The Wisdom of JoJo

by Blanca Mendez

I know it’s been a minute since the last JoJo album, but I hope y’all haven’t forgotten about her. The girl who told her cheating boyfriend to “Leave (Get Out)” (still such a jam!) is back with an intense new track and equally dramatic video. In “Disaster,” JoJo laments the crumbling of a relationship and its heated conclusion. The video shows JoJo (looking a little LiLo from certain angles) in a series of arguments with her biker boyfriend, who clearly doesn’t appreciate everything she’s done for him. But, in true JoJo fashion, she takes the high road and moves on a stronger woman.

Everyone who remembers JoJo is talking about how she’s grown up and matured, as if they’ve forgotten how mature she’s been all along. JoJo’s appeal is that not only is she so real, she is also so wise. She doesn’t get enough credit for how smart and in control she is (outside of the whole age thing, which people need to get over [she’s 20]). Some select nuggets of realness/wisdom she’s imparted over the years:

“In letting you go, I’m loving myself.”

“You don’t like the clothes I wear, how I wear my hair. I don’t really care, it’s not for you.” (And all of “Not That Kinda Girl,” really.)

“I realize that people in the record industry may not love me just because I’m a wonderful person, they love me because I’m about to make them a lot of money.”

“I would never consider a reality show.”

“I’m not afraid of what people are going to think about me, or my truth.”

“When you’re in her I know I’m in your head.” (You’ve heard her straight murder that Drake track, right?)

“Got the whole gym to myself. That means I can sing and grunt and make stupid noises. Awesome!”

“The truffle is the very diamond of gastronomy.”

Blanca Méndez writes about music sometimes.