Coco Jones is fearless on debut album 'Why Not More?'
By GARY GERARD HAMILTON
What music would you create if there weren't any outside influences or self-imposed creative restraints? That's what singer-actor Coco Jones contemplated.
'What would I do if I didn't have any fear of comparing myself to 'ICU' and my EP? Or if I thought there was some formula that people wanted from me?' Jones wondered. 'That was kind of the mood: just be fearless.'
The R&B star attempted to answer herself on her debut album — 'Why Not More?," — releasing Friday. It follows her 2022 breakout EP 'What I Didn't Tell You.'
'I'm just proud of every version of myself that I've been, and who I'll become after this album,' said Jones, who took home her first Grammy earlier this year with 'ICU' winning best R&B performance. 'And really proud of putting together a project that I feel confident in.'
The 14-track album from the 'Bel-Air' actor traverses through a spectrum of R&B sonics and vibes, from introspective to seductive, Pop&B to Trap&B. Writing on every song, Jones secured production from StarGate, London on Da Track and Jasper Harris and features from Future and YG Marley.
One of the faces of the new generation of R&B, she doesn't shy away from the pressure that can come with attempting to replicate the success of a song like 'ICU.'
'There was a pressure to outdo myself. But I also have to remind myself that I wasn't trying to win anything … I was just doing me,' explained Jones, who said for the first time, she was patient with herself during studio sessions for her debut, not focused on leaving with a completed song each time. 'I was just doing what felt right. I was being honest, I was just being vulnerable.'
'Why Not More?' highlights Jones' vast range of melodic styles. Four singles have been released including 'Here We Go (Uh Oh),' which earned Jones her first No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart, and 'Taste,' which contains an interpolation of Britney Spears' hit song 'Toxic' and is currently at No. 15.
In the ballad 'Other Side of Love,' Jones finds herself at a crossroads in a relationship, singing 'I don't know why I can't get your love outta my mind / It's like I try but you come back around every time.'
'It's probably the oldest song on the album … It was always a song that I knew was on the back burner whenever I was ready, I had something right there ready for them. But it was kind of just not time yet,' said the 27-year-old Tennessee native. 'I might drop a song like 'Taste,' but I'm always gonna have a song like 'Other Side of Love' because I can't deny that version of myself either.'
Empowerment is also a theme, rejecting codependence and embracing self-love on 'By Myself.'
'The song that defines me the most is 'By Myself.' I wrote that one literally because I was going through a situation verbatim, and I was like I don't wanna feel like anybody else is so crucial for me to be the best version of me — I can't live like that,' she said. 'All of the answers can't come from anyone else … I'm so big on the inner work and therapy and growing emotionally.'
Jones, who stars as Hilary Banks on the drama series 'Bel-Air,' is prepping for the fourth and final season which hasn't started production. She'll balance filming with her upcoming tour, launching May 6 in Philadelphia.
A self-described overachiever, the former Disney Channel actor says there are many goals she wants to reach, but she's traveling in the right direction.
'My childhood dreams, I still have yet to fully achieve them all. I definitely see them materializing, but the way I thought of myself as a kid was huge, like larger than life,' said Jones, who first signed a record deal at 14. 'I have a lot of ways to go to really be what childhood Coco saw for me. And I hope I do, because I was shooting for the galaxy.'
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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26-04-2025
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Coco Jones is fearless on debut album 'Why Not More?'
By GARY GERARD HAMILTON What music would you create if there weren't any outside influences or self-imposed creative restraints? That's what singer-actor Coco Jones contemplated. 'What would I do if I didn't have any fear of comparing myself to 'ICU' and my EP? Or if I thought there was some formula that people wanted from me?' Jones wondered. 'That was kind of the mood: just be fearless.' The R&B star attempted to answer herself on her debut album — 'Why Not More?," — releasing Friday. It follows her 2022 breakout EP 'What I Didn't Tell You.' 'I'm just proud of every version of myself that I've been, and who I'll become after this album,' said Jones, who took home her first Grammy earlier this year with 'ICU' winning best R&B performance. 'And really proud of putting together a project that I feel confident in.' The 14-track album from the 'Bel-Air' actor traverses through a spectrum of R&B sonics and vibes, from introspective to seductive, Pop&B to Trap&B. Writing on every song, Jones secured production from StarGate, London on Da Track and Jasper Harris and features from Future and YG Marley. One of the faces of the new generation of R&B, she doesn't shy away from the pressure that can come with attempting to replicate the success of a song like 'ICU.' 'There was a pressure to outdo myself. But I also have to remind myself that I wasn't trying to win anything … I was just doing me,' explained Jones, who said for the first time, she was patient with herself during studio sessions for her debut, not focused on leaving with a completed song each time. 'I was just doing what felt right. I was being honest, I was just being vulnerable.' 'Why Not More?' highlights Jones' vast range of melodic styles. Four singles have been released including 'Here We Go (Uh Oh),' which earned Jones her first No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart, and 'Taste,' which contains an interpolation of Britney Spears' hit song 'Toxic' and is currently at No. 15. In the ballad 'Other Side of Love,' Jones finds herself at a crossroads in a relationship, singing 'I don't know why I can't get your love outta my mind / It's like I try but you come back around every time.' 'It's probably the oldest song on the album … It was always a song that I knew was on the back burner whenever I was ready, I had something right there ready for them. But it was kind of just not time yet,' said the 27-year-old Tennessee native. 'I might drop a song like 'Taste,' but I'm always gonna have a song like 'Other Side of Love' because I can't deny that version of myself either.' Empowerment is also a theme, rejecting codependence and embracing self-love on 'By Myself.' 'The song that defines me the most is 'By Myself.' I wrote that one literally because I was going through a situation verbatim, and I was like I don't wanna feel like anybody else is so crucial for me to be the best version of me — I can't live like that,' she said. 'All of the answers can't come from anyone else … I'm so big on the inner work and therapy and growing emotionally.' Jones, who stars as Hilary Banks on the drama series 'Bel-Air,' is prepping for the fourth and final season which hasn't started production. She'll balance filming with her upcoming tour, launching May 6 in Philadelphia. A self-described overachiever, the former Disney Channel actor says there are many goals she wants to reach, but she's traveling in the right direction. 'My childhood dreams, I still have yet to fully achieve them all. I definitely see them materializing, but the way I thought of myself as a kid was huge, like larger than life,' said Jones, who first signed a record deal at 14. 'I have a lot of ways to go to really be what childhood Coco saw for me. And I hope I do, because I was shooting for the galaxy.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Times
10-04-2025
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I've only just come back from Osaka, but I'm ready to hit the Expo
You've probably noticed a lot of chatter about 大阪 (Ōsaka, Osaka) this week. 大阪・関西万博が4月13日に 開幕する からです (Ōsaka Kansai banpaku ga shi-gatsu jūsan-nichi ni kaimaku suru kara desu, That's because the Osaka-Kansai Expo will open on April 13). Osaka held Japan's first World Expo in 1970, and the 2025 edition will mark the first 海の上の万博 (umi no ue no banpaku, Expo on the sea) on an artificial island called 夢洲 (Yumeshima, Yumeshima). 万博のテーマは「いのち輝く未来社会のデザイン」です (Banpaku no tēma wa 'Inochi kagayaku mirai shakai no dezain' desu). While the theme of the Expo is officially rendered as ' Designing Future Society for Our Lives ,' a more literal translation might be 'Designing a Future Society in which Life Shines.' When it comes to the 万博, there has been a lot of talk about costs and low attendance in the news, but one other aspect of the event is grabbing a large share of discussion online : ミャクミャク (Myaku-Myaku). This red-and-blue character is the Expo's official mascot and is described on the official website as 「細胞と水がひとつになったことで生まれた、ふしぎな生き物」 ('saibō to mizu ga hitotsu ni natta koto de umareta, fushigina ikimono,' 'a mysterious creature born from the fusion of cells and water'). Also called ミャクミャク様 (Myaku-Myaku-sama), the creature's name plus a playful honorific, it has a blue body with a red head that is kind of in the shape of a cruller donut. The head has several unfocused eyes on it, and there's another eye on its red tail. 大阪万博では、 世界最大の木造建造物 とされる 大屋根リング や8つのシグネチャーパビリオンばかりでなく、各国の展示も大きな見どころです (Banpaku dewa, sekai saidai no mokuzō kenzōbutsu to sareru ōyane ringu ya yattsu no sigunechā pabirion bakari de naku, kakkoku no tenji mo ōkina midokoro desu, At the Osaka Expo, not only [can you see] the world's largest wooden structure — the Grand Ring — and eight Signature Pavillions, but the exhibitions of each country are also major must-see attractions). The auxiliary particle ばかり (bakari), which you will have spotted in the previous paragraph, can have many different meanings depending on the context. ばかり usually defines the limit of a scope or range, similar to the English 'only' or 'just' when added after nouns: お菓子ばかり食べていると体に悪い (O-kashi bakari tabete-iru to karada ni warui, Eating only sweets is bad for the body). Naturally, at the Expo souvenir shop, ミャクミャクのお土産ばかり売っている (Myaku-Myaku no omiyage bakari utte-iru, they are selling nothing but Myaku-Myaku-themed souvenirs). You can also tack on ばかり to a verb in its te-form, such as, 彼はスマホを見てばかりいる (Kare wa sumaho o mite bakari iru, He's always staring at his smartphone). In this case, ばかり is being used to indicate the limited extent of the subject's behavior. Note how ばかり is placed after 見て (mite) but before いる (iru), too. The term can also be used with ～する (~suru, to do~) verbs, as in, うちの子は遅刻してばかりだ (Uchi no ko wa chikoku shite bakari da, My child is always running late). It's worth noting that in everyday conversation, ばかり is often given extra emphasis and pronounced ばっかり (bakkari): 寝てばっかりいないで出かけよう！ (Nete bakkari inai de dekakeyō!, Stop sleeping [all day long] and let's go out!). This stressed pronunciation is common with other structures that use ばかり, except for ～ばかりでなく (~bakari de naku). When ばかり comes with a negation, such as ～ばかりでなく, in the middle of a sentence, it suggests the scope isn't limited. That's why in our previous example about the Osaka Expo we use it to stress all the other things you can see at the event. Therefore, ～ばかりでなく serves the same purpose as the English 'not only... but': 万博では展示ばかりでなく食事も楽しめるだろう (Banpaku dewa tenji bakari de naku shokuji mo tanoshimeru darō, At the Expo, not just the exhibition but the food should also be enjoyable). Take note that the English translation here is more literal than natural, and in casual conversation you may be more likely to hear people use ～ばっかりじゃなくて (~bakkari ja nakute). The English word 'just' can be used to mean 'only' or indicate something that happened shortly beforehand, and ばかり operates in the same way: 今電話したばかりだよ (Ima denwa shita bakari dayo, [I] just called [you]). When ばかり is attached to the past tense of a verb, its ta-form, it points to something having just happened, as in the above example or さっき食べたばかりで、まだお腹がいっぱい (Sakki tabeta bakari de, mada onaka ga ippai, I just ate and I'm still full). ばかり can also be used as a conjunctive particle in the structure ～たばかりに (~ta bakari ni, because of~/ due to~). In this situation, it's used to highlight a reason for expressing a negative result: 無理をしたばかりに入院しなくてはいけなくなった (Muri o shita bakari ni nyūin shinakutewa ikenaku natta, Because [I] pushed myself too hard, I had to be hospitalized) — this implies that the hospitalization wouldn't have been necessary if the speaker hadn't worked too hard. On the other hand, when the particle と (to) comes at the start of this same structure, as in ～とばかりに (~to bakari ni, as if/ as though), it works to stress what comes before it: 彼女は人混みにはうんざりだとばかりに顔をしかめた (Kanojo wa hitogomi niwa unzari da to bakari ni kao o shikameta, She scowled as if she was fed up with the crowd). 大阪には行ったばかりだけど、万博を見逃すわけにはいかない (Ōsaka niwa itta bakari dakedo, banpaku o minogasu wake niwa ikanai, I recently visited Osaka, but there's no way I'll miss the Expo). There's no need to hurry, however, as the event runs until Oct. 13, which gives you six months to get your travel plans ready.
