JoJo interview: ‘I don’t need to put baby oil on my t*ts to prove I’m an adult’

It seems like only yesterday that Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque – JoJo to you and me – had the world at her pint-sized feet at a promising future at the top of the pop totem pole laid out in front of her.

Becoming the youngest-ever artist to score a Number One record in the US when 2004’s tweenage kiss-off classic ‘Leave (Get Out)’ hit the top spot on the US Pop Chart aged just 12, the Bostonian belter’s ascent continued two years later with the markedly more mature The High Road and another UK top five hit in the form of ‘Too Little Too Late’.

A full decade on however, and the world is still waiting for JoJo’s now-mythical third studio album. For her, there was to be no Rihanna-esque ascention from promising teen star to bona fide pop princess.

The 25-year-old’s crippling legal battle against a label which simultaneously refused to let her release her new music or let her out of her seven album contract (for fear of letting anyone else reap the benefits of such an undeniable talent) is now well-documented. Despite the odd mixtape and free release in the intervening years, fans’ thirst for a comeback proper was finally quenched last autumn with the simultaneous release of three new singles, or ‘tringle’, before a world tour which saw JoJo playing in front of UK audiences for the first time since 2007.

With recent news that she’ll be back on a British stage at V Festival this summer we thought it the perfect time to catch up with the resurgent star, who tells us what we can expect from her eagerly-anticipated third studio album (finally coming this year), why two gay fans provided her with one of the most unforgettable moments of her recent tour, and why, this time, she’s doing it all for herself…

How’s it been being back on tour internationally again after all this time?

It’s been so fun! Just a brief little rendezvous in Europe; it’s been great. Just 5 dates. It’s been awesome because some of these places I haven’t been to in 10 years, so I was 15 or 13.

As you say, it’s been a full decade now since you released The High Road. You’re probably sick of talking about it at this point, but how were those years of legal struggles?

They were devastating, frustrating… I felt powerless. I definitely fell into a depression. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t know who I was if I wasn’t singing. You know, it had been my identity since I was 6 years old, and the fact that the contract I signed at 12 could take that identity away from me because the label wasn’t distributing [my music] anymore, it was just so unbelievable. So it was a really difficult time. But I don’t live my life feeling resentful, I have let that weight go and I really focus on what I can control and the positive things. Thankfully I’m too busy to be resentful.

Was there ever a moment you considered walking away from music altogether?

It was always worth it for me, because music is a part of me. I released a mixtape called ‘Can’t Take That Away From Me’, which was kind of just a statement like, ‘this is who I am, you cannot strip me of that, my identity, you know? But yeah I considered going to college – which wasn’t ‘giving up’ for me, I thought that it would just defer my career for a bit. But then also I knew that my youth wasn’t going to be here forever, so I wanted to be provocative and keep fighting while I was still young.

Do you think in a way if you hadn’t faced those problems, you could have got carried away with all that teen idol success, perhaps for the worse?

Yeah absolutely, I do think that way. I think about that a lot, because I think that the tribulations that I’ve been through have shaped me into a well-rounded human being – not just a ‘pop star’ or a ‘teen idol’ or something like that. I like who I am and I don’t know if I would’ve liked who I was if I’d continued at that level of success. Of course you never know. I can’t predict how it would have been, or how it would be now, but I do think that it definitely humbled me in a very serious way and brought me down to earth. It taught me about what’s important, and to be so thankful because I get to do what I love. This is not normal at all; it’s extraordinary.

You’ve obviously been releasing music yourself on and off over the last few years, but do you look at this as a brand new career in some ways?

No, I don’t feel like it’s a rebirth or a revival. I mean maybe a revival, but to me it just feels like a continuation. I want to do this for the rest of my life, so this is just another chapter in this book that is my life and career – and I’ve put so much on the backburner for my career. I mean, love, relationships, things like that, because this is the upmost priority to me. But do I feel like it’s a reinvention? I don’t. I just feel like I’ve continued to grow, as I’m sure you’ve changed from when you were 13, 16, 19…

What can you tell us about the new record and its direction? You’ve straddled a fair few genres over the years, from pop-rock to R&B…

Well I’d been recording non-stop for so many years that when it finally was the opportunity for me to release music officially, I really wasn’t sure what to do, where to go. So the fact that I was able to release the ‘tringle’ and not have to commit to one song was great. Now I’ve experimented enough to know what I want to do when I finally release the first single from the album this year. I’ve experimented with a lot of different genres but my heart is definitely in R&B and hip-hop and soul music. I would say I’m a soul singer who does pop music. As far as the sound of the album; the beats hit hard, it’s definitely bass-driven. I want memorable melodies, I want songs that stay in your head and that make you feel.

What can we expect in the way of collaborations?

Yeah, I’ve been working with Rock Mafia who’s worked with Miley and Selena and all those people, but we’re doing some stuff that’s true to me and just starting from the ground up, I love working with them. Justin Tranter, who just recently wrote for Gwen Stefani and Justin Bieber and DNCE and Selena. I love him, he’s fucking rad. And I worked with MNEK and ADP. I just have to stop recording because I have too many songs!

So here’s the big one: when are we finally going to hear it?

It’s not really that up in the air, but I haven’t set a date because it’s fully up to me. I have to put it out in 2016 though for my own sanity, or else I will spontaneously combust! Soon we’ll be mixing and choosing the final track listing and the first single. But if it were up to me I would release the album tomorrow! I wouldn’t even mix it, I just don’t care [laughs] That’s just where I’m at – and if I sound a little bit anxious, I am. But I’m thankful to be at a label home that wants to do things right.

There’s also been a whole new generation of female artists that have come through the ranks and that you’ll undoubtedly be compared to. Is there anyone who you look to and think ‘I love what they’re doing’.

I absolutely love how Miley is so true to herself – I really believe what she’s doing. I believe that that truly is who she is and lives her life, and I’m into it. I love authenticity and I love someone who just walks on the beat of their own drum. Tori Kelly is a friend of mine, and she’s an incredible vocalist, great songwriter. Demi Lovato… there are a lot. The landscape is rich right now with female artists. But I think there’s room for them all.

Obviously Kesha’s attempt to get out of her record contract with Sony and Dr Luke has been all over the headlines in recent weeks: As someone who had to battle for their own freedom for a label, you must have a fairly unique understanding of that frustration.

I deeply sympathise with her. I understand her frustration probably better than most people and I really hope that her and her lawyers are able to figure out a way where she can get out. Contracts suck. I don’t like them. I love music [but] I dislike the industry. It’s not my shit, but I just really hope that she’s able to connect with her fans and release music and that maybe she’ll release music for free on the internet if her contract allows her to do that. I got in a contract when I was 12 years old and I think she was 18, so it sucks when people be like ‘you should’ve known better’. It’s hard to know. And also when someone tells you ‘a contract is standard and you can’t get anything better than this’, you tend to believe them.

There must have been some pretty emotional moments heading back to see fans around the world who haven’t seen you or a decade.

Oh my god, there are so many moments. This morning I’ve performed on earlier a small acoustic set for that grape juice and a boy proposed to his girlfriend, right at the session! That was amazing. And two boys got engaged at my concert in Atlanta! It was the last song of my set; I was doing ‘Say Love’ and this one boy came running up to the stage with tears in his eyes and I was like – I thought something bad was happening – and I was like, ‘what’s going on?!’ And then he’s like ‘I said yes’! I’m like, ‘to what?!’ And he was like, ‘my boyfriend proposed to me!’ I was like ‘Oh my god!’ So I got back on the mic and I was like ‘You guys! Love is in the air!’ and I dedicated the encore to them, which is a new song called ‘I Am’. We were all crying, everybody in the room felt the love. That was something I’ll never forget.

Just from the audiences at your shows you can tell your gay fans have really stuck by you over the last few years.

I’m particularly inspired by my gay fans because of the adversity that a lot of them have faced and the courage that it takes to be yourself and the courage that it takes to love who you love. It’s not always the easiest. So I’m very inspired. And also just be the confidence and the fabulousness that particularly gay men have taught me in my circle. It’s rubbed off on me. From hairdressers to make-up artists, some of the closest people to me have been gay and lesbian and made a huge impact on my life.

It struck me that you’re kind of a rarity for a former teen pop star in that you’ve never gone through a phase of stripping off or overtly sexing up your image to shed that old teen star identity. Was that a conscious choice?

It’s really more that, I just want to do what’s comfortable for me. And honestly in my personal life, I am very sexual, so I don’t feel a great need to demonstrate that in the way I represent myself! I feel sexy with clothes on, in front of you, you know? I don’t feel like I need to eye-fuck everybody to get them to buy my records. [laughs] It’s not just what I feel comfortable doing. I’m a singer, I’m a writer, I’m an artist. And what I do in my personal time? I’m a freaky bitch, but I don’t want to necessarily share that with everybody! I don’t feel like I need to put baby oil on my tits to prove that I’m an adult. I’m grown, and I don’t feel like I need to prove that to anybody. There’s your sound-bite right there!

JoJo is set to play at V Festival this summer (August 20-21) ahead of the release of her third studio album later in the year.