#IMMusicMondays: The Rise of the Multi-talented Coco Jones
EARLY BEGINNINGS
It was inevitable that Coco Jones would achieve greatness as the daughter of former NFL player Mike Jones and session vocalist Javonda Jones. Performing from an early age, she would go on to meet with casting heads for Disney at the tender age of 9. From then, her acting and singing career would begin. In 2006, she competed on Radio Disney – with her song ‘Real You’.
From then Coco would go on to make several television appearances – performing on the popular talk show Maury and guest-starring on the Disney show So Random! Around this time in 2010, the singer released her debut EP – Coco Jones. In 2012, she starred in the Disney television movie – Let It Shine – featuring Tyler James Williams and Trevor Jackson.
Continuing to grow her acting catalogue, Coco signed to Hollywood Records – a record label of the Disney Music Group. She would go on to release her second EP, ‘Made Of‘, in 2013. It seemed like things were only getting better and better for her. However, in 2014 Hollywood Records dropped the singer/actress from the label. Undeterred, she decided to become an independent artist. Coco recorded several tracks including: ‘Peppermint’, ‘Let ‘em Know’, ‘Ghost’ and a cover of Sia’s smash-hit, ‘Chandelier’. In 2017, Coco released EP number 3– ‘Let Me Check It‘.
THE BREAKTHROUGH
Continuing to release music as an independent artist and the occasional guest appearances on TV, Coco Jones still needed to solidify herself as a leading actress in Hollywood. In 2021, it was announced she would be starring as Hilary Banks in the reimagining of the 90s sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Her role in Bel-Air earned her a BET Awards nomination for Best Actress and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nomination at the Black Reels Awards in 2022. As a young black actress, Coco Jones was finally receiving the recognition she deserved. Now it was time for her music to be in the spotlight as well.
One month after the premiere of Bel-Air, Coco announced she had signed to High Standardz and Def Jam Recordings. For her latest EP, she would work with producers such as BongoByTheWay, London on da Track, and DJ Camper. In March 2022 came the release of the lead single – ‘Caliber’, with the follow-up single, ‘ICU’, debuting in October. The latter became her first entry onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart. ‘Double Back’, was released as the final single earlier this year. She would go on to release a deluxe edition of ‘What I Didn’t Tell You‘ in January 2023 – featuring four additional tracks including ‘Simple’ – the previously released Babyface collaboration.
Receiving praise and recognition for the EP, Coco recently embarked on her first headlining tour. The What I Didn’t Tell You tour started in August before concluding in September.
THE FUTURE
With a career spanning almost twenty years, some may argue Coco Jones should be at the height of her career. But unfortunately, things don’t always work out that way. Having setbacks can often influence people to give up completely but she showed perseverance and determination.
With people constantly saying R’n’B is dead, it is alive and well. With artists like Jones at the helm, the future of this genre is in the right hands.