JoJo’s comeback harkens to the early 2000’s

By Arbogast, Brandon, November 16, 2016

By Alexis Ancel// News Editor

There really was no better time to be a child than the early 2000’s. Everyone had a Tamagotchi and Wonderballs were available in any candy aisle, but more than anything, pop music was at an all time high. Though many young starlets of that time like Aly & AJ, Ashlee Simpson and Jordan Pruitt seem to have vanished without a trace, every so often, if we’re lucky, one of these childhood favorites decides to resurface. This time around, we got luckier than lucky. As of Oct. 14, JoJo is officially back.

While JoJo may not be the household name that Zac Efron and Selena Gomez have become, she is nonetheless an icon of the generation that grew up with the Video Now and purple ketchup. Even at just 13 years old, JoJo showed the world that she knew what she was doing. After releasing her single “Leave (Get Out),” she became the youngest solo artist in the U.S. to ever have a number one hit. She also spent some time in the acting world, staring in a few of those movies we all watch when we’re feeling nostalgic like “Aquamarine” and “RV.”

But like many child stars, she spent just enough time in the spotlight to achieve Disney Veteran status, then seemingly dropped off the face of the industry for the next 10 years. With songs like “Too Little, Too Late” and “Baby It’s You,” JoJo quickly became part of our middle school identities, making her sudden disappearance from the music scene all the more devastating.

During her radio silence, JoJo had been fighting a legal battle with her previous record label that was keeping her from releasing music. As it turns out, she was actually releasing as many covers and mix tapes as she was legally allowed, and in doing so managed to maintain the majority of her fanbase. But she’s back for real this time, and her return is everything we could have ever asked for.

JoJo’s new album entitled “Mad Love” is made up of 15 tracks that show just how much we’ve been missing in the past 10 years. Now at the age of 25, she’s grown out of her high school teen vibe and into a much richer and more mature voice. But even still, this album has all the same callouts and slams we loved her for back in 2005. She’s still as bold and unapologetic as ever, which we see quite literally with songs like “F*** Apologies” and “Honest.”

But on the flip side, this album also shows a new side of her we haven’t seen before. Like JoJo said herself, “[‘Leave (Get Out)’] was about taking a stand and being a bit more aggressive… I really have developed into that take-no-nonsense, take-no-sh#t woman, so I think that it was kind of a natural progression. But of course, there are a lot more sides to me than just being aggressive and confident. I’m vulnerable and soft sometimes too, and that’s what you get to hear on the album.”

And as if this album wasn’t enough to save the music industry this year, JoJo will also be going on tour for “Mad Love” starting in early 2017, and I think it’s safe to say that every kid from the Lizzie McGuire generation will be buying tickets. This could very well be one of the best comebacks of the decade and it was well worth the wait. Aaron Carter, you’re up next.