JoJo Talks NGL, Sex and the City, & Whitney Houston’s Shout-Out

In Elite Daily's series Early Influences, musicians reflect on the songs and albums that left a lasting impression on them in their formative years. Here, JoJo dishes on Aretha Franklin and more.

JoJo is no stranger to ripping her heart out and turning it into a record. NGL takes that concept a step further. The EP, which came out Jan. 24, is partly a breakup album — the real narrative arc is the singer learning to love herself.

“I was in an on-again, off-again dynamic for a really long time. It wasn’t a public relationship, but it was a significant connection in my life,” JoJo says. “In untethering from that madness, I left L.A., started a new life in New York, and was really trying to develop a good relationship with myself. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes I failed.”

The EP chronicles the ups and downs of this journey. “The EP is asking ‘Am I ready to love? Is it safe? Can I trust myself?’” JoJo says. “It’s really just feeling out this newness: this new city, this new relationship to myself, these new boundaries.”

Moving to New York, she re-watched one of the city’s most iconic shows for inspiration. “The feminine urge to binge-watch Sex and the City is very strong,” she says. The show became a catalyst for “Nobody,” an empowerment bop evocative of Samantha Jones.

“I like that she was not about the bullsh*t,” JoJo says of Jones. “She was like, ‘Whatever works for you, do you. And don’t judge me for doing what feels good for me.’ I don’t think I’m quite as free as Samantha. She’s a bad b*tch, for sure.”

Of course, JoJo has her own bad b*tch lore to speak of. Gearing up for her Too Much to Say Tour, she asked her fans what they’d like on the set list. While many requested deep cuts, there were still asks for her mid-2000s hits “Leave (Get Out)” and “Too Little Too Late” — and she has no problem indulging in the nostalgia.

“If I’m ever like, ‘OK, this song, again?’ I try to re-frame it,” JoJo says. “I can look out into the audience and see people who grew up with these songs. We grew up together. It’s part of the fabric of our formative years, and I think that’s special.”

However, the singer can’t reframe everything from that time, including her comedies Aquamarine and RV. “It’s cringe for me, so I haven’t watched either of those since they came out,” JoJo says. “Even to watch old interviews of myself when I was a teenager is super cringey. Not that I don’t have compassion for that person, but it feels like just a little strange.”

She has no problem raving about the artists she obsessed over in her youth, though. JoJo got her start covering the music of R&B greats when she was a child, so it’s no wonder her biggest influences are the genre’s legends.

Aretha Franklin

“I don’t remember a time without her. She was such a part of my childhood,” JoJo says of the legendary Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. At just 8 years old, JoJo performed Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” on the televised talent show Destination Stardom, and she’s gone on to cover Franklin several more times throughout her career.

“‘Chain of Fools,’ ‘Respect,’ and ‘The House That Jack Built’ were three of my favorite covers,” JoJo says. “Now, I have a new favorite. She has a version of ‘Crazy He Calls Me’ that I’m studying and learning now.”

She recalls how she’d try to track down “all the CDs of hers I could find” and watch Franklin’s videos on VH1. “It was her voice and the way that she conveyed the emotion of the lyric,” JoJo says. “Every time she’d perform, even if it was the same song, it would be new, and she’d be embodying it in a different way.”

The Franklin performances she thinks every music fan needs to hear are in the 2018 documentary Amazing Grace. “It goes through her relationship with the church and her relationship with gospel versus soul versus R&B versus pop,” JoJo says. “And it shows what a phenomenal piano player she was, which is something I didn’t know until maybe 10 years ago.”

JoJo was lucky enough to see Franklin live shortly before her death in 2018. “It was awe-inspiring to be in her presence,” she says. “I remember her outfits being very loud and memorable. She loved bold colors. She loved sequins. She loved her tatas to be up to her chin. She loved to really take up space and be the queen that she was, and it was really inspiring.”

Whitney Houston

It’s not often that an up-and-coming artist gets their idol’s stamp of approval, let alone on their first single at just 13 years old. But back in 2004, Whitney Houston sang a little bit of JoJo’s “Leave (Get Out)” during an Access Hollywood interview, revealing it was her daughter Bobbi Kristina’s favorite song.

“I was just like, ‘I can die happy now,’” JoJo says of that moment. “It didn’t matter what anyone else in the world thought of me because Whitney Houston sang a little bit of my song. I was like, ‘What is better than this? My idol, the one, the voice.’”

Shortly afterward, Houston sent JoJo flowers to her dressing room at a Madison Square Garden concert. “I just fell on the floor and cried,” JoJo says. “That was very life-changing.”

Her favorite Houston songs to perform are from The Bodyguard soundtrack. “‘I Have Nothing’ or ‘Run to You.’ ‘Run to You’ is really speaking to me lately,” JoJo says. “I’ve just been thinking about those songs and how masterful they are.”

Celine Dion

JoJo felt immediately connected to Celine Dion for one specific reason. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, we both have French-*ss names, that’s so cool,’” says JoJo, whose full name is Joanna Noëlle Levesque.

“Then I heard her version of ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ and became obsessed,” she adds. “I just loved her playful delivery.” Her all-time favorite Dion song is another cover: “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.”

But it’s not just the music that continues to draw JoJo to Dion. “My love for Celine has continued to grow as she has evolved into this style icon, and as she’s shared more of her personality,” JoJo says. “I love that meme where someone is singing to her from the car and she rolls up the window.”

She’s been especially inspired by Dion’s recent years. “The way she has dealt with her diagnosis and the loss of the love of her life, and then the triumph of performing at the Olympics after having to step away from her residency, she is a human inspiration beyond a vocal inspiration,” JoJo says. “I’m just in awe. Her pristine voice would be enough, but then she’s also an angel walking the Earth.”