In 2004, the girls wore Juicy velour track suits, and they listened to JoJo. Ten years later, the singer’s time has come again. After signing with a new record label after essentially being held hostage by her old one for seven years (we’ll get to that later), JoJo is long overdue for a comeback.
Right now you may very well be asking yourself: “JoJo? Who is this JoJo of which you speak? The name rings a bell, but my mind draws a blank.”
To which we say: “GET OUT! (leave) RIGHT NOW!”
At 13-years-old, Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque — JoJo to “the people” — became the youngest solo artist to have a No.1 single in the US. The success of “Leave (Get Out)” was followed by “Too Little Too Late” in 2006, which broke a record previously held by Mariah Carey for jumping from 66 to 3 on the charts.
And then, in spite of these girl-empowering, sing my independence in the rain anthems’ success, the world stopped hearing from JoJo. There was never a third album — but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
JoJo signed with Blackground Records after a record producer saw her compete on America’s Most Talented Kids. Then 12-years-old, the singer signed herself away to a seven album exclusive deal. This would have been fine, if Blackground showed a sign of wanting to release her album.
“I’ve recorded about three incarnations of this third album,” JoJo told BuzzFeed in May. “We’ve chosen the track listing, we’ve done multiple album photo shoots, chosen the cover, chosen the credits, everything.” She never got a response.
Her fans even got involved in the #FreeJoJo movement:
JoJo filed her first lawsuit against Da Family Entertainment / Blackground in 2009 and another with the New York State Supreme Court in July 2013 for a breach of contract that led to artistic purgatory. While JoJo released songs on her own, she was unable to have an official album for 7 years. But after years of battling, she was only now allowed to sign with a new label, Atlantic Records, and get back to work.
And if you need more good JoJo news, her film G.B.F. (standing for Gay Best Friend) comes out Friday:
Because, if you’ll recall, JoJo is also an actress. Remember Aquamarine?
Seven-year-old JoJo who sang for Bill Cosby on Kids Say the Darndest Things (she also, strangely, performed on Maury), is pretty pleased.