FEATURE:
Saluting the Queens
Coco Jones
_________
I have neglected this feature…
for a while, so I want to pick it up. In Saluting the Queens, I show love and respect for an incredible woman in the industry. Whether that is an artist, label boss, broadcaster or anyone else, I like to have a wide look at amazing women doing important work. In terms of artists worth spotlighting, this takes me to Coco Jones. I have included her in my Spotlight feature. Since then, she has grown as an artist. I want to bring in an interview from last year, in addition to a couple from this year. She is someone that everyone should know. I am going to start out with an interview from last year. Jones released her fifth E.P., What I Didn’t Tell You, last year. Her debut album is out in the summer. Maybe something coming later in the year. Last year, Coco Jones was announcing herself as one of the strongest and most promising R&B artists coming through. British Vogue spent some time with a fascinating and compelling talent:
“After Coco burst onto the scene in 2012 with a lead role in Disney film Let It Shine, the South Carolina-born, Tennessee-raised triple-threat found herself on the fast-track to super-stardom. A sequel to the film was mooted, as well as her own show, and she had just been signed to a record label. “As a child star, it was all like a fairytale. I got to live a dream and play characters that were so fun, like dress up,” she says. “It just looked like my world was never going to change – it was always gonna get crazier and crazier.”
Until, that is, the label tried to force her into cookie-cutter formulas. “When I did put my personality in songs, I’d have to dial it back, because it was too much.” Coco treated it like a role: “I was acting like a singer, singing songs that I didn’t really like.” When both the planned TV show and film suddenly fell through, “the record label only knew how to market through TV shows… so trying to figure out how to market me, a Black girl who already didn’t fit into these formulas, it all just started to deteriorate.” The label dropped her too.
The fairytale castle that had felt so solid under her feet had washed away. “It was just shocking, I thought so many things were going to happen.” she says. “As I got older… you don’t want to lose such a good thing, you know? So when you don’t get the jobs, it’s less fun, it’s more painful,” she explains. “You forget how magical it was.”
Still, she tried to rebuild. She looks back at the independent music she made in those teenage years as immature (“I hadn’t really lived yet”), and auditioning for acting jobs wore her out. “There’s a lot of colourism in the industry. You can be just as talented, but because you don’t look the part, it will never be your part.”
Joining TikTok in 2020 changed everything for Coco. Her covers, singing original verses on classic songs, earned millions of likes and got people talking about her again. “Once people were seeing me on their phone screens, they were reaching out.” A manager introduced her to High Standardz, part of Def Jam, who signed her. Around the same time, she booked a role as Hilary Banks in Bel-Air. “My whole life changed in one year.”
Many Black ’90s sitcoms (Fresh Prince included) became infamous for replacing dark-skinned female characters with light-skinned actresses. Seeing Coco as the glamorous Hilary, first played by Karyn Parsons, meant a lot to so many girls. “I get a lot of support,” she says. “Black women are so happy to see themselves represented in this way.”
Despite the ups and downs, Jones wouldn’t change a thing about her journey. “God makes things happen in a way better than I ever could. I’ll rarely ever understand why, I just have to roll with it,” she says. She hopes her own path will make it easier for others to follow in her footsteps. “I want to make new standards for Black girls. There’s nothing we can’t do. I want to open the door for them to have an easier journey.”
Where were you pulling from for your EP What I Didn’t Tell You?
Stories that I wanted to share with an audience just learning about me [for the first time], and stories that I wanted to share with people who have known me since I was a kid. It’s an introduction, drawn from real stories that make up who I am and who I’ve become.
Which tracks mean the most to you?
It changes every day but “Double Back” has always been one of my faves. If I’m in the mood to dance, then probably “Crazy for Me”.
Why has “Double Back” been a consistent one for you?
It has that nostalgic feel to it. We sampled the SWV song and I know my voice reminds people of back-in-the-day R&B, which I do feel is a big part of me. Also, the coming of age story. It’s what me and my girls go through: being indecisive about a guy. He’s sure about them and you’re like: “Argh, I don’t know if I want to be outside or be in a relationship.”
Yes, your music does have an old-school grounding, who inspires you?
When I was growing up, because my mom was my team, the songs that I would learn for auditions were also ones she knew, so I listened to a lot of Whitney, Aretha – soulful artists. As I got older, I found my own songs that really inspired me – all the R&B girls like Summer Walker, SZA and Ella Mai.
Who are some of your UK favourites?
We got to go see a Raye concert while I was there, and she was so good! There’s this other artist Ray BLK that I really love, and Jorja Smith. I listened to a lot of Bellah so when she came to my dinner, I was like, girl, oh my gosh, I’ve been listening to your music!
What was your experience of child stardom?
The fame part I did not like. I remember feeling really uncomfortable in places where I used to feel normal, because people would be staring at me, and I did not understand why. I’d be eating with my family and kids would come up and ask for pictures. I was like, “What are y’all talking about? We all at the same Applebee’s!”
What part of fame don’t you like today?
I don’t like that people disassociate somebody on TV with a normal person. That’s why people go crazy! Because they do so much stuff in the limelight, then people forget that they’re a human being, then they forget that they’re a human being because nobody around them treats them like one, and go crazy.
How do you stay grounded?
Because I had those highs of momentum as a kid, the lows really humbled me. I thought it was never going to be low again, so when it was, I was like, “Oh, wow, all of this can go away – let me make sure that this has nothing to do with my identity at all.” It’s too dangerous to place all of my heart into it, you know? So another thing that keeps me grounded is realising this is all temporary. I know it personally.
Who were your role models growing up?
In this industry, you meet your heroes, and you’re not really supposed to do that… My mum is the only one I really looked up to, because I knew her character”.
The South Carolina-born artist and actor is one of the most incredible and passionate artists in the industry right now. I think she will go on to inspire so many others through the years. She has many years ahead. Last month, ELLE interviewed an artist ready to fly. The GRAMMY-winning Coco Jones has definitely made a big impact on the industry. There is still a lot more to come. With an anticipated album coming very soon, this is an artist primed for worldwide domination:
“Coco Jones is ready to fly. After her platinum song “ICU” earned the Tennessee native her first Grammy win for Best R&B Performance, she says she feels “like I’ve climbed a mountain. I just have to get to the highest point I can so that I can leap with everything I’ve got and just take off.” This year, the 26-year-old R&B artist and former Disney kid, who currently stars in Peacock’s Bel-Air, plans to do just that. This May, she is dropping “Here We Go (Uh-Oh),” the lead single off her much-anticipated debut album, out this summer.
The sound will be familiar to fans who fell in love with the old-school R&B storytelling of her last EP, 2022’s What I Didn’t Tell You, but she’ll play around with new genres, too: “I don’t think I’ll ever fully leave my R&B comfort [zone],” she says, “but there are so many more elements to me that I want to start to sprinkle in.” Still, Jones will always hold on to the qualities that have gotten her this far. “The external awards reflect my inner tenacity,” she says. “I can think back to those times when I had no glimpse of this and I still kept going.”
What has been your most unbelievable moment in music?
Being nominated for five Grammys was not a sentence I ever thought I was going to hear at this stage in my career. That’s been the most unbelievable. And winning a Grammy feels kind of surreal as well. But the way my mind reacted to the five nominations, I was like, “No way.”
What’s your overall career goal?
I want the option to be able to be involved in whatever I’m into. If I don’t want to put out an album for five years and I want to open up an art gallery for Black women, that would be what I do. And it would be respected and it would be valued and taken seriously because of my name and because of how hard I work. I could score a movie, start a product line, or develop an artist. I want to have options to do whatever I desire.
Has your definition of success changed as you’ve gotten older and more famous?
My definition of success used to just be: Beyoncé. But I can’t focus so much on what this woman that I am a huge fan of did. I can take the core principles, the hard work of it all, the authenticity of it all, the re-creating yourself of it all. But it has to be the Coco way. I used to do that with so many people: “I want to do what she did,” and just leave it there. But I’m me, so I can’t be what someone else is. I have to find a new way.
Have any female R&B artists served as mentors to you or given you advice?
I love Ella Mai. She’s my homegirl. She’s had the type of success that I’m working toward, so she gives me a lot of advice. It’s also just the peer-to-peer support. Chloe x Halle and I are constantly uplifting each other whenever we see each other, because we grew up together in the Disney world. That’s the really beautiful part, the “Girl, we see what you’re doing. Keep going.”
You’ve mentioned that you don’t like being famous.
I don’t feel like anyone would like it if they got a taste of it. It’s very strange. I feel like an animal in a zoo sometimes. But I know that it’s not something to complain about. I think about my younger self and how I would feel when I saw people on TV in real life. I didn’t know how to act, and it’s just not normal. I’m not normal. And the human reaction to seeing me in my job, because it’s an un-normal job, is going to be an un-normal reaction. So I just have to look at it like a human response to seeing somebody that you only see on your phone. It’s strange. So I don’t take it any way but the logical way. I feel like there’s a lot of good that comes with people wanting to know more about you. You can tell them your journey, you can inspire, you can uplift. So there’s good and bad with that, too. But of course, if it was my preference, I would [just] release my songs under an alias and collect my funds.
PHOTO CREDIT: Sharif Hamza
Do you have a dream collaboration?
Mine would be Beyoncé, but I have so many other artists that I love as well: Jazmine Sullivan, Brandy, Rihanna, Alex Isley. I would do a song with Ella [Mai]. And I love Tate McRae. I think she’s fire.
Is there a question that you’ve never been asked that you’ve always wanted to share?
No one has ever asked me if the work that it takes once you do get to these things was anything that I could have understood before I got here. People see that I’m signed, I have a show, and I put things out. They don’t think, “I wonder if she knew what she was really signing up for.” The answer is no. There are so many other little things that you have to do. You have to be the final say in so many things. I didn’t know there would be so many questions that need answers, [many of which are] time-sensitive. You’re also balancing so many different sides of you: “Do you want to do this interview and this commercial? This product wants you to be aligned. Do you like this product? Can you go on tour? This artist wants you to sing on this song.” You have to constantly make sure that you can really stand on business with what you’re saying yes to. And if you don’t want to do that thing, then it’s like, “How much of this is a necessary thing for where I’m trying to get? Or is this really a choice?” On your schedule, there are things you really want to do, things you definitely don’t want to do, and things you just have to do to keep it going and not lose yourself in the midst of all those things.
I want people to think about that, too. On social media, everybody’s like, “Drop this [music].” You’re trying to still be an artist and you’re trying to live your life so you can write songs that you relate to. It’s not all glitz and glamour. The payoff is amazing, but I feel like sometimes I read comments talking about an artist. I’m like, “Girl, you have no idea what the smoke is like over here.” You have to make sure that you do what’s necessary, but also the things that are you. They don’t mesh all the time.
Where do you display your Grammy?
Right now it’s nowhere, because they have to engrave it and ship it out. It’s going to my mom’s house. When I get married and settle down into my life, that’s when I’ll be like, “Mom, let me get some of them awards back.”
I am going to end by sourcing some of NME’s recent interview with Coco Jones. Someone who is getting recognition and attention in the U.K., I feel her debut album will cement that. So many new fans are coming her way. I wanted to spend time with Coco Jones, as I think that she is someone who is one of the most phenomenal and inspiring voices in music. I am interested to see how her career and develops through the next few years:
“Courtney “Coco” Jones joins NME on a Zoom call from California, where she’s buzzing about the release of her latest track ‘Here We Go (Uh Oh)’ on Def Jam Recordings. The smooth and retro-sounding cut has swooning vocals and a catchy chorus, with lyrics which narrate the emotions that come with heartbreak and second chances in the 21st century. “I know when you said goodbye / It don’t mean no goodbye,” she sings over a sample of Lenny Williams’ slow-burning 1978 soul ballad ‘Cause I Love You’.
Jones was nominated for five categories in total that night: Best R&B Performance, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, Best Traditional R&B Performance, and Best New Artist, where she was up against Ice Spice, Fred Again, Gracie Abrams, and eventual winner Victoria Monét. Although she was shocked upon hearing of her nominations, it also didn’t come out of nowhere: “It’s always been a goal of mine. I think every singer who looks up to someone is inspired by the Grammys and the level of accolades and recognition, but I was especially proud to be nominated for five!”
PHOTO CREDIT: Paige Margulies
Signing to iconic hip-hop label Def Jam in 2022 skyrocketed her career to a new height. The label is known for fostering talent such as Jhené Aiko during her early days, and Rihanna, whose first seven albums, including ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ and ‘Loud’, were released through the imprint. Jones’ 2022 debut single on the label ‘Caliber’, filled with wistful vocals and deep basslines, surged her into the public eye.
One of the ways she refined her musical identity and a coveted spot at a legendary imprint was by learning about the genres she is drawn to and developing a deeper understanding of it. “R&B has gotten more modernised,” she says.
“I think what people are really looking for is songs that inspire a feeling. Songs that have some sense of urgency, and it’s in the genre of R&B but it’s really this feeling thing that people are looking for mainly. I’m just doing the things that make me feel something, that’ll relate to whoever the right audience is.”
She attributes her love for R&B and soul to her family and upbringing. She says: “I think what draws me to R&B is familiarity and relatability. I feel like whatever music you’re raised on, you naturally gravitate more towards – R&B feels like home to me. R&B has so much cultural impact in Black American culture, and [other genres like] soul is Black history – so a lot of why I like it is because I’m a Black woman and it’s my history.”
Jones credits her father (a former NFL player) and mother (a backing singer) for being a crucial support system in her teenage years while she learned these qualities: “My mom is always so wise… she taught me how powerful it is to be confident.”
Her mother is equally as appreciative of her children, and wears their achievements with pride. Jones’ Grammy trophy is at her mother’s place; “I always send my awards to my mom… she has her own section in the house for all of her kids and all of the accolades that we’ve ever won.”
Her journey from Disney Channel star to Grammy-winning singer was not straight-forward. Disney’s music operation, Hollywood Records, signed Jones at 15 – before dropping her almost a year later following creative differences. “That knocked me all the way back,” she explains. “It was uncomfortable for me, I did a lot of partying to cope with not being where I wanted to be in life. But it also helped me forge a relationship with my faith and with God… I really wasted years with negativity and distractions. Now I’ve learnt my lessons from that.”
It took her a lot of hard work to reach the point of being able to sign to a major label again, but she credits her work ethic for the achievement; “I would just put things out. I did independent releases and funded my own videos and I auditioned a lot and would put myself out there. I would post covers even if they got low views, I did something everyday.”
In the period she was unsigned, Jones released an EP titled ‘HDWY’ [He Don’t Want You]. Written during the span of her first breakup, Jones flexes her vapory, husky voice and flaunts her newly curated R&B and neo-soul sound. “I learned what I lacked sonically through discovery of new music coming out at the time,” she explains. “I was heavily inspired by people like SZA and PARTYNEXTDOOR, and I liked people that told the truth. I can’t act like there’s nothing going on with my life, I had to figure out my truth too.”
It’s this radical honesty in her musical which made a successful comeback possible – redefining her brand from a former Disney pop star to an unashamedly authentic vocalist. She describes herself as an “emotional person”, but says that this helps her in both her singing and acting skills. “[Singing and acting] have to deal with emotion, in different ways. One is like your own story, and the other is like a story that was written,” she says.
Jones currently has a main role in Peacock’s Bel-Air, reprising Karyn Parsons’ Hilary Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She’s enjoying it and draws similarities between Hilary and herself: “We’re both girls’ girls,” she laughs, and compares Hilary’s likeliness to the girls she is friends with in real life. She commends the skills of her castmates and is happy to be both singing and acting again. “It’s hard to balance, though, I’m not gonna hold you!”
Moving forward, she wants to hone her redefined sound and mix it with new influences in a full length project. “I just want to outdo everything I’ve already done, and experiment with new sounds,” she says. Yet, despite having already been nominated for prestigious genre-specific awards, she is determined to make herself a staple name in the industry. “R&B is more of a patience game, whereas something like pop could be a trend overnight. With R&B, it’s like a seed that needs to sprout and then grow. I want to modernise R&B”.
I am excited looking ahead to the release of Coco Jones’ debut album. Such a wonderful artist, this is someone that everyone needs to know about. Quite the opportunity salute this queen. An award-winning treasure and modern-day icon, everyone needs to follow her (Twitter: @TheRealCocoJ/Instagram: @cocjones). Here is a multi-talented artist…
POISED for greatness.