10 Artists the Industry Tried to Push On Us (& Failed)

Welcome to MsMojo, where we’ll be discussing ten times the industry tried to make a musical act mainstream but failed spectacularly.

Jojo Siwa

In the late 2010s, Nickelodeon put a great deal of effort into making Jojo Siwa their next big star. Despite the push, she never quite reached mainstream stardom. Her initial persona was characterized by bright colors and a childlike enthusiasm, but she’s since rebranded to look more gothic. Her 2016 track “Boomerang” has over a billion views on YouTube, but on regular streaming services, she’s a long way from mainstream. After leaving Nickelodeon, she released the EP “Guilty Pleasure,” which received a fair share of negative criticism. Even though her music isn’t as lucrative as hoped, she’s still a prominent social media influencer.

Quavo

If you kept up with the charts during the 2010s, you may remember when it felt like Quavo was a feature on every single charting track. His career was kick-started as the frontman of Migos, a now disbanded rap group. Quavo managed to get featured on a plethora of top ten singles, from artists like Post Malone, Justin Bieber, and DJ Khaled. His first solo album made some noise. In 2023, his second album, “Rocket Power,” had moderate success, but it’s a long way from mainstream. So he can hardly be considered a failure, but he hasn’t become as big as the industry hoped.

Fifty Fifty

This K-pop girl group debuted in 2022 and quickly achieved global fame with their track “Cupid.” They wouldn’t maintain this momentum for long, however. In 2023, the group filed a lawsuit against their label, Attrakt. The court sided with Attrakt, and the case was dismissed in August 2023. Soon after, three of the four members were fired. They’ve since hired four more members, but the scandal has seriously tanked their reputation. Subsequent releases haven’t come close to reaching the fame of “Cupid” and they’re unlikely to recover. The fired members have started their own group, Ablume, which achieved moderate success with their debut track “Echo” but has also been somewhat tainted by the scandal.

Cody Simpson

Back when Bieberfever had spread wildly across the globe, Australia decided to respond with their own act, Cody Simpson. His early marketing presented him as a teen heartthrob, but he never overtook Bieber as hoped. He wasn’t a total failure; he earned a name for himself in his home country and had some success internationally. But as he grew and matured, he never succeeded at becoming an adult pop star, unlike Bieber. In 2022, he shifted careers and became a professional swimmer. Unfortunately, it also didn’t go too well, as he failed to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. As a result, he’s returning to music.

Jaden Smith

Two of Will Smith’s three children, Jaden and Willow, have tried following in their father’s footsteps and becoming mainstream musicians. Willow has arguably been fairly successful, releasing a variety of popular tracks and albums. Jaden, on the other hand, hasn’t reached the same level of mainstream fame. Even though he’s collaborated with huge names like Tyler, the Creator and Justin Bieber, he’s never become part of hip hop’s top dogs. Instead, Jaden is more known for his acting, fashion, and his hilarious tweets. The music has always felt secondary to the public, but he’s acquired a cult following despite this.

Sky Ferreira

Our next entry might be the most complex case on the list. In 2013, Ferreira released her debut album “Night Time, My Time,” which received many positive reviews. Afterwards, she disappeared from the scene for years. For over a decade, she’s teased a follow-up album, but as of this writing it’s still not released. Her label has been desperate for her to become a mainstream pop star, but they’ve never seen eye to eye. She considers herself a perfectionist and has accused her label of sabotage. A lot of the issues stem from her label giving her a lack of creative control. So, the industry has been pushing her to become a star, but she just wants to make the music that makes her happy.

Normani

Fifth Harmony was one of the most celebrated girl bands of the century. After their breakup in 2018, they put tons of effort into starting a solo career for member Normani. She was considered one of the strongest members, getting treated like the next big thing. Her first solo single, “Motivation,” quickly went viral. She ended up unable to maintain this momentum. It took her five years to release her debut album “Dopamine,” which seriously underperformed. It received decent reviews, but pop fans had just moved on by that point. She’s undeniably talented, but a combination of factors caused her to fade from the spotlight, despite being set up to dominate it.

Iggy Azalea

In 2014, Azalea was dominating the charts with her monster hit “Fancy” featuring Charli XCX. Now, Azalea is kind of niche, whereas Charli XCX is one of pop’s biggest names. Azalea's later tracks flopped hard, and her 2019 album was a commercial failure. A lot of it was her own doing, it turns out. For instance, in 2015, she was accused of tweeting racist and homophobic statements. She then started beef with her label, Britney Spears, Halsey, and even her mentor, T.I. After struggling for years to regain relevance, she retired from music completely in 2024.

Kim Petras

In 2021, Petras signed with a major label after years of releasing music independently. This allowed her to collaborate with artists like Nicki Minaj, Sam Smith, and the controversial Dr. Luke. Her track “Unholy” with Sam Smith won a Grammy Award, making her the first trans woman to win in a major pop category. Regardless of this, her solo career has never topped the charts. Her longtime fans felt alienated by her label-driven pop, but it wasn’t catchy enough to attract new fans. Still, Petras has achieved huge milestones for trans representation in pop music. She’s clearly talented, but she’s unlikely to achieve full-on pop stardom, as her label has hoped.

Before we discuss our last pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Ashlee Simpson

A Lip-Synching Scandal Ended the Career of Jessica Simpson’s Younger Sister

Kep1er

Except for One Song, This Girl Group Has Yet to Become Mainstream

Got the Beat

Despite Being a Supergroup, They’ve Never Been as Big as Their Original Projects

Rita Ora

In the early 2010s, Rita Ora became one of Britain’s biggest pop stars, but is barely known in the United States. It’s not for a lack of trying, but Ora is more known for hosting “America’s Next Top Model” and appearing in the “Fifty Shades” series. When she was first signed to Roc Nation by Jay-Z in 2009, she was promoted as the next Rihanna. After years of trying, this never came true. She’s still had a highly successful career, and is a household name in the UK, but that’s not the global market the industry intended.

Were there any particularly disastrous industry plants we failed to mention? Why don’t you let us know in the comments section!