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Coco Jones loves to party. But she was worried that part of her would get lost after her gloomy 2022 ballad “ICU” became a breakout single and won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance. For Jones’s next project, she planned to showcase her full personality. “I couldn’t have planned for ‘ICU’ to do what it did,” she says. “Before this new album, I was very un-opinionated. A lot of the last project was songs that I love, but not my full vision of myself. This time, it’s fully me.”
However, introducing a complete picture of the former Disney star on the just-released Why Not More has proved a bit challenging. When she dropped lead single “Taste,” some fans were hesitant to accept her sexy new persona, not to mention the song’s Britney Spears sample. But Jones was confident she was making the right move. To further break free of constrictions, she pulls from a number of influences on Why Not More to deliver a more confident, sensual side than fans are accustomed to. Jones says it’s the first time she’s felt totally in control of what she’s offering to the world. “I feel like right now, some people are into the wholesome, belting, emotional, sweetheart side of me,” she says. “But I don’t want that to be my cage. I have to be like, I’m grown, I’m grown, I’m grown.”
Clubbing
If I’m going to the club, it’s because I know I ain’t got to sing anytime soon, so I can really get into it. That really inspired the up-tempo songs on the album. I started beats from scratch with the intention of, Could this be played in a club? Could they do a cute remix to this? Also, people don’t dance enough anymore. I want you to have no choice but to dance to some of these songs.
I feel like “Keep It Quiet” has that four-on-the-floor energy. “Taste” is a little bit more of a sexy, slow club song, but they could speed it up. “AEOMG” — if you’re going to a grown and sexy club where they’re serving wines and whiskeys, you could get down with her. There’s so many R&B nights now too. People are really into those vibes in Atlanta and in Dallas.
Journaling
I tend to focus on what’s in front of me and completely forget what just happened. I sometimes speak faster than I think. I like journaling because it can remind me of what really affects me. It gives me an opportunity to revisit instead of always being on go. Journaling is the opposite. I would go back and see some things I wrote and think, That’s a real emotion right there, what song can that be?
I would say “By Myself” was one of the most verbatim songs from my journal that I wrote for this album. At the time, I was literally feeling trapped by this person. They made me feel like, You need me to be successful. I know everything. I have all the connections. I was like, I don’t even feel comfortable without you. I hated that feeling. I couldn’t live like that. It was too much pressure. That’s when I wrote “By Myself.”
PartyNextDoor’s PartyNextDoor Two
He’s created this dark R&B lane for himself, and I feel like nobody can really nail it the way he does. I was inspired by that because I feel like I’m still trying to, with this album, figure out what my sweet spot is. On PND’s first album, you see this signature wave forming. PartyNextDoor Two was like, okay, you’ve already done enough research to know what to really do here, what you’re putting in the market and what we can get from you. I know that album literally front to back. He also hasn’t been pressured to change. There’s always so much trending, but he’s stayed in that dark R&B realm. To have so many bops for all of these years but to keep it true to what you do is super, super impressive.
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Acrobatics
Aesthetically, I was, like, all over the place about what the “Taste” video could be. This was my first time having a song where I could really go completely different. So what should I do? I had sampled Britney’s “Toxic” for the track and was thinking about songs I love by her. I then thought about her album Circus. So, literally, girl, I had an acrobatics teacher bring a hoop and teach me some hoop tricks for the music video. I’m proud of myself because that was hard.
With time, I could definitely see myself finding new ways to show off my dancing abilities because I do love the payoff. But the work of it is hard. It’s definitely my weakest link. Vocals, second nature. Acting, period. Dancing, help me.
Jazmine Sullivan and Brandy
They both have a certain raspiness to their voice that makes me feel seen. Also, they’re very soulful but still can make a bop. I never want to feel like, Okay, you have the soulful voice, so you go in this category and don’t step out of it. And they have songs that are all over the spectrum, whether it’s with Jazmine’s “Girl Like Me,” or Brandy’s “When You Touch Me.” It’s like, I want people to be on that journey. We’re sweating, then we’re crying, then we’re screaming, then we’re introspective, and then we leave. I want us to be on a roller coaster together.
Freestyling
Me and my friends, we do these little rap battles. It gave me this DJ brain where I could listen to songs and be like, That part should go there. I’ll rap over a Taylor Swift song and I’m like, What could fit there? When I was freestyling on the “AEOMG” production just to get some lyrics down, I sang Luther Vandross’s “Never Too Much.” It just fit. It’s just about having fun and really locking into the song and not really worrying about what does this mean, is this a good lyric, is that a usable part?
Cold Stone Creamery
My family and I would go to the movies growing up, sometimes after church on Sundays. There was a Cold Stone right next to the theater. I would see the way my family would just make these combos with the flavors. Even though, to me, it ain’t my tea. I was reminded of that and Cold Stone on this album because, like, there are some elements of my music that are super traditional. I’m like, If I could take that flavor and mix it with this, I bet that could hit. That’s me. I am all of those influences. I’m super-traditional R&B. I did my Disney Channel thing. I sang bubblegum pop and I loved it. But I love modern R&B, too. I gotta be free to follow all of these influences. I’m not just one thing.
Some people are gonna love certain ingredients on this album, and some are gonna be like, Girl, you missed it with that. That’s fine. All I want you to do is just keep coming back to Cold Stone Creamery for the ice cream that you are into and for the ingredients that you get. You ain’t gotta like the whole thing. I don’t want to make this expectation that everybody’s got to agree with everything that I do. I can’t uphold it, because this is a time in music where there is no formula, and things trend left and right, and then they’re gone. I gotta do what feels right to me.
