JoJo, pop queen of the mid-2000s who brought us iconic hits like ‘Leave (Get Out)’ and ‘Baby It’s You’, hasn’t been in many headlines in the past decade.
Turns out there’s a reason for that – she’s been fighting her ex-record label, Blackground Records, for artistic control, and won her lawsuit against them in 2014.
They responded by removing her music, including 2004’s self-titled debut album, from streaming services. Petty.
Making sure she’s getting the last word, JoJo dropped recreations of her first two albums, JoJo and The High Road, on streaming services yesterday, after teasing the new songs on social media all day Thursday, which was, probably not coincidentally, her 28th birthday.
Love, Jo. pic.twitter.com/TuWSB4lmII
— JoJo. (@iamjojo) December 20, 2018
The JoJo on these re-released albums isn’t the JoJo you’ll remember from 2004. She’s not 14 anymore, and her voice has matured, which gives the songs a different sound. Your old favourites still go off, though – ‘Baby It’s You’, ‘Too Little, Too Late’ and, of course, ‘Leave (Get Out)’ all sound fantastic in JoJo’s new sound.
Plus, it’s the perfect response to her ex-record label who, in her words, silenced her and didn’t let her “own her own voice”. They may have taken the original albums off streaming services, but JoJo’s clearly not one to let her fans down.
She hasn’t been quiet since her lawsuit ended, by the way – she released an album in 2016 that included tracks with appearances from Wiz Khalifa, Remy Ma and Alessia Cara. Plus, her single from 2015, ‘When Love Hurts’, is low-key a banger.
Hopefully this is just the beginning of JoJo’s return to the spotlight.