“Change doesn’t bother me. I’ve really become good with rolling with the punches.”
The 21st century girl doesn’t pertain to any stereotype. She’s a chick of many talents, one moment she’s in Europe, the next she’s in Asia. She’s working on several artistic projects at once and killing at every single one. She’s the mysterious girl at the party you want to know her life story who everyone has their eyes on. Here we have sat down and chatted for you.
JoJo has been an idol of mine for years. I grew up listening to her songs “Too Little Too Late”, “Baby It’s You” and watching her in RV with my family. Having JoJo in my Modern Woman series is a dream come true. She strove her way towards stardom at a young age from having a strong sensational voice. Throughout her career she has won a number of awards–Radio Disney Music Awards, Yahoo Music awards and has a number of chart-topping songs. However, a problem with her record label, Blackground Records slowed her down. But its 2016, she’s out of the contract and is ready to get back into the industry faster than ever.
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Photography by Lauren Engel | Interview by Mike Greene & Lauren Engel
What about your upbringing has made you stay true?
I think that being from New England and a blue collar background keeps me grounded because thats always where I go home to. No one in my family is in the music industry, I didn’t have a model to look up to in that sense. They keep me down to earth and remind me that I ain’t the shit all the time. I love that and I think its awesome, we have so many laughs. That’s just who we are being from Massachusetts.
Do you think that because you grew up with not much compared to where you are now, you hold that more to heart?
I was very poor before I signed my first record deal. My mom cleaned houses and was a soloist at church. She was a single mom and when I go back home no one is living lavishly. I’ve had the incredible opportunity to travel the world, try different things, meet different people and expand my horizons. I want to live a different life than what I grew up seeing.
Looking back do you think you matured too quickly or thrown in the spotlight too fast?
I was probably going up too quickly being a only child and in some ways needing to take care of my parents so I would say that the industry had less to do with that.
Do you think that having huge single at such a young age jaded your mindset?
I don’t think so. It was a whirlwind–I was living a dream. I was doing what saw my favourite ladies on TV were doing and it was so exciting.
You previously said that you were 13 singing about love and you didn’t know what it really meant
I thought I did at the time
As you grew older, do you feel you have more control over the content of your music?
Yes, at 13 I wouldn’t have chosen that song for myself. I didn’t grow up listening to pop music as much as i do now. I was listening to more soul, blues, broadway and hiphop. I love to sing about love because it has always moved me. I always wanted to sing about love and be in love–to have boyfriends. But, I had my first kiss at 15, which was after I put out my first single and album. I’m 25 now, I’ve been through a lot and am able to pull from experiences now. I just didn’t have any experiences to pull from then, so its understandable that people would give me content.
“No one in my family is in the music industry, I didn’t have a model to look up to in that sense. They keep me down to earth and remind me that I ain’t the shit all the time.”
Who were your musical influences growing up?
Aretha Franklin was my greatest musical inspiration growing up. I was so so into her, I knew her whole catalog. Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Etta James, I love her (Etta’s) ‘Seven Year Itch’ album when she was on her real blues tip. I loved when Christina Aguilera came out. It was so exciting when a young girl with a big voice became a force to be reckoned with in the pop world and it made me feel like i could do it one day.
Are they still your influences now or have they changed?
I would always cite them as my influences but there are plenty of people who influence me today. D’Angelo is a major influence. Jazz has a big influence on me, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Robert Glassberg experiment, Kendrick Lamar album and Thundercat. Does it influence the sound of my music as you guys have heard it? I don’t know, but that’s what I listen to.
Do you think your musical style has changed with the rise of EDM?
I love house music from the ’90s. I love dance even when you go back to the ’70s, when disco was the shit. I love Sylvester, I love Donna Summer, i love the way that music makes me feel. I feel that it is empowering, I feel that it makes you feel sexy, it makes you feel like you are on drugs in club, It’s fun, there’s a pulse, it’s hypnotic so I wanted infuse some of that feeling into my music. When Atlantic (records) brought to me “When Love Hurts”, I felt like that is a cool way for me to step into that pool for a little bit because dance music has given me so much life. It’s what i listen to before I go out with my girls, while I’m getting ready, when I’m on the treadmill. It has a forward motion, a driving factor to it.
“I love house music from the 90s. I love dance even when you go back to the 70s, when disco was the shit.”
Whats been your mom’s role throughout your career, has she stepped back or became more invovled?
My mom managed me between the ages of six to seventeen. At seventeen I let her go as my manager because I wanted us to keep those relationships separate. She really hated the industry, she hated it the entire time. She learned a lot through managing me and she learned that she didn’t enjoy this so I figured that we should work on our relationship as a family. Now we have an amazing relationship, it took us a few years to get there because it was one of the hardest things to tell my mom that I wanted to go in a different direction.
Your career path has been totally different compared to today with social media. Starting out you did a lot of TV shows and auditions. Now it’s pretty much dont through social media, what do you think of this?
It’s the way it is! It doesn’t bother me. Change doesn’t bother me. I’ve really become good with rolling with the punches. I think it’s amazing that there’s not one defined path to success. No one can say you have to follow this route or it wont route because there’s so many people carving different lanes all the time. The Internet just opened up the flood gates for so much content and healthy competition. There’s no where to hide. You create a world that you have to stand behind it on the internet.
Compared to the past where there was no internet and Snapchat and live wasn’t as documented, how was it years ago when you had that freedom?
It’s not weird for me. All my girls are using snapchat. I’m not like OH GOD I FEEL SO INVADED. I’m a young woman I use this technology. I’ve grown up in this technology. Maybe if I were 10 years older, it would make feel weird. I do this stuff too–I’m snapping all the time, I’m Instagraming, I’m updating. I don’t feel like my privacy is invaded. I feel that I am fortunate enough never really felt a line has been crossed.
Seeing you on MTV cribs years ago, how has your cribs changed?
(Laughs) Well, that was not my crib, that was a lie. That was my uncle’s house in Cape Cod. I’ve never lived in Cape Cod, we had no money. My mom and I shared a bedroom and a bed. Now I live in LA, theres art everywhere on my walls, I have keyboards, I have guitars, I have a dog, and it’s actually all mine!
