[Music] foreign
she was so good record deal offers came in while she was still in elementary school eventually
she'd sign one at the tender age of 12. things immediately took off with the release of her
very first single setting the tone for what she hoped would be a long and successful career then
it all abruptly stopped and she would be taken on a wild roller coaster ride for many years
trying to find her way back Joanna Noel Levesque professionally known as simply JoJo was born on
December 20th 1990 in Battleboro Vermont but would be raised between Keene New Hampshire
and Foxboro Massachusetts it's no surprise that she began singing at two years old since both of
her parents dabbled in the art form themselves by the time she turned four however JoJo's parents
would divorce and she would then be raised solely by her mother over the next several
years JoJo would perform on various television shows and eventually catch the attention of
record producer Vincent Herber he then set the wheels in motion for her to audition for black
round records once home to the late Aaliyah and founded by her Uncle Barry Hankerson in 2003 at
age 12 JoJo signed with the label and its imprint de family her debut Single leave get out drop the
next year [Music] when it reached number one on the U.S mainstream Top 40 chart JoJo became
at age 13 the youngest solo artist ever to achieve that feed her self-titled debut album was released
in 2004 and made it into the top five on the billboard 200 album chart her second single
Baby It's You featuring Robert Bow Wow also did well becoming a top 30 head acting was another
passion for Jojo so she began getting her feet wet in it around this time Landing several movie
roles she came back to the music scene strong with the release of her second album The High Road in
the fall of 2006. the lead single too little too late became a top five pop head [Music]
after that JoJo disappeared and the reason why would have a choke hold on her career for the
next decade the man who'd signed her through a production deal two black round Vincent Herbert
left devastating JoJo who looked up to him as a brother then after putting in a lot of work
while gearing up to drop her next project she'd turn in numerous songs to her label only to get
no response eventually she wanted to just break her contract but she'd signed a seven album deal
with the label and they were not about to let her go years later she would reveal that she blamed
her appearance for the label's punishment I ended up working with a nutritionist who had me on a 500
calorie diet a day I was taking these injections that make you have no appetite I was like let me
see how thin I could become because maybe then they will put out an album Maybe I'm so disgusting
that nobody wants to see me in the video and they can't even look at me that's really what
I thought when that didn't ease her concerns JoJo turned to drugs and alcohol as a way to call when
she turned 18 she decided to take legal action her complaint cited a breach of contract alleging the
label failed to secure distribution for her album and forced her into a state of limbo the lawsuit
though was ultimately dropped after the label found distribution with Interscope Unfortunately
they lost it again three years later during the highly publicized legal battle JoJo wasn't able to
make money by releasing music and not surprisingly she didn't handle the experience well I fell into
a serious depression when I wasn't able to release music when I realized that I didn't own my voice
and that I was basically told that I should give up on the dream that I started out when I was a
little girl she did her best to keep going and released her first mixtape appropriately titled
can't take that away from me in 2010. disaster her first official single in four years was released
in the summer of 2011. it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 87 and then fell off the chart
completely the next week the song also failed to impact any chard internationally she attempt to
bounce back with another mixtape titled Agape at the end of 2012. in 2013 JoJo filed another
lawsuit against black ground and a family with the New York state supreme court citing failure on
the part of the label to release her third album and for allegedly neglecting to pay producers and
vendors she worked with she also invoked the New York law which protects minors from being trapped
in contracts that exceeds seven years meaning her contract with black round should have been
up in 2011. she signed a new recording contract with Atlantic Records and over the next two years
released three EPS JoJo's third studio album mad love was finally released in 2016 10 years after
her second shortly after it dropped she left Atlantic and teamed up with Warner Records to
create her own label imprint Clover music to change the narrative that been floating around
for some time JoJo went back into the studio to re-record her first two albums and released both
of them in 2018. she told people magazine in 2020 I release these new masters of my first two albums
because I was tired of seeing people being like why did you take your albums down from Spotify
they were never there I would never do that why would I be a weirdo and want to erase my history
that makes no sense I like money I like people to be able to go back and have access to my songs
whenever they want good to know JoJo's fourth album dropped in May 2020 followed by her first
holiday album December Baby later that year by the end of 2020 JoJo found herself anxiously wondering
whether or not she was worthy of her plays in the music industry also around this time she
experienced the end of a long time situationship with a friend turn lover not wanting to let the
hardships keep her down she then shifted her perspective and turned her feelings into her
latest body of work an EP released in 2021 titled trying not to think about it the 12-track project
Chronicles her complicated relationship with mental health she recalls recognizing symptoms
of depression and anxiety among some of her close family members growing up but she didn't realize
how directly it affected her until adulthood ultimately her battle led her to harmful coping
mechanisms including binge drinking overeating and falling into toxic relationship patterns of
feeling guilt and shame but over time JoJo's learned healthier ways of dealing with her
mental health struggles her process of healing included saying yes to fruitful opportunities
in 2021 no matter how intimidating they may seem the mission led her to go on season 5 of the mass
singer where she finished in second place as Black Swan JoJo celebrated another happy moment over the
Christmas holidays that year when she announced her engagement to save by the Bell reboot actor
Dexter Darden sadly just under one year later it would be reported that the couple had split
it was confirmed as much when they unfollowed each other on Instagram and JoJo removed photos of them
together off her page including the engagement announcement she achieved another major career
in April of this year when she made her Broadway debut as sateen in Moulin Rouge
the musical she told People magazine I really wanted to step up to a challenge and that's
what I think Broadway is it's the best of the best the role naturally required JoJo to leave
LA and make a temporary home in New York City for several months the new environment will no
doubt provide great fodder For an upcoming Memoir she's currently writing which will
be jam-packed with stories about childhood stardom of course all the drama she endured
with her former record label and how she made it to the other side better and stronger than ever
thank you