CultureJoJo talks to Nick Levine about alcoholism, body dysmorphia, toxic relationships and her comeback after years of being silenced
Thursday, 7th May 2020, 12:49 pm
In 2004, a 13-year-old pop star known only as JoJo became the youngest female solo artist to score a US number one. Leave (Get Out) was supremely catchy pop R&B that has proven surprisingly enduring.
When it hit the top, 16 years ago, JoJos mother ordered her a pizza to celebrate. At 13, what else was I gonna do? she says wryly.
Baby Its You, a collaboration with rapper Bow Wow, swiftly followed, and JoJos future seemed full of promise. Her self-titled debut album went platinum and her 2006 follow-up, The High Road, yielded another big hit: Too Little Too Late, a wistful mid-tempo tune that still sounds fantastic today.
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By now, she was also winning acting roles in films including RV, a road trip comedy starring Robin Williams, and looked set to become the next teenage triple threat actor-singer-dancer what Britney Spears had been before her, and what Miley Cyrus would become, years later.But then things went devastatingly quiet, for reasons she still doesnt fully understand.
Her (now-defunct) label Blackground Records, with whom she signed at the age of 12, repeatedly refused to release her third album, prompting fans to launch a #FreeJoJo viral campaign. Until her contract with Blackground finally expired in 2014, her career was stuck in limbo for seven years.
You can understand, then, why Joanna Levesque, now 29, had never even a thought of postponing her new album, Good to Know, until after lockdown.
It is her most raw and revealing yet: she sings about using alcohol to block out her problems on Pedialyte a song named after a sports drink hangover cure and wrongfoots us on the fabulously carnal Comeback.
It is not, as listeners might presume from the title, a song about her return to musical prominence, but instead a celebration of make-up sex with an ex.
We need music at this time, JoJo says today. Theres so much uncertainty right now and I just wanna give my fans what Ive been working on. Speaking via Zoom from her home in LA (where she recently recorded a quarantine-themed Leave remake called Chill (Stay In), she is open, and has the calm self-confidence of someone who has worked hard to put their worst days behind them.
JoJos positivity is both impressive and heartening, especially when you hear how her self-esteem plummeted when she was silenced in her teens. She recalls feeling deeply embarrassed when she bumped into Justin Timberlake backstage at a live show; she prided herself on having a strong work ethic and feared he might presume she was responsible for her lack of new music.
She also thought, mistakenly, that if she tried hard enough and did everything she was told by label executives, she would soon be back in the charts. At one point, she was even placed by a label-recommended nutritionist on a 500 calorie-a-day diet and given weight loss injections a gruelling regime she willingly submitted to because she thought it would kick-start her career.
I remember thinking: OK, well this is a part of the industry now that Im 18. This is just the way it is for female artists, she recalls. I didnt think I could question it, because they positioned it like it was part of my responsibility as an artist. I take my job seriously, so I was vulnerable to trying to make it work however I could.
Six months later, when her music still wasnt being released, JoJo abandoned the diet. I was like: Oh, so it doesnt matter how I look or if Im as lean as possible, thats still not good enough? F**k this! she says.
And then I gained all the weight back and more when your body thinks youre pregnant, which is what those hormone injections do, you go through fluctuations.
She says she ended up hurting myself and really falling into depression and not being able to focus on other things, like my acting career.
She also began to engage in toxic relationships, including one that, in hindsight, sounds dangerous. I was in an abusive situation with a boyfriend when I was about 20, and I really hurt my back from that I remember him pushing me down, she recalls. There was a lot of pushing and shoving and reckless driving and crazy stuff. I know I would not have engaged in that had I loved myself and felt confident.
'I felt very strongly that I was meant to sing'
During this period, she fell into an equally toxic relationship with alcohol, which lasted until she was 26.
She wouldnt drink constantly, and could abstain when on tour, but drinking became a crutch when she was at a low ebb. When I was really unsure about what was going on with my career, I would cope by trying to not care. And thats where alcohol came in, she says matter-of-factly.
Today, JoJo shares her experiences without a trace of self-pity or bitterness. She says she cant hold a grudge against her former label because without them, I wouldnt have this career Ive always dreamed of having.
In 2018, she made the empowering decision to re-record her first two albums so they would be available on streaming platforms such as Spotify for the first time.
Still, I have to ask whether she ever considered quitting the industry that treated her so poorly.
I never entertained that thought in any serious way, because Id never forgive myself if I didnt keep going, she says. I feel very strongly that I was meant to sing.
JoJo also credits her humble upbringing with giving her pluck and resilience: her parents divorced when she was four and her mother raised her in a one-bedroom apartment in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
I dont come from money and connections my mom cleaned houses and sang in the Catholic church, she says.
So the life that I create is the life that I have.
JoJos third album, Mad Love, returned her to the top 10 in 2016 and her comeback saw her embraced as a kind of all-conquering hero by pop fans. But she is approaching things differently with Good to Know.
'People should come from a place of loving themselves'
For the first time in her adult life, she has stayed single for a sustained period of time so she can focus on being creative. She has also learnt to say no to career opportunities that dont feel right.
The result is an unapologetic pop-R&B album that shows off her soulful voice.
This album is so much about sex and sensuality, and I dont feel any shame about that, she says. I have felt some shame about how my decisions have impacted people I love, but thats something Im riding through and figuring out. But I dont feel the need to be like: OK, girls, keep your pussy on lock until youre married.
Thats just not me. People should come from a place of loving themselves and then doing what they want.
