FEATURE: Spotlight: Revisited: Coco Jones

FEATURE:

Spotlight: Revisited

Coco Jones

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THIS is the third time…

I am featuring this artist. I included her in my Spotlight feature back in 2023. The wonderful Coco Jones released her debut studio album, Why Not More?, in April. I am going to end with a review for the album. However, before I get there, I am including a few interviews with Jones. If you are nearby and can see her on tour then go and book a ticket. Having starred in Bel-Air as Hilary Banks (the series ended last year), there is going to be other acting opportunities for Coco Jones. A GRAMMY-winning artist (she won for Best R&B Performance for her song, ICU). I am going to start out with some biography for this dazzling and multi-talented artist:

“Coco Jones has captivated the world with her timeless artistry, sensual voice and emotive songs to become R&B’s breakout artist. She signed with High Standardz/Def Jam in 2022 and released the EP What I Didn’t Tell You with the lead single “ICU,” which has been certified platinum. In 2024, she was nominated for an impressive five Grammy Awards—including the coveted Best New Artistaccolade— and won for Best R&B Performance “ICU.” The song was lauded by fans and critics alike and peaked at #1 on the Billboard R&B Airplay chart, leading to Best New Artist wins at the BET Awards, The Soul Train Awards and NAACP Image Awards.

With the release of 2x GRAMMY nominated song “Here We Go (Uh Oh),” as well as “Sweep It Up,” and “Most Beautiful Design” Ft. London On Da Track and Future, this next chapter finds the 26-year-old multihyphenate singer/songwriter and actress embarking on her debut album and stepping into an era of empowerment and connection.

Coco Jones was raised in Nashville, TN by a mother who was also a singer, and a father who played in the NFL. Early on, she learned the importance of following her dreams. She began recording at the age of 9 and was called to acting—first as a recurring guest on Disney’s musical sketch comedy, So Random!, and in 2012, as the golden-voiced love interest in the network’s TV movie, Let It Shine. Since then, she’s showcased her formidable acting skills playing Hilary Banks in Peacock’s Fresh Prince reboot, Bel-Air and Netflix’s Vampires vs. the Bronx. Her visibility has made her a role model for beautiful and talented dark-skinned Black women”.

I am going to move along to a 2024 interview from NME. They write how the Tennessee-raised artist has not had the smoothest ride, though she is getting her second chance. A successful actor and acclaimed artist, it was definitely a new chapter for Coco Jones. She aims to redefine R&B. I think she is doing that. We have a wave of great British R&B artists coming through. I have not followed modern U.S. as closely as I should. I have been a fan of Coco Jones for a few years now:

“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.”

Her time at the Disney Channel sharpened her superstar qualities from a young age. In 2012 she starred as one of the lead roles in TV film Let It Shine, alongside Abbott Elementary’s Tyler James Williams. She also had recurring roles in the shows Good Luck Charlie and So Random!, acting alongside Disney alumni Bridgit Mendler and Demi Lovato.

Being a Disney girl was the dream for Jones as a child; “I was obsessed with Cheetah Girls! I always wanted to be on Disney, so I just went to loads of auditions,” she explains. The experience taught her about how to hustle and compartmentalise, she says, which are lessons she carries to this day.

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”.

Last year was a huge year for Coco Jones. It was one where her music was taking off. There were some great interviews from last year. ELLE spotlighted an artist who was doing things her own way. I know Why Not More? is among this year’s best albums. We are going to hear a lot more albums from Jones. Such a remarkable and original talent:

“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”.

The final interview I am sourcing from is Harper’s Bazaar. Reacting to Coco Jones attending the Academy Awards “in what she calls “Coco and Coach’s version”, it was an interesting conversation. In spite of a typo on their part – ‘Brittany Spears’ should be ‘Britney Spears’ -, we get to learn new things about one of the most spectacular and promising artists in R&B:

“What’s your biggest inspiration, both style wise and in your career, and how has that influenced your work and approach to success?

I will not lie. I do get a lot of my influence from the ‘90s and the early 2000s. I think I would probably say that Destiny's Child has influenced my style the most. I love super feminine skin-tight crop tops, body showing.

You recently released your single “Taste,” which includes a sample of Brittany Spears’ 2003 track “Toxic” with an R&B spin. What about that song and/or Britney Spears inspired this single?

I have been doing a lot of experimenting with this album. I feel like one of my goals is to continue to push the boundaries of what R&B can be. People, I think, are also still learning about me. I'm still learning about me. But when you put out your first album, it's kind of like, hey, this is who I am. Some people will be hearing me for the first time and so I wanted to continue to show different sides of me. One of the sides of me that I feel like hasn't been fully represented yet is I did a lot of music in the pop world. I mean, I was signed when I was 14. I was doing Disney Channel. And I was obsessed with Britney and Hannah Montana and all of the girls that were in that pop world. I've done a lot of, like, super R&B, very traditional, but I kind of wanted to cross that pop and R&B world in a couple of my songs on this album. And with that intention in mind, we had this pitch[ed] down “Toxic” sample of Britney, and it just kind of morphed into “Taste”, which became the single.

You just announced your debut album and tour that are coming this Spring. What are you most excited for fans to take away from this new era?

I want to be the type of artist where there's a song for every mood. There's a song for the girls who just are chill. There's a song for the girls who are ragey and have mad energy, aggressive, the toxic girls, the girls who are flirty, cutesy, and the girls who are still figuring themselves out. We all have so many sides to us that I kind of want them to be like Ben & Jerry—pick your favorite flavor.

What are some films (past or present) that have informed who you are today?

My first thought was Dream Girls. I'm also gonna say Princess Tiana, not for nothing. I do love cute animation, and I also love beignets, but not frogs, though. I would also say Clueless is one of the ones that I love. I just love that girly girl stuff and Mean Girls.

What are some of the films that are nominated that you’ve enjoyed this year?

Substance I think is super dope, and I love a lot of that cast. Honestly, it's hard to choose, because when you go to the Oscars it’s such high quality stuff. So I feel like it's hard to choose, but Substance or Wicked.

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What are you most looking forward to tonight (The Oscar’s)?

Hopefully getting to meet Ariana. Love her. I did get to meet Cynthia Erivo yesterday and she was so sweet. She actually followed me on Instagram, and then I followed her back, and she had tagged me two years ago, so super crazy. You never know who's watching and listening to your music.

We know you have a lot in store in terms of your music, but can you tell us what’s next for you in terms of your acting career?

I have a film that I executive-produced last year and I was also in. It's kind of like a black rom com that gives you those throwback vibes, and hopefully it's one of those classic staples that, you know, people fall in love with. I'm actually going to South Africa in a couple weeks to film this scary movie, but I'm not doing the scary parts. I hope to continue to build my film and TV side as much as I put that same energy into music”.

Let’s end up with a review of Why Not More? from NME. If you have not experienced Coco Jones and her amazing music then you need to rectify that. I know that she will rise to be included alongside the most influential R&B artists ever. She has the sheer talent to go as far as she wants. This is an exciting artist that everyone needs to follow:

“Coco Jones’ debut album ‘Why Not More?’ has been a hard-fought battle over a decade in the making. Following several false starts in the 2010s as she tried to transition from Disney teen actor to singer, the former NME Cover star slowly laid the groundwork for her music career. She finally took the R&B world by storm in 2022, with her sublime single ‘ICU’, a soulful ballad with shades of Brandy and Toni Braxton.

What followed were a whirlwind couple years for Jones that included several milestone firsts: the release of ‘What I Didn’t Tell You’ in November 2022, her first major label EP since 2013; her first solo headlining tour across the US and Europe in 2023; and her first Grammy win for Best R&B Performance for ‘ICU’ at the 2024 ceremony. It has all readied her for this moment.

The record is a resounding portrait of a woman unafraid, one who has navigated tough times and come out the other side swinging. On ‘Why Not More?’, Jones isn’t scared to push boundaries, whether it’s her own or R&B as a genre – or both at the same time. That’s the case on the daring ‘Taste’, where she interpolates Britney Spears’ pop classic ‘Toxic’, but flips it around with silky synths and trap beats that bring out the best of her soulful R&B voice.

That creativity is on display elsewhere on the record, too. There’s the gut-wrenching ‘Hit You Where It Hurts’, a guitar-driven moment that that wouldn’t feel out of place on an indie record, or just simple-but-smart wordplay on the Kelly Rowland-esque ‘AEOMG’ (“Fresh up out the shower, boy, it’s getting filthy / Using all my vowels, legs up on the ceiling / Talking about, A-A-E-E-O my god”). At times, there are also echoes of Aaliyah, such as on ‘Thang 4 U’.

But, of course, Jones is at her finest when her voice is the star of the show. The highlight is ‘Here We Go (Uh Oh)’, which recalls the best of Jazmine Sullivan, where Jones laments about a lover she just can’t move on from (“I wanna love another person, can I please love another person”) over a sample of ‘’Cause I Love You’ by Lenny Williams. The authentic vulnerability in her vocals doesn’t just cut through on the record’s ballads (‘By Myself’, ‘Other Side of Love’), but also on groovier cuts like the reggae-infused ‘Why Not More?’ with YG Marley.

As an album, ‘Why Not More?’ is deeper, richer and more wide-ranging than anything we’ve ever seen from Jones. But the singer also uses the record to signal that there are depths that she has yet to explore – and with this newfound sense of confidence, this album is just the beginning for this star in the making”.

I will wrap there. A magnificent artist whose music will definitely stay in the head and heart, I am interested to see where she goes next. What her next acting project is and what a second studio album might sound like and involve. I spotlighted her a couple of years ago and wanted to return to her career as she has released her debut album. It is clear that her future is going to be very bright. Coco Jones is...