“When I woke up this morning, I just couldn’t believe it,” says JoJo while discussing her long-awaited return to music. After a multi-year battle with former label Blackground Records, the 24-year-old singer finally secured her freedom and signed a new deal with Atlantic. Last month, she released three new singles—the Harmony Samuels-produced ballad “Say Love,” the haunting “Save My Soul,” and Benny Blanco-helmed house jam “When Love Hurts.”
While promoting her “tringle,” JoJo stopped by Rap-Up HQ to discuss her upcoming third album, her first since 2006’s The High Road.
“I did what felt right and I tried different things, and I took my time and just kinda played around, and what came out is an eclectic body of work, but with more of a cohesive theme,” she told Rap-Up TV. “It is diverse, but it’s all very true to who I am and what I love.”
“The album is diverse, but it’s all very true to who I am and what I love.”
The album also explores her newfound love for house music. She’s been listening to artists like CeCe Peniston, Disclosure, and MNEK. “I love house music. It’s really been speaking to me in the past few years,” said JoJo. “I grew up listening to R&B and hip-hop and stuff. I wanted to find soul in another place.”
She also touches on a topic close to home on “Save My Soul,” which is about her parents’ struggle with addiction. “I grew up seeing addiction very closely in my family, and seeing the way that it affected people and how it then affected me, and kinda never knowing when the bottom was gonna fall out,” she said. “I’ve also had my own struggles with feeling powerless to certain things. It could be a person, it could be a substance, whatever.”
She credits her loyal fans for sticking by her through the ups and downs. “I don’t know if a more loyal fan base exists. It’s unbelievable, it’s unusual,” she said. “I’m so thankful. I can’t express that enough ’cause it really kept me going. I just want to impress them and make them happy, and I want them to love it because they have been everything for me.”