JoJo Wants To Feel Alive

It’s tempting to bring up “Leave (Get Out),” the 2004 debut single that made her the youngest solo artist to top the Billboard charts, or how she was a fiery runner-up on America’s Most Talented Kids when she was just 11 years old. But for JoJo, those early milestones came naturally.

“I’m really attached to forward motion,” she tells PAPER. “I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what it was 20 years ago.” Born Joanna Noëlle Levesque, the 34-year-old has spent the past two decades showing what the blueprint looks like — not just for pop prodigies, but for artists who refuse to stay trapped in anyone else’s idea of a timeline.

Today, she’s living a version of success that’s deliberately slower, more grounded, and much more spiritual than the industry tends to reward. She made her Broadway debut as Satine in Moulin Rouge! on Broadway, she’s releasing music independently, and she’s pursuing yoga teacher certification in between it all. It’s not about being everywhere. It’s about being intentional.

“There are a lot of things I’m interested in that have to do with developing other sides of myself,” she says. “I've been so career-focused since I was about six years old.” These days, she’s finding joy in getting her morning sunlight, working out, singing in the street and reading one very slow-moving book she’s been trying to finish for months.

This is not the version of JoJo the internet usually clings to. There’s a nostalgia vortex around her name — one she understands but doesn’t particularly indulge. “There are albums that take me back, like Confessions by Usher. I was opening for him on that tour,” she says. “When I wrote [Over the Influence], it felt like closure. Like putting a bow on something that was a really confusing experience for a long time.” Released last September, the memoir traces her early fame, battles with addiction and the long road back to reclaiming her voice. But otherwise, she stays rooted in what’s next. “Maybe it’s the Sagittarius in me,” she adds. “I continue to seek.”

She’s obsessed with vocal health. Broadway discipline. Living like a “singer’s singer.” She geeks out over technique and placement breakdowns on YouTube and swaps opera-training stories with peers like Cynthia Erivo and Tori Kelly. “I use my voice every day,” she says. “I try to make healthy choices in the way I speak, in warming up and warming down. I want to use this gift and know what I’m doing with it, and use it for as long as I can.”

Being cast in Moulin Rouge! marked a pivot point for JoJo — not just creatively but emotionally. “I didn’t realize how lonely I felt being a solo artist from such a young age,” she says. “There was an immense amount of pressure that I put on myself. If something went wrong, it was all a reflection on me.” Theater became a team sport she never knew she needed. “It gave me an opportunity to be sharpened by the performers I was around. We excited each other. We brought new things to a show that’s already been running for five years. And I learned that I’m intense. I like working hard.”

Despite being in a chapter of self-described balance, JoJo doesn’t pretend to have it all figured out. “If anybody tells you they have all the answers, don’t trust those motherfuckers,” she says. “I still view myself as evolving and a work in progress.”

That humility is maybe what makes her artistry feel especially resonant now. She talks about early fame with clarity, not bitterness. “Fame is a dangerous variable to introduce to a child,” she says. “It slants your perception of self and the world. Some people handle it beautifully. But for others, it’s something you have to work through for a long time.”

In the years since leaving her label and reclaiming her career, JoJo has moved slowly and meaningfully. trying not to think about it, her 2021 EP, explored mental health and emotional self-regulation with the intimacy of a journal entry. Her latest project, NGL, has a looser, more alive energy. “I’m in a place where I’m just seeing what makes me feel alive,” she says. “Because doing things just because we think we’re supposed to — that’s not the vibe.”

As for what’s next? She’s not rushing it. “Until I have an answer for that next one, I’m not in a rush to put anything out,” she says. “You truly cannot please everybody. I’ll lose some fans, I’ll gain some fans. But at the end of the day, only you are living inside your body. Only you are living with the choices you make and the things you put out.”

JoJo isn’t chasing a reinvention. She’s just in the middle of one, and has been for a while. “It’s not pretty, not perfect, not what people might think it was,” she says. “Not just the starlet part, but the descent into chaos and confusion. The things that can happen under a certain set of life circumstances.” And yet, here she is. Singing in the street. Holding the chaos with care. Ready for whatever comes next.

You're in this new era of JoJo — fresh and forward-thinking.

Thank you, that’s so nice of you.

This past weekend, I showed my friend the Smokey Robinson tribute of you singing "Who's Loving You."

Oh, wow! You know the deep cuts.

We don't have true singers like you anymore. I miss those tribute shows. They don't do those anymore, right? Like Divas Live.

I think they still do tributes, just maybe not the same. If you grew up in the '90s and 2000s like we did, it was something we all got to see. There were only so many channels so we all watched VH1 or the BET Awards or the Billboard Awards. I still love that shit. I love singers getting to sing. I love being around singers. There are some dope singers out there. I like that there are different types of singing. As I've gotten older, I appreciate even people that I didn't appreciate growing up as much like Diana Ross, for example. I didn't understand or appreciate how difficult what she does vocally is. Everybody just has their own unique thing. I'm really into that right now.

Back in the day it was Whitney, Mariah — singer singers. Now, maybe they’re all on TikTok. That’s where I see a lot of good singing. Do you sing every day?

I do. Since being on Broadway in Moulin Rouge!, I've definitely become someone who lives like a singer, meaning I use my voice every day. I try to make healthy choices in the way I speak, in warming up and warming down. I want to use this thing that I have — this gift — and know what I'm doing with it, and use it for as long as I can. I started out so young, I didn't really know what I was doing. Now I'm learning all those things later. I love singing. I use my voice every day. I think people are sometimes surprised if I'm randomly singing at a photo shoot or walking down the street. They're like, "Oh my God, you're just singing all the time." And I've always been that way. I just love using my voice.

If anybody tells you they have all the answers, don’t trust those motherfuckers.

Are there any particular singers you're inspired by right now? I know you and Tori Kelly have done some stuff, but besides her, any singers we should know about?

That's my girl. I love her so much, and she's truly one of the best in the world. Jazmine Sullivan is incredible. I love Samara Joy. I love Cynthia Erivo. I love the conversations she's having around the voice and vocal health and technique and opera training.

Ariana Grande, same thing. Just incredible. Getting to see her vocal evolution and hear it from when she first started until now, it's amazing and a testament to how much work you really do have to put in if you want to experience your potential with your instrument. She's a great example of that.

Avery Wilson is an amazing, phenomenal singer. There are so many great singers in the Broadway community too. Alex Newell is unreal. Shoshana Bean. I'm a singer's singer. I geek out over this stuff.

I watch those YouTube vocal compilation videos. Do you ever watch those?

Yes. That guy with the dreads who breaks down vocal performances and talks about placement. Do you know who I'm talking about?

I know who you're talking about. I watch the breakdowns, the runs, all that stuff.

Yes! Okay, so you're in it. His name is Jaron. He's dope. So many of us are little nerds, and we love this shit.

You're in this Broadway moment right now. Has Moulin Rouge! unlocked new creativity for you, or new aspects of yourself that you didn’t realize before?

I didn’t realize how lonely I felt being a solo artist from such a young age, and feeling an immense amount of pressure. A lot of it I put on myself, but regardless of where it came from, I felt like if something goes wrong, it’s all a reflection on me.

Being part of a community in a show, where you have other people you’re playing with and people making it happen, and stepping into a world, was really refreshing for me. It made me realize how much I appreciate everything that goes on behind the scenes. It felt like being part of a team sport. I never played a team sport in my life, and I don’t think I wanted to when I was younger. But now, after 20-plus years in the game, my spirit was longing for that.

It gave me an opportunity to be sharpened by the performers I was around. We excited each other, bringing new things to a show that’s already been running for five years. We were just having fun with it. I liked the intensity of the schedule. I’m an intense person. I learned that about myself. If I had any questions about whether or not I was intense, it was confirmed. I like working hard. You definitely get the chance to do that when you’re doing seven or eight shows a week and living for your voice and being a good team member.

Maybe it’s the Sagittarius in me. I continue to seek.

You're a Sagittarius, right?

I am.

A lot of the pop girls are Sagittarius. Britney, Nicki, Taylor Swift...

Christina. Tori as well. Yeah, we’re connected.

You told People that young fame is "like injecting heroin into the system of a child." Obviously people feel so nostalgic when they think about you. You were 13, you were the blueprint. And it wasn’t being done that way at the time. But what about yourself — do you have your own nostalgic obsessions or fixations from that time?

There are albums that take me back to a time. I think of Confessions by Usher. I was opening up for him on that tour. The things that are nostalgic for me are around the same time that I represent nostalgia for other people around my age, because I was a child.

'90s Mariah and Whitney, Divas Live, Celine Dion — those are imprinted on me in such a way. So influential. I'm trying to ask myself if I consider myself a nostalgic person. We all are. I think of Friendly’s. I don’t know if you grew up on the East Coast, but in Massachusetts, we had this ice cream place called Friendly’s. That makes me feel nostalgic. Dairy Queen. Ice cream. Riding my bike.

But maybe it’s the Sagittarius in me. I continue to seek, and I’m really attached to forward motion. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what it was 20 years ago. I did when I wrote my book, and that felt like closure, like putting a bow on something that was a really confusing experience for a long time. That was a good thing. For me, it’s right there.

I did say what I said about fame being a dangerous variable to introduce to a child. It was Dr. Gabor Maté’s work that influenced my thoughts about that — likening fame, adulation and access to drugs and how that can be dangerous on a developing brain. I read a lot about it. I have an interest in it based on my own experience.

And I see other people dealing with levels of fame I never reached and can’t imagine. I don’t think I’d be a good match for that, honestly, as a human. I really feel for them. Fame slants your perception of self and the world. Some people handle it beautifully and have the support they need. For others, it’s something you have to work through for quite a while.