Joanna Levesque shot to stardom at 13. Two decades later, 鈥� as she鈥檚 better known 鈥� has written a memoir and says the song responsible for her meteoric rise, 鈥淟eave (Get Out),鈥� was foreign to her. In fact, she cried when her label told her they wanted to make it her first single.
Lyrics about a boy who treated her poorly were not relatable to the sixth grader who recorded the hit. And sonically, the pop sound was far away from the young prodigy's R&B and hip-hop comfort zone.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 where the initial seed of confusion was planted within me, where I was like, 'Oh, you should trust other people over yourself because ... look at this. You trusted other people and look how big it paid off,鈥欌�� she said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
went on to top the Billboard charts, making Levesque the youngest solo artist ever to have a No. 1 hit.
鈥淚 grew to love it. But initially, I just didn鈥檛 get it,鈥� she said.
Much of Levesque鈥檚 experience with young pop stardom was similarly unpredictable or tumultuous, and she details those feelings in her new memoir, 鈥淥ver the Influence.鈥�
With 鈥淟eave (Get Out)鈥� and her several other commercial hits like 鈥淭oo Little Too Late鈥� and 鈥淏aby It鈥檚 You,鈥� Levesque鈥檚 formative years were spent in recording studios and tour buses. Still, she had a strong resonance with teens and young people, and her raw talent grabbed the attention of music fans of all ages.
鈥淪ometimes, I don鈥檛 know what to say when people are like, 鈥業 grew up with you鈥� and I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃e grew up together鈥� because I still am just a baby lady. But I feel really grateful to have this longevity and to still be here after all the crazy stuff that was going on,鈥� she said.
Some of that 鈥渃razy stuff鈥� Levesque is referring to is a years-long legal battle with her former record label. Blackground Records, which signed her as a 12-year-old, stalled the release of her third album and slowed down the trajectory of her blazing career.
Levesque said she knows, despite the hurdles and roadblocks the label and its executives put in her path, they shaped 鈥渨hat JoJo is."
鈥淓ven though there were things that were chaotic and frustrating and scary and not at all what I would have wanted to go through, I take the good and the bad,鈥� she said.
Levesque felt like the executives and team she worked with at the label were family, describing them as her 鈥渇ather figures and my uncles and my brothers." 鈥淚 love them, now, still, even though it didn鈥檛 work out,鈥� she said.
With new music on the way, Levesque said she thinks the industry is headed in a direction that grants artists more freedom over their work and more of a voice in discussions about the direction of their careers. In 2018, she re-recorded her first two albums, which were not made available on streaming, to regain control of the rights. Three years later, started doing the same.
鈥淭hings are changing and it鈥檚 crumbling 鈥� the old way of doing things,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great. The structure of major labels still offers a lot, but at what cost?鈥�
As she looks forward to the next chapter of her already veteran-level career, Levesque said it鈥檚 鈥渞efreshing鈥� for her to see a new generation of young women in music who are defying the standards she felt she had to follow when she was coming up.
鈥�'You have to be nice. You have to be acceptable in these ways. You have to play these politics of politeness.鈥� It鈥檚 just exhausting,鈥� she said, 鈥淪o many of us that grew up with that woven into the fabric of our beliefs burn out and crash and burn.鈥�
It鈥檚 鈥渉ealing鈥� to see artists like and play by their own rules, she said.
In writing her memoir and tracing her life from the earliest childhood memories to today, Levesque said she鈥檚 鈥渞eclaiming ownership鈥� over her life.
鈥淢y hope is that other people will read this, in my gross transparency sometimes in this book, and hopefully be inspired to carve their own path, whatever that looks like for them.鈥�
Kaitlyn Huamani, The Associated Press
