JoJo said it was “validating, vindicating and encouraging” when her new album, good to know, reached No. 1 on the R&B Billboard charts.
The R&B singer has been getting tons of love for her new project from fellow musicians, including Missy Elliott, Kehlani and JoJo’s idol, Mariah Carey.
“Mariah Carey tweeted about my album,” JoJo gushed during ESSENCE’s new Facebook Live series, Music Mondays, to senior entertainment editor Joi-Marie McKenzie. “I’m like, Oh, my friggin’ goodness. What is life?! That was just unbelievable.”
“These are people who inspired me to do music,” she said of Elliott and Carey, “and set the bar so incredibly high.”
JoJo added that she appreciates fans and celebrities alike for taking to good to know because she’s been working on this project for the past two years. The Grammy Award–winning singer said the album takes listeners on a journey of self-discovery with a few pit stops.
“It starts with very much wanting to escape and experimenting with different ways to do that: love, sex, substances,” JoJo began, noting that the core of the album discusses “masking my fear of being alone.”
“It’s a lot of introspection but it’s sensual. It doesn’t feel heavy,” she added.
good to know, which also features a collaboration with Tory Lanez and 30 Roc, is out now.