When the 2024 Grammy nominees are revealed, Coco Jones and her supporters can begin celebrating a little bit sooner and have an extremely spectacular Friday: Coco Jones has been confirmed as MTV’s Global PUSH Artist for November, exclusively to Billboard.
Less than a week has passed since Jones celebrated the one-year anniversary of her debut EP with Def Jam, “What I Didn’t Tell You”. Award-winning R&B dynamo turned Disney star into powerhouse vocalist thanks to that project and its following, North American headlining tour. Jones has received nominations for album, single, and video of the year at the upcoming Soul Train Music Awards (Nov. 26), in addition to best new artist honours from the BET Awards and the NAACP Image Awards in the last year.
“ICU,” Jones’ first Billboard Hot 100 success, is located in “What I Didn’t Tell You”. The song featuring DJ Camper peaked at No. 62 after spending 20 weeks on the list. The song topped both R&B Digital Song Sales and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. Justin Timberlake, a fellow Disney alum, remixed the song.
“I feel like ‘ICU’ just kind of fell into my lap because I was so shocked by what I ended up accomplishing in the studio that day. According to a press release announcing the PUSH news, Jones states, “I heard this Camper song, and I could not skip it. “After that, I felt compelled to show my true colours and share a story that I think many can identify with: you know, when you love someone and they don’t do anything wrong, but you two are just not meant to be together.”
With “ICU,” Jones’ first RIAA Platinum record, and a plethora of new listeners, it opened up new territory for her career. The deluxe edition of “What I Didn’t Tell You”, which was out earlier this year (Jan. 20) and included three new tracks in addition to the previously released “Simple” (featuring Babyface), was made possible by the song’s success.
The first line, “something about your hands on my body,” is probably my favourite since it seems to catch people’s attention. It seems to give me a touch of the South,” Jones remarks. It brings back memories of my hometown, and people were shocked that I could sink to that depth. I think the line is simply excellent. It is quite sturdy.
Jones will collaborate with the entertainment iconoclast throughout November as MTV’s featured Global PUSH Artist to talk about her background, the memories and stories that go into her songs, and the musicians and historical periods that have influenced her. Jones considers “Cinderella,” one of The Cheetah Girls’ songs, to be a “girl power anthem,” and recalls the song as a pivotal moment in her early years. She beams, “I was the biggest Cheetah Girls fan.” “Actually, that was my very first concert, and I thought they were asking me to walk on stage, but my mother refused.”
The songs “ICU” and “Double Back,” which Jones attributes to the “Brandys, Aaliyahs, and Destiny’s Childs” of the 1990s, will also have two unique performance videos. Jones calls the latter song “one of the best songs to get [her] makeup done to or to do [her] makeup to.”
Through exclusive broadcast debuts of music videos, interviews, and video content, the MTV PUSH project seeks to introduce music lovers worldwide to a new artist each month. Lizzo, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, SZA, Chloe X Halle, H.E.R., Jack Harlow, Jorja Smith, Brockhampton, and other artists have all been featured on MTV PUSH.