Coco Jones received a 2026 Grammy nomination in November for her debut album, Why Not More? It's her eighth Recording Academy nod to date, all of which she worked for but never quite expected.

"I don't expect these things — but I do, but I don't," she told will.i.am during a conversation for Uproxx. "Because you're working towards a goal. I'm not working like, 'Hope nobody hears this! Period!' I'm working towards goals. But I also know I can't control anything but me. So it's like, yes, and no."

"I'm not going to sit here like, 'I knew that, I knew that, I knew that,'" she continued. "If I could tell the future, I'd be a bajillionaire!"

Coco shares that she puts in the "work like I want to receive those awards" and is relieved when she gets recognized.

"If things get nominated, if they get recognized, if they get love — even from my fans — I'm like 'whew!' Because that was hard as hell," she says. "In general, I hold everything to a really high standard, and I hope that people agree that it's high quality stuff."

Why Not More? was released in April with appearances from YG Marley, London on da Track and Future. She tells will.i.am that Jazmine Sullivan and PartyNextDoor are among her desired collaborations.

"I love Jazmine Sullivan, and I feel like we would do something soulful and sickening together. I also love PartyNextDoor," she said. "I love modern R&B, that's super chill and super laid-back and cool as hell. Because I feel like I'm not 'cool as hell,' I'm just 'real as hell.' I think that's my vibe, but I want to do something 'cool as hell.' Mysterious."

​Coco's Uproxx Visionary performance of "Thang 4 U" is now on YouTube.

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