Coco Jones Talks 5 Grammy Nods, Collaborating With Reneé Rapp & ‘Bel-Air’ Season 3

Few people had a bigger 2023 than Coco Jones — and she could very well turn 2024 into an even bigger year following Sunday night’s 2024 Grammys, where she’s nominated for a whopping five Golden Gramophones.

Ahead of Music’s Biggest Night, Billboard staff writer Kyle Denis sat down with Jones to break down her whirlwind year and her feelings going into her first Grammy Awards as a nominee. At Sunday night’s telecast, Jones is nominated for best new artist, best R&B song (“ICU”), best R&B performance (“ICU”), best traditional R&B performance (“Simple,” with Babyface) and best R&B album (What I Didn’t Tell You – Deluxe).

“The Grammys are just a very respected group of people who earned their voice and their credits and credentials,” she says. “To me, I respect everyone who is nominated and decides because I just feel like the Grammys also help up-and-coming [artists and creatives]. For them to recognize the work that I’m doing, it just feels very affirming.”

The “Caliber” singer continues, “When I first learned I was nominated, I was on the plane. I definitely was asleep. My phone was vibrating so much, I was like, ‘This turbulence is crazy!’ But what I realized was, everyone was texting me congratulations.”

Last year, Jones earned her first Billboard Hot 100 entry with “ICU” (No. 62), which earned a remix featuring Justin Timberlake and also reached the top of Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and R&B Digital Song Sales. The success of “ICU” also gave way to a deluxe version of 2022 EP, What I Didn’t Tell You, which climbed to No. 6 on Heatseekers Albums — her first appearance on the chart in exactly a decade. In addition to her own music, Jones has lent her talents to collaborations with the likes of Brent Faiyaz (“Moment of Your Life”), Lil Tjay (“Grateful”), Adekunle Gold (“Make It Easy”) and Mean Girls movie musical star Reneé Rapp (“Tummy Hurts”).

“I have to say I really loved [working with] Reneé Rapp,” Jones gushes. “I think that was just so cool because it was mixing pop and R&B, and that’s something I want to do moving forward, so I like that. To me, it was kind of like foreshadowing.”

Like Rapp, Jones is also an acclaimed multi-hyphenate. She’s currently gearing up to film the forthcoming new season of Peacock’s Bel-Air, in which she portrays the ever-fashionable Hilary Banks. “I’m excited! A lot is still up in the air, we just ended the strike and I know everybody is getting back to work,” she says. “I’m not sure what’s in store for Hilary, I definitely want it to be surprising though, I’m like ‘Let’s up the stakes!'”

After spending 2023 on a major headlining tour, racking up R&B smashes and promoting season two of Bel-Air, Jones is ready to conquer the new year with the lessons she’s learned from those experiences. “Everything’s in seasons,” she muses. “Sometimes, people come into your life for a season, sometimes you have seasons where you don’t understand what’s going on, but seasons are the weather so they must change and they must evolve and they must go to something different. Don’t try to hold on to whatever has outlasted its season.”