Impact-Site-Verification: 1395120560
Over the Influence by Joanna “JoJo” Levesque is a great look back into the life and future of a pop icon!
Note: I am an Amazon Affiliate Program member, so any Amazon links you visit, I get a small commission. More info on my Affiliate Programs page.
Joanna’s Beginnings
I’ve been following JoJo’s career since her second album The High Road in 2006, and I’ve witnessed the ups, downs, and everything in between with her career. A shy little girl from Foxbourough, Massachusetts, JoJo first got into music and acting at 7 years old when her mom had her audition for Bill Cosby’s reboot show Kids Say the Darndest Things in the 1990s. At such a young age, she was already singing DOWN the house, copying vocal powerhouses like Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Aretha Franklin. JoJo had a close relationship with her mother who was her manager at the time. It was so endearing to read about her and her mom’s adventures traveling across Boston, New York and New Jersey. Meanwhile, while JoJo was living her dream, she’d always kept in mind of how much her mom struggled with money and finances. Her dad was in and out of her life, also dealt with addiction issues. And JoJo is an only child, and always felt like she had to carry the weight of both parents.
JoJo’s Big Break
JoJo wrote about getting her big break by meeting with Aaliyah’s uncle (Yes, that Aaliyah!! RIP) Barry Henderson, along with executive producer Vincent Herbert at 12 years old. She got signed to Blackground Records shortly after meeting Barry and started working on her first album. Reading along her adventures as a young kid growing up in the music industry, touring with Usher, meeting Britney Spears, so many other incredible things was so much fun to look back on as a fan. I remember being around 10 years old watching JoJo on the Kids’ Choice Awards back in 2004, singing her little face off!! What was really *tea* was reading JoJo’s experiences on the album cycle of her first album, which was self-titled. From the music videos for “Leave (Get Out)”, “Baby It’s You” with Bow-Wow, the pressures from the industry to look a certain way (a.k.a. skinny and pretty), it was a lot on someone so young.
I became an even bigger fan of JoJo after her second album, The High Road (2006), was released. I was maybe 12 or 13 years old at the time; I don’t remember how I got a copy of her CD, but I remember blasting that album with my nieces playing every track! Little did I know that behind the scenes, the making of that album was a little rocky, according to JoJo’s memoir. To help lift her career back up, she took to acting in two movies, Aquamarine (2006) with Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton, and RV with Robin Williams and a young Josh Hutcherson. Apparently, JoJo’s management didn’t like that she did those movies because it took her away from music. But what else was she supposed to do?!
Label Troubles and Mixtapes
From 2007-2009, things became super rocky for JoJo’s career. From label issues, substance abuse, boy problems, her parents’ addiction and mental health issues, Jo was taking hits on all sides. Her words from the further chapters really made me immersed in her story. JoJo was really going through a lot, and her stupid label Blackground wouldn’t let her release new music because they legally owned her recorded voice. But she found a way around it by releasing two free mixtapes, Can’t Take That Away From Me (2010) and Agápē, (2012) which means “unconditional love” in Greek. In 2009, JoJo finally reached a deal with Blackground Records, making her third album in hopes to release through Interscope Records. In between that time, JoJo also went on tour with Joe Jonas and Jay Sean. She also released a female version of Drake‘s “Marvin’s Room”, titled “Marvin’s Room (Can’t Do Better)” through Rap-Up’s YouTube channel. Even Drake loved it!!
It was also interesting to read about JoJo’s thoughts about her singles that record labels wanted to push instead of her. Like “Disaster” in 2011; it’s very pop-rock heavy, which wasn’t something JoJo was used to.
“Sure, I liked the song and knew it was catchy and that it sounded good on it—but it was still hard to talk myself into it. The truth was that it basically repeated the same formula as “Leave (Get Out)” and “Too Little, Too Late”—and that bugged me.”
It sucked that she still wasn’t given full control of her career the way she wanted it to. After Blackground lost their distribution deal with Interscope Records, this delayed JoJo’s third album again. She then took some power back and released Agápē, (2012) on her 22nd birthday, December 20. She also named her dog after the mixtape!
#FreeJoJo
In 2013, I remember the #FreeJoJo movement on social media, fans begging and demanding Blackground to let JoJo out of her contract. That movement was so powerful and possibly one of the first times I’d seen fans root for an artist against their label. I know that it’s common for artists to be screwed out of their label, but to see it in realtime was crazy then. JoJo filed a lawsuit against her record labels, Blackground Records and Da Family, claiming they caused “irreparable damage to her professional career.” She argued that the contract she signed in 2004 should have expired in 2011, since she was a minor at the time and, under New York State law, minors cannot be bound by contracts lasting more than seven years. In December 2013, attorneys for both JoJo and Blackground agreed to dismiss the case.
In 2014, JoJo was finally free!!!
She also signed a new contract with Atlantic Records, released her #LoveJo EP, and the III EP (it’s pronounced like “Tringle”), went on tour with Fifth Harmony. In 2016, ten years after The High Road, JoJo finally got to release her third album, Mad Love. I know JoJo was so relieved to be releasing new music again!! And her song, “I Can Only.” featuring my fave Alessia Cara still slaps!!
The unfortunate part though, was reading about JoJo’s father’s death in 2015. The emotions, the uncertainty, the love, the hope that he would get better, the sheer pain of losing him that last day.
“I missed you even while you were here,” I wrote. “I will miss you infinitely more now that you’re gone. Thank you for holding on as long as you did. I know you tried your best. You are free now. I will love you always, Dad. I can feel you with me. Rest now. In PEACE. I miss your voice. I wish more people could have heard it. I promise I will keep singing for you.” Joel Maurice Levesque January 8, 1955 – November 14, 2015
In 2017, in between grieving her father, JoJo left Atlantic Records, and announced her new music venture, Clover Music, in a joint deal with Interscope. She described the complexities of not having her old music on streaming services, which her former manager (whom she calls M.M.) suggested re-recording her old music. So before Taylor Swift’s “Taylor’s Versions”, there was JoJo’s 2018 re-recordings! I thought that was a great way for her to take even more control of her career. She even applauded Taylor for doing something similar years later with her own music. However, in 2021, Blackground and Empire Distribution re-released JoJo’s first two albums to streaming, which threw her off. She tweeted on Twitter that she doesn’t make money from those old versions, anyway.
“On December 21, 2018—the day after my twenty-eighth birthday—I released the new versions of JoJo and The High Road online as well as two of my more recent singles, “Demonstrate” and “Disaster.”
“Taylor Swift has shed light on the nuances of ownership in recorded music. It’s an important conversation. While I chose to rerecord my first two albums under very different circumstances, I applaud her for doing the same thing a few years later due to her own situation with her “Taylor’s Version”.
In 2019, JoJo wrote about her experiences writing the song “Say So” with R&B singer PJ Morton, which ended up being nominated for a Grammy the next year! Her first Grammy nomination!!
In 2020, she released her fourth album, Good to Know, which she described as a good way to explain where she was in her life. Like recognizing old habits, ego, addiction, fear, and wanting to change. She wanted to tour, but she couldn’t due to COVID-19. BOOO!!!! However, reading about her doing odd jobs like the Masked Singer made me laugh! She was clearly insecure about doing something so out there and different than what she’s known for, but who cares? She still sung her face off in that Black Swan costume!
In 2021, she released her fourth EP, Trying Not to Think About It, which was probably her most emotionally revealing album. She wrote that this was a project “I felt like I had to make. On my own terms. The songs I sang from here on out had to be my story.” And I’m so proud of her for stepping up to her anxiety and depression through her music. Even has a song entitled “Anxiety (Burlinda’s Theme)”, naming her anxiety ‘Burlinda’ gave it purpose on how to deal with it.
Moulin Rouge!
Later on in the book, JoJo describes probably what I’d like to think of the turning point of her personal and professional life. In 2021, before signing in to do her Broadway debut as Satine in Moulin Rouge!, she had this great amazing experience with this guys, even was engaged to him a few years ago! (I remember seeing the photo on Instagram and feeling so happy for her to finally found love!) only for that relationship to end so abruptly before the next year. And she never explained why or what happened publicly, but reading those last few chapters and how much hurt and pain she went through with her ex made me feel for her deeply. Not just as a fan, but as a young woman. To want to feel love so much all your life, to then finally think you have it, and then to lose it after being cheated on again. I cried reading those parts because I could really feel JoJo’s pain.
But what had helped her through all of that trauma was taking a risk, moving to New York, and starting this new venture on Broadway with Moulin Rouge! I’ve never seen her show, but reading her experience makes me wish I’d had. I could tell that she had an amazing time on Broadway and learned a lot about herself as a performer. Between performing 8 days a week, rehearsals, body and vocal changes, learning a new city, making friends, NYC gave JoJo the green light to set herself free.
Where is JoJo Now?
JoJo is still everywhere. Aside from this amazing memoir, she’s still releasing music; NGL, her latest EP that came out in January, is so good! After everything she’s been through since she was a child, her resilience and tenacity to keep going after the music industry was against her for so long. I’m glad that she has countlessly taken matters into her own hands and rewrote her narrative.
I can’t wait to see where she goes next!
Comment below…Have you read JoJo’s memoir or listened to her music before?
NOT SPONSORED Just my personal testimonial: I listened to this book on audiobook, and JoJo’s voice was both soothing, hilarious, and stunning to listen to. Audible gave me a good reason to listen to this book on audiobook for a good price, even after the free trial. Go check out Over the Influence on Audible and many other incredible stories.
Interested in Audible? Sign up for a 30 day free trial, and receive a free audiobook!
Destinations, my second poetry collection, is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!
My debut poetry collection Reality Check is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!
Shout-Out to my Patreon Members:
Wesley Lindsey
IRIDYSCENZIA
Aykut Şeker
Mary
Visit https://www.patreon.com/poetrybooksya for more exclusive, creative writing and poetry content! Check out my introductory post on Patreon here. There are a lot of fun posts on there you will enjoy.
Some posts include:
- Earn a free signed copy of my debut poetry book, Reality Check
- View Early Access blog posts before they go on the main website
- I’ll write a poem about you!
- Patreon’s Choice: Suggest topics for me to write about on the blog
Don’t want to support monthly? Check out my Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/poetrybooksya
Thanks for reading,
