"Karma" is a song by American pop band AJR, appearing as the eighth track on their third studio album Neotheater. It is the second-most popular song from the album, amassing over 106 million streams as of September 2025.
Background "Karma" was the first song made for Neotheater, with Jack Met leading the song's writing. Following The Click (2017), Jack was frustrated that he didn't feel happiness after the band's newfound success, writing the song's chorus in early 2018. "Karma" was written from the perspective of a patient in a therapist's office, expressing an "unearned lack of good fortune" The song's outro is lyrically filled with Jack going back and forth on his own thoughts and seeking affirmation from the therapist. The song reached 10 million views on YouTube in July 2022.
Composition and production The song is composed in time signature in the key of F-sharp major and follows a tempo of 156 beats per minute (bpm). "Karma" instrumentally escalates as it progresses, building each verse with orchestral backings, choirs, and cowbell. The final section drops out most instrumentation in favor of Jack's crescendoing voice. This section uses several vocal takes recorded in Portland to artificially remove breathing noises, mimicking an emotional outburst. "Karma" additionally shares vocal and instrumental melodies with songs from the same album; "100 Bad Days" and "Turning Out Pt. II", respectively.
Personnel Credits adapted from Tidal.
Adam Met – bass, backing vocals, composer Jack Met – lead vocals, instruments, composer Ryan Met – instruments, backing vocals, composer, producer, programming Chris Gehringer – mastering engineer Joe Zook – mixing engineer Ruth Kornblatt-Stier – cello Alba Avoricani – backing vocals
Charts + Weekly chart performance for "Karma" Chart (2019) Peakposition
Certifications
Footnotes
References