Where Have You Been, Jojo?

Catching up with the singer on the day of the video release for "When Love Hurts."

Tyler Joe

Imagine this. You get a phone call saying you've landed the job as the senior fashion editor at Elle.com. Your first two assignments will be an interview with Serena Williams and then one with Jojo...as in "Leave (Get Out)" Jojo. If you'd told an 18-year-old me that's where I'd find myself a few weeks ago, I would have said the devil is a lie. But it's exactly where I found myself, and to say I was excited-AF to interview 24-year-old Joanna Levesque would be an understatement. 

"Where has Jojo been?," myself and almost everyone else asked when she released a new trio of singles—a "tringle," the singer calls them—earlier this summer. It's been 11 years since her self-titled debut album dropped! How has she evolved? What does she really think of her tween style? Why now for a comeback? On the day of the video release for her single "When Love Hurts," I'm sharing the answers to those questions and more. 

Tell me a little bit about who the Jojo of today is. 

I'm someone who likes to play around with my looks. Sometimes I like to feel super natural and fresh, then I also like to really glam it up and wear sky high heels and really play with my womanhood.

How has your style changed and or stayed the same since you were 13 and first came on the scene? 

I still like to feel sexy, but without showing too much. I'm not afraid to show cleavage or my legs obviously—this is what I'm doing right now—but I still want to feel a bit chic at the same time, like I'm not leading with my sexuality. I've grown into a young adult so I feel more confident and comfortable. I was a very precocious young girl and I'm still a curious young woman. 

Your jewelry game is so strong

My jewelry and my tattoos always go together. I think of my tattoos as jewelry as well. When I accessorize with my jewelry I never cover my "married to music" tattoo. I just kind of think of my rings and tattoos as conversation pieces. I use my hands a lot, so I just think it's nice to have little flashes of gold. I've been really feeling gold lately, but I'll probably go through a silver phase next. 

How about the eyebrow rings? 

The eyebrow rings. I get asked about them a fair amount. I started out with one, but I always knew I wanted to get two.

When did you get your first one?

Maybe a little over a year ago. I was deciding between getting a nose piercing and an eyebrow piercing. I just thought that a lot of girls were getting nose piercings, and they look awesome, but I just wanted to do something different. Some people love it, some people hate it, but I love it. I feel really cool with it.

Why two as opposed to one? 

I just hadn't seen it much before. I just wanted to do something I hadn't seen a lot of. 

Tyler Joe

Cool! Switching gears to the music. Tell me a little bit about what you're calling the tringle and how it feels to be coming back now.

I knew that I had to make an impact in some way after so long. We were like, "Okay, we're going to release three singles at once. We're going to shoot three videos. That's three singles. It's like a tringle. Oh, that's a catchy word. Maybe we should call it the tringle!" 

I wanted an upbeat record that could be on anyone's workout playlist and kind of make them feel fabulous, and could be played in the clubs, so that's "When Love Hurts." Save My Soul is a record that's very personal to me. I grew up seeing addiction very close to me. That's why I have the Serenity Prayer around my wrist. It's something I grew up seeing on the walls, and through the AA halls, and things like that. That's a story of feeling powerless to something. Whether that's a lover, or whether that's love or other drugs. "Say Love" is a call to action. When you put yourself out there and make yourself vulnerable, you're asking to be met, to be heard. You're asking to not just say all the other right things, but say love. 

It seems that the response has been just overwhelmingly positive. 

You know, I'm just going to ride this wave of positivity as long as I can because the haters are going to come. I'm really thankful. It's really amazing that there's that goodwill out there for me. 


Sometimes, actually oftentimes, I don't know where it's coming from, but I'm really, really thankful that people still care.

How would you say the music is different from the Jojo of your past?

I'm a lot more self-aware. Of course I still have a lot more to discover, but I'm more in control of my voice. When I was young, I was just kind of like "la la la la la," flailing around and getting to know my voice, recording my first album at 12, releasing it at 13. Even at 15 I thought I was grown, but recently I've really started to take my voice seriously.  I've grown into myself as a vocalist and really pushed myself. 

In all these songs on the album,  I wanted there to be a depth and an emotional undertone that you could feel just because that's who I am. I'm not carefree. I can't be. This is what I've chosen for my life. I don't have a cushy background to fall back on. I have to make a life for myself. 

What can we expect after the tringle? 

I don't want to say a date for the album until it's 100% final, but I'm going to keep getting mixes on these records. At the moment, I've solidified about half of the album. I have about seven more slots that I want to hone in and lock down, and get to where they need to be. 

Any dream collaborations? 

Bruno Mars. He's just such an unparalleled performer. Amazing. I love Janelle Monae as well. 

She's so good. 

Cold War is just one of the illest records. She's just such an important artist. I love what she's doing with Wonderland. I just aspire to be that type of artist. I wasn't able to do collaborations before because of the situation I was in, but now the playground is open and I want to play.

For more from Jojo, watch the singer react to red carpet looks from her past and decide whether they need to leave, get out, or whether they can stick around.

On Jojo: ATM Anthony Thomas Melillo Slub V-Neck T-Shirt Choker, $75; barneys.com; 3x1 W3 High Rise Channel Seam Skinny, $195; 3x1.us; Jennifer Fisher x Stop It Right Now, $375; jenniferfisherjewelry.com; All other jewelry, singer's own. 

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