Coco Jones

Coco Jones Biography

Courtney "Coco" Jones (born January 4, 1998) is an American actress and GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, but raised in Tennessee, she rose to prominence starring in the Disney Channel Original Movie Let It Shine in 2012, and also featured on Radio Disney's Next Big Thing in 2011. Jones then signed a record deal with Hollywood Records, releasing her EP Made Of in 2013 and touring with Mindless Behavior later that year. She was then dropped from Hollywood Records in 2014, becoming an independent artist. After the release of her debut independent single "Peppermint" in 2014, Jones released her first independent project Let Me Check It in 2017. This was followed by another EP two years later called H.D.W.Y. In September 2020, Jones spoke on her YouTube channel about her negative experiences in the beginning of her career with Disney and Hollywood Records. According to her, she was told following Let It Shine that she would star in a sequel to the movie, be given her own television series, and be able to release a studio album. Eventually, executives decided she was not marketable enough, and these plans fell through. Jones encouraged her audience to "do the math" about the situation and stated colorism is a problem in the industry. Audio bytes from Jones' video began circulating in video clips on social networking site TikTok, with some clips reaching millions of views. As of 2022, Jones stars as Hilary Banks in Bel-Air, Peacock's dramatic reimagining of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Jones would also announce that she had signed a deal with High Standardz/Def Jam, releasing her major label debut single "Caliber" on March 25.