JoJo's Back, Baby
by Rachel Stone
JoJo’s first single “Leave (Get Out)” shot to the top of the 2004 Billboard charts and the CD drives of America’s minivans when she was only 13; her eponymous first album went platinum. Two years later, she followed up with “Too Little Too Late,” and a sophomore album called The High Road.
And then she went MIA for a maddening nine years.
In what I had previously assumed was either a D’Angelo hype-building technique or just the Absolute Worst Puberty Ever, JoJo’s absence was caused by legal issues with her record label. They effectively kept her new music hostage, the artist unable to release anything but mixtapes and YouTube covers until she finagled a contract with Atlantic Records in 2014.
And now, she’s back — dropping three songs this week, and people are amped. Who needs a refresher on her most important work?