Have you ever wondered what happened to the voice that provided us with songs like “Leave (Get Out)”, Baby It’s You“ and “Too Little Too Late”? Well I am sure you aren’t the only one wondering where the fudge JoJo Levesque went. She didn’t die, she didn’t get dropped by her label and just an FYI, she sure as hell hasn’t stopped making music.
Some artists are one hit wonders, it happens. Some artists are one album wonders, it happens. It’s not often that an artist falls of the face of the earth after several great songs and two really solid albums. And it’s even more rare than an artist of JoJo’s caliber (have ya heard this bitch sing? She can blow) isn't at least putting out albums every few years that are adored and appreciated by her fans.
I am sure JoJo would be putting out albums if she could, but she cannot. Instead she can only make free mixtapes for her fans. For a full breakdown on what happened with her label check out these articles:
or you can just Google “wtf happened to JoJo” and weed through the searches that are about Rev Run’s rapping son JoJo Simmons having beef with Juelz Santana (you learn something new every day, I did when I Googled that).
Basically, JoJo can’t get signed to another label while Blackground still has her tied down. She can’t release an album and can’t go on tour; but she CAN still do what she loves to do…and that’s sing. And maaaaaaaaan can she sing.
The release of her mixtape Agape on December 20 of last year, was everyyyyyyything. I was still reeling from the release of Brandy’s Two Eleven from October (which was dope AF) so when Agape was released I couldn’t afford to leave my iPod behind anywhere I went. Thank god I was on Christmas vacation from college and spent my new years on vacation where I had plenty of time to listen to the mixtape.
Agape was released 7 months ago and I can tell you that I haven’t gone a single week without listening to it all the way through at least once. I can’t rave about it enough because I can't think of another artist who has had to struggle so much to produce something that great.
To be able to put out such a great collection of songs without any label support just blows my mind. People probably don’t realize the type of help artists get when they have label support. You think Rihanna ever calls someone like “hey could you help produce some songs for me for free?” If it isn’t obvious enough, the answer is no. Rihanna doesn’t ask for help because she has Ester Dean, The-Dream and every other song writer in R&B or pop music at her fingertips. She makes good music because she has a good team. Imagine if JoJo was signed to Roc and had Jay Z behind her every move? Deadlyyyy.
JoJo had to create her own songs, find her own team and gather all the support herself. She doesn't have a label doing that labor for her. This may scare some listeners into thinking the mixtape may not be very good because she had no help; but trust me when I say that by listening, you can't tell that JoJo had no support. She's just that damn good. See for yourself.
Check out the Agape mixtape here:
And some of JoJo’s other songs and performances on YouTube here:
#FreeJoJo
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