:02their debut track, Echo, but has also been somewhat tainted by the scandal.
03:13Cody Simpson.
03:14Back when Bieber fever had spread wildly across the globe, Australia decided to respond with
03:19their own act, Cody Simpson.
03:27His early marketing presented him as a teen heartthrob, but he never overtook Bieber as
03:32hoped.
03:32He wasn't a total failure.
03:34He earned a name for himself in his home country, and had some success internationally.
03:39But as he grew and matured, he never succeeded at becoming an adult pop star, unlike Bieber.
03:44In 2022, he shifted careers and became a professional swimmer.
03:49You know, I have to find myself in the right time at the right moment mentally to be able
03:54to do what it is I want to do.
03:56Unfortunately, it also didn't go too well, as he failed to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
04:01As a result, he's returning to music.
04:04See, I've been working on music for the last couple months, and I'm getting pretty close
04:06with a project that I'm really, really happy with.
04:09It's kind of been a process of trial and error.
04:12I've kind of like been making a bunch of stuff, canning it, making a bunch of stuff,
04:15canning it.
04:16But for me, that's the process of an artist.
04:18Jaden Smith.
04:19Two of Will Smith's three children, Jaden and Willow, have tried following in their
04:32father's footsteps and becoming mainstream musicians.
04:35Willow has arguably been fairly successful, releasing a variety of popular tracks and albums.
04:41Jaden, on the other hand, hasn't reached the same level of mainstream fame.
04:45They be trying to chill, they be trying to stop with the thrill, no pun intended, was
04:48raised by the power of Will.
04:50Even though he's collaborated with huge names like Tyler, the creator, and Justin Bieber,
04:55he's never become part of hip-hop's top dogs.
04:58Instead, Jaden is more known for his acting, fashion, and his hilarious tweets.
05:03If newborn babies could speak, they would be the most intelligent beings on planet Earth.
05:08The music has always felt secondary to the public, but he's acquired a cult following despite
05:12this.
05:13Sky Ferreira.
05:14Our next entry might be the most complex case on the list.
05:19In 2013, Ferreira released her debut album, Nighttime, My Time, which received many positive
05:25reviews.
05:32Afterwards, she disappeared from the scene for years.
05:36For over a decade, she's teased a follow-up album.
05:39But as of this writing, it's still not released.
05:42Her label has been desperate for her to become a mainstream pop star, but they've never seen
05:47eye-to-eye.
05:48She considers herself a perfectionist and has accused her label of sabotage.
05:53A lot of the issues stem from her label giving her a lack of creative control.
06:02So the industry has been pushing her to become a star, but she just wants to make the music
06:07that makes her happy.
06:15Normani.
06:16Fifth Harmony was one of the most celebrated girl bands of the century.
06:20After their breakup in 2018, they put tons of effort into starting a solo career for member
06:30Normani. She was considered one of the strongest members, getting treated like the next big thing.
06:36Her first solo single, Motivation, quickly went viral.
06:39She ended up unable to maintain this momentum. It took her five years to release her debut album,
06:52Dopamine, which seriously underperformed. It received decent reviews, but pop fans had just
06:58moved on by that point. She's undeniably talented, but a combination of factors caused her to fade
07:04from the spotlight, despite being set up to dominate it.
07:09Iggy Azalea
07:14In 2014, Azalea was dominating the charts with her monster hit Fancy featuring Charli XCX.
07:25Now, Azalea is kind of niche, whereas Charli XCX is one of pop's biggest names.
07:31Azalea's later tracks flopped hard, and her 2019 album was a commercial failure.
07:39A lot of it was her own doing, it turns out. For instance, in 2015,
07:48she was accused of tweeting racist and homophobic statements. She then started beef with her label,
07:54Britney Spears, Halsey, and even her mentor, T.I.
07:57After struggling for years to regain relevance, she retired from music completely in 2024.
08:03I just don't feel that I am comfortable being that level open to the public.
08:10Kim Petras
08:11In 2021, Petras signed with a major label after years of releasing music independently.
08:17This allowed her to collaborate with artists like Nicki Minaj,
08:21Sam Smith, and the controversial Dr. Luke.
08:23Her track Unholy with Sam Smith won a Grammy Award, making her the first trans woman to win
08:34in a major pop category. Regardless of this, her solo career has never topped the charts.
08:47Her longtime fans felt alienated by her label-driven pop, but it wasn't catchy enough to attract new
08:53fans. Still, Petras has achieved huge milestones for trans representation in pop music. She's
08:59clearly talented, but she's unlikely to achieve full-on pop stardom as her label has hoped.
09:05I see them in your eyes, so meet the double Ds.
09:08My confidence.
09:11Before we discuss our last pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
09:15Ashley Simpson
09:16A lip-syncing scandal ended the career of Jessica Simpson's younger sister.
09:21Ladies and gentlemen, what can I say? Live TV?
09:23Exactly. I feel so bad, my band started playing the wrong song, and I know what to do, so I thought
09:28I'd do a hoedown.
09:30Kepler. Except for one song, this girl group has yet to become mainstream.
09:35Running, running, running, running like a super sonny
09:38Got the beat. Despite being a super group, they've never been as big as their original projects.
09:47Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel, and ring the bell to get notified
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10:09Rita Ora
10:10In the early 2010s, Rita Ora became one of Britain's biggest pop stars, but is barely
10:23known in the United States. It's not for a lack of trying, but Ora is more known for hosting
10:28America's Next Top Model and appearing in the 50 Shades series. When she was first signed to
10:34Roc Nation by Jay-Z in 2009, she was promoted as the next Rihanna. After years of trying,
10:40this never came true. She's still had a highly successful career, and is a household name
10:46in the UK. But that's not the global market the industry intended.
10:50That's what this whole album is about, actually. It's really specifically not about people,
10:55because for some reason, when I speak about people, it ends up being like hot gossip and
10:59in the blogs all the time.
11:00Were there any particularly disastrous industry plants we failed to mention? Why don't you
11:05let us know in the comments?
11:07When you say you've had enough, and you might just give it up, oh, oh.
11:12I'm like, holy shit.
11:20You look good.
11:21Even though I never matured, it megally trained to use economic HR, but it matters
11:30So how I feel about people, who love me again, keep pushing and pushing it over to
11:36a place.
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