In 2004, Joanna “JoJo” Levesque was 13 years old and already making history. Off of her self-titled debut album, her breakout single “Leave (Get Out)” had claimed the number one spot on Billboard’s Pop Songs chart for five weeks in a row — making her the youngest ever artist to do so. By 14, the Boston native was a household name, splitting her time between coasts to work on her second album and learning how to navigate an industry eager to cash in on young talent (she cried when her label picked “Leave” for the single because she couldn’t relate to the song’s mature themes, and much preferred RnB over pop). She was also falling fast into her first-ever relationship with soccer prodigy Freddy Adu, teen royalty in his own right.
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Needing a safe space to process, JoJo turned to a tradition time-honored by generations of teenage girls just trying to cope: She started journaling. Two decades later, those journals are now the backbone of the singer’s New York Times bestselling memoir Over The Influence.
“When I started journaling, I had just come off of my life completely changing and my dreams coming true,” JoJo tells me at a Manhattan party celebrating the Spotify audiobook of her memoir, which she also self-narrated. “It was kind of sad going through some of [the journals] because I saw these recurring patterns of insecurity, of not feeling good enough, or feeling hung up on boys and just wanting to distract myself from the instability that I felt in my career and my family. I can see that that pattern started when I was really young.”
Tracing her inner world, relationships, and career, Over The Influence gives an unfiltered look into JoJo’s decade-long legal battle with her record label Blackground, which she says stifled her ability to release new music at the height of her fame. It also explores the complex dynamics of her relationship with her parents who both struggled with addiction, and lays bare her own experiences searching for control and solace through substances, relationships, and an unhealthy relationship to work. It’s a story that is all the more powerful when heard in JoJo’s voice in the Spotify audiobook, a decision she insisted on.
“Owning my narrative is something I really feel like I needed for myself because for so long I allowed other people to tell me how I should feel about my own life and career,” JoJo says. “I couldn't have had anyone else do it. … It was a whole other level of catharsis in knowing that people would be hearing me share my own story.”
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Freedom of the spiritual, creative, and legal varieties is a big theme in JoJo’s current chapter of life. Her forthcoming EP NGL, short for “Not Gonna Lie,” will be released through her Interscope Records imprint Clover Music in January 2025. She’ll then hit the road for her Too Much To Say Tour, which kicks off the month after in Nashville.
“I really enjoyed this whole EP process because I felt so free,” JoJo says. “This is finally tapping into the independent spirit that I've always had and just didn't have the balls to have, and I'm like, ‘The time is now, y'all. Here we go.’”
The EP’s lead single “Porcelain” and its latest release “Too Much To Say” are self-love anthems at their core, reflecting JoJo’s evolution as a human and an artist. “This time I'll let things be, can't open new doors with old keys, it's time I forgive me,” she sings in “Porcelain.”
“This is my favorite chapter of my life. I think I'm at a sweet spot right now, because I'm young enough to be out here and having so much fun and making mistakes. But I'm old enough to know better to know what I don't like,” JoJo says. “I've made so many choices that no longer resonate with me that I just would not do that anymore. I think getting older, you hopefully get wiser, and I feel wiser than I felt last year or any other year.”
In addition to writing and recording her memoir and forthcoming EP, JoJo has twice returned to Broadway over the past two years, playing the lead role of Satine in Moulin Rouge — and living just blocks from the former Times Square MTV studio she regularly graced for TRL appearances in the early aughts.
While dating in LA is officially “out” for JoJo, New York City has been delivering in ways the West Coast just can’t. When asked if she’s been dipping a toe into the dating pool, JoJo’s giggle, raised eyebrow, and couldn’t-be-coy-if-she-tried smile says it all. “I don't know if the other girlies would agree with me that dating in New York is better [than LA], but it has been. It has been a good thing for me, and I am feeling joyous and excited.”
While improved dating prospects are a perk, JoJo’s affinity for the city runs deeper than its potential for romance. NYC’s unconventional energy, and the inevitable displays of humanity that come from sharing space and subway cars with 8.2 million other people, are what really keep her here. “I love living in New York,” she says, smiling. “I love the interactions on the street and the subway. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I'm so moved by displays of kindness. Don’t get me wrong, there’s wild shit too … but then it’s like, where else would I rather be?”
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