Coco Jones may just be releasing her debut album, but she's far from new to the game. In fact, the seasoned artist compares her album release to the feeling of deja vu.
"What the hell is going on?" she tells GRAMMY.com with a laugh. "I'm prepared [for this new chapter] in a good way for the workload that it takes, but it feels like such new territory. I'm always gonna feel that way, though."
That very humility, even with her many accomplishments — multiple acting gigs, critically acclaimed EPs and a GRAMMY-winning single — is what makes Jones such an endearing talent. And on her debut album, Why Not More?, she showcases what's made her one of R&B's brightest new stars: lyrical openness, a love for sampling R&B classics, powerful church-bred vocals, and a knack for magnetic melodies.
As Jones celebrates the release of Why Not More? and an accompanying tour (which kicks off on May 7), GRAMMY.com breaks down her decade-plus-long journey to R&B fame.
On the day of the album's release, Jones will discuss her journey during a keynote panel at the 2025 GRAMMY U Conference in New York City. In the panel "Crafting A Multifaceted Career with Coco Jones," GRAMMY U members will learn how she navigated both music and acting, and became an inspiration to young women and artists everywhere. Not a GRAMMY U member? Watch the panel live here. The 2025 GRAMMY U Conference is presented by Mastercard with participating sponsor Sony Pro Audio.
Coco Jones' story begins at age 8. The Lebanon, Tenn., native's passion for music was clear from the start, as she sang in various school talent shows and even put out a self-released, self-titled EP in 2010. That same year, she entered season three of Radio Disney's Next Big Thing, a radio singing contest for unsigned artists.
After finishing as a runner-up in 2011, the then-13-year-old Jones scored recurring guest roles on the channel's musical sketch-comedy series "So Random!" and the sitcom "Good Luck, Charlie." The following year marked her first taste of success, though, as she starred as Roxie in the 2012 Disney movie musical Let It Shine alongside Tyler James Williams, Trevor Jackson and Brandon Mychal Smith. That same year, Jones signed with Hollywood Records.
"Roxie's performance was so iconic to me. I mean, I was just so gagged," Jones recalls. "I had that tutu on with the sneaker wedge heels. I was so freaking excited to just be there and to do that. I was down to do as many takes as their hearts desired. I was living."
Less than a year after releasing her Hollywood Records debut — a pop-leaning, hip-hop-infused EP titled Made Of — Jones was dropped by the label. While it was a disheartening time, Jones credits her teenage perseverance for leading her where she is today.
"I was so certain of who the eff I was," she asserts. "But I think everything happened the way that it needed to happen. I'm proud of the little girl who showed up and gave her all. I want to be more like her, if anything. She's the blueprint."
After a few years of one-off singles and acting roles, Jones released two independent EPs in 2017 and 2019, Let Me Check It and H.D.W.Y., respectively. While the budding star continued balancing music with acting at that time, both EPs explored her R&B sensibilities and gave insight into what was to come for her future sound: Let Me Check It detailed relationship issues (from the sassy title track to the aching ballads like "Honesty") and H.D.W.Y. explored more sultry melodies ("Come Over").
Almost exactly a year after releasing H.D.W.Y., Jones took to YouTube in September 2020 to share her journey with fans in a video titled "What Really Happened." In the 30-minute clip, she detailed her professional split with Disney and Hollywood Records and navigating the industry as a Black female artist, which she further delved into in subsequent single "Hollyweird."
As she promised in the video's caption ("I still have those dream[s] and I WILL get to em PERIAAAHD lol," she wrote), Jones continued pushing forward. As the video began catching attention, so did the covers and bits she posted to her TikTok page — and it wouldn't be long before her efforts paid off.
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Amid the momentum from her YouTube and TikTok pages, Jones experienced two major career moments almost simultaneously. By March 2022, she had landed a starring role in Peacock's drama series "Bel-Air" (a reimagining of the '90s hit sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air") and a record deal with Def Jam. While the former marked her biggest acting gig post-Disney, the latter provided her the artistic autonomy she had long sought.
"It's night and day to have a label that, one, isn't trying to change me in any way. They're just trying to elevate what I naturally am, and two, that are young and look like me," Jones told Rolling Stone in 2023. "They look like me. So I don't feel like the odd one out every time I come into work. I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be."
Shooting To Stardom: The "ICU" Takeover
The growth in Jones' onscreen talent reflected her growing musical chops, as seen with the release of her career-elevating EP, What I Didn't Tell You. Released in November 2022, the project displayed her vocal versatility more than her previous EPs, as her tone ranges from provocative, pained, hopeful, and flirty. While all seven tracks highlighted her magnetism, it was the honeyed "ICU" that established her as one of R&B's most promising new stars.
Within six months of its release, "ICU" helped Jones garner commercial and critical acclaim, from scoring debuts on the Billboard charts to winning Best New Artist at the 2023 BET Awards ("I think about that one all the time," she gushes). And her fast-rising fame was further solidified at the 2024 GRAMMYs, where she was nominated in five Categories: Best R&B Album for What I Didn't Tell You, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for "ICU," Best Traditional R&B Performance for her feature on R&B legend Babyface's "Simple," and Best New Artist.
"Being a GRAMMY-nominated artist changes everything. It's such a different creative mindset when the world says, 'You're good, we like what you do,'" Jones told GRAMMY.com before her win. "It's like a gold star. It makes you want to work harder, it makes you wanna continue to impress, and it makes you impressed with yourself, too."
And Jones received a permanent gold star: the night of the ceremony, she took home the Best R&B Performance Grammy for "ICU." "I did not expect to check that off of the goal list at any time soon," she says now.
While "ICU" fueled her star-making era, Jones insists that she's grown in her confidence and creative choices since What I Didn't Tell You — including saying "no" more often to things that don't align with her artistic vision.
"'ICU' is a very vulnerable song, but when I'm out of that state, I don't like to be that open," she admits. "But being more vulnerable has allowed for some good self-reflection that has been crucial, understanding my emotions, understanding the 'whys' of things, and having stronger relationships in general."
With renewed conviction and several accolades in tow, Jones was prepared to build on the success of her breakthrough EP with an even more impactful debut album.
The title of Jones' debut album serves as an important statement following her hard-earned success: Why Not More? Signaling a new chapter, the album name is also fitting because the singer posed two questions to herself when making it: "Why wouldn't you lean into whatever you feel like is your truth right now?" and "What is your intuition telling you to do?"
"My biggest thing was, 'What are people gonna say if I do songs that aren't just like "ICU" and not super traditional? Will they still accept these versions of me?' But it's always been in me to combine pop and R&B. I mean, I started on Disney Channel," she says. "I was singing the most bubblegum pop songs for years of my life, and I loved it. So it is my truth to have these cross-genre songs, that I'm a cross-genre individual. That's how I got here. So why wouldn't I show that?"
As she alludes, Why Not More? showcases the fluidity of Jones' R&B sound more explicitly than ever before. Along with offering the heartfelt ballads that have made her a star, she dips her toes in Jamaica's tropical waters on the reggae-tinged title track featuring YG Marley and tries out contemporary pop on the vengeful "Hit You Where It Hurts."
Watch: Coco Jones Reveal Details About Her Upcoming Debut Album | 2025 GRAMMYs Red Carpet Interview
"I am just not one thing. I'm chaotic, sometimes I'm serious, I'm emotional, sometimes I'm goofy. And my music is all of those things as well. I want songs that match whatever personality I'm feeling and whatever mindset I'm in," she says. "R&B doesn't have to be love-focused all the time. I think R&B can be very flexible. That's been my goal when I've been creating these songs, to not just talk about a boy all the time.
"I just kept asking myself these questions, and that led to that inquisitive mindset that pushed me past a lot of my uncomfortability, and then inspired songs like 'Taste,'" she continues. "So Why Not More? is a self-reflection question that I want everyone who listens to the album to ask themselves — 'What would be the reason that you don't lean into who you feel like you should be right now? What's holding you back?' Really unpack that."
The album is laced with confidence and a heightened seduction, best seen with "Taste." Sampling Britney Spears' "Toxic," the after-hours single showcases both Jones' sensuality and love for millennial pop. Her conviction continues throughout Why Not More?, with the bodacious "Keep It Quiet" opener ("I pop s— too / I got a big ego," she assures), her hypnotizing coos on ballad "Thang For You," and pleads for more pleasure on "AEOMG" (which features a sophisticated interpolation of Luther Vandross classic "Never Too Much").
For Jones, every chapter of her artistry has added to her story, and she's continuously challenged herself to take her career to bigger heights.So what's her next goal? "I want my album to chart… and to make records that I can break in the future," she says. "I want to tour the world in a very large way. I want music to take me to places I've never been before, and to continue to blow my mind with the power of music."