Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque aka JoJo has been on the music scene since her 2004 debut when she was just 13 years-old and landed a #1 hit with “Leave (Get Out),” the youngest solo artist to do so. Coming off a gold album in the U.S. and a three million seller worldwide with her self-titled debut in 2004 and a platinum single, “Too Little Too Late,” and a two million international album seller with The High Road in 2007, it looked like JoJo was on her way to becoming a global soul pop superstar. Then came seven years of label drama and lawsuits that nearly derailed her career, if not for the strategic release of several exceptional mixtapes, including 2010’s stellar Can’t Take That Away From Me.
Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque aka JoJo has been on the music scene since her 2004 debut when she was just 13 years-old and landed a #1 hit with “Leave (Get Out),” the youngest solo artist to do so. Coming off a gold album in the U.S. and a three million seller worldwide with her self-titled debut in 2004 and a platinum single, “Too Little Too Late,” and a two million international album seller with The High Road in 2007, it looked like JoJo was on her way to becoming a global soul pop superstar. Then came seven years of label drama and lawsuits that nearly derailed her career, if not for the strategic release of several exceptional mixtapes, including 2010’s stellar Can’t Take That Away From Me. With the December 2013 settlement of suits against Blackground Records and Da Family Entertainment, the newly minted Atlantic Records star dropped a free Valentine’s Day three-song EP of covers entitled #LoveJo just to remind audiences of her multi-octave aural prowess.
One of the #LoveJo highlights was a rare cover of Anita Baker’s 1987 smash hit “Caught Up In The Rapture,” that can’t help but place a smile on your face. Anyone who could approach Baker’s work and make it her own definitely deserves a second chance at winning our hearts.
By L. Michael Gipson
.