For fans of: coming-of-age stories, music biographies, mid-2000s culture
If you grew up in the early 2000s, then you have probably heard the songs “Leave (Get Out)” or “Too Little Too Late” at some point in your life. I distinctly remember hearing them on the car radio on the way to school, coming home from school… Anyway, while the subject matter was a little too adult for me at the time, the melodies, the choruses, and the vocals always caught my attention. Who was behind these pop-R&B jams? Well, it was JoJo. No, no—not JoJo Siwa. JoJo.
I remember thinking that JoJo was cool and different from some of the other pop artists on the radio at the time. Still, I didn’t really know much about her. I mean, where did she come from? How did she get into music? When I saw that she was releasing a memoir, I still had questions. How old is she now? What has she been up to lately?
In her memoir, Over the Influence, Levesque fills us in. She tells us all about her journey through the music business and how it ties in with her journey into adulthood. She starts with her complicated childhood, which consisted of tagging along to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, dealing with bullies at school, and music. We quickly learn that music was more than just a fun hobby for Levesque. She knew that music was going to give her a better life, and she was going to do whatever she could to become a star.
Her talents brought Levesque out to California, where she signed with a label. It seemed as if she finally made it, but she soon explains the side effects of signing to a label at only twelve years old. On the one hand, she was living her dream. The fancy music producers, the studio time, the television appearances, the celebrities, the radio play… But at the same time, she was still trying to navigate life as a teenager. She had insecurities, doubts, and a very opinionated team that only exacerbated these opinions and doubts. How she should dress, the type of music she should make, who should be in her music videos… She really sheds light on a situation where her best interests were not fully considered.
Of course, life became a little more complicated as she got older. Drinking, boys, relationships, addiction—all of it encroached upon her career, threatening to derail all she had worked for. As she explains these challenges, readers feel for Levesque and wish that she did not have to deal with such heavy issues at such an important time in her life. Instead of making new albums, she was trying to prevent her mom from having breakdowns, she was hoping her dad would get help for his addiction, and she was navigating troubled relationships. Additionally, her label seemed not particularly eager to help her release music, which brought up cause for a lawsuit.
Each chapter offers another piece to this large puzzle of her life, a puzzle that only gets more intricate with every turn of the page. But despite all she was going through, Levesque never stopped trying. She found hobbies that could take the place of toxic habits and found people who were going to support her through the tough times. She got back into making music. Yet, every time it seemed as if things were coming together, they would fall apart.
In the end, we see Levesque as not just a singer who found success at a young age—she is also someone who is trying to find her way in life, as so many of us are. To learn from previous mistakes. To find love. To embrace change. To trust herself. She does not try to pretend like she has all the answers or knows what will happen next. She owns up to when she was wrong, she admits when she felt lost, and she shamelessly basks in moments of triumph. Overall, she presents us with a story that is relatable, one that will connect with others regardless of whether or not they have experienced what she has experienced. One that has transformed her from JoJo, the talented teenager, to Joanna Levesque, the strong (and still talented) woman.
As she says at the end of the book,
“I hope to keep evolving in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. And I want to be of service to others along their journey and help them make sense of the pain and beauty of being a human in this world.”
With Over the Influence, Joanna Levesque has not only done her job but she encourages others that their stories aren’t over yet—just like hers.
You can order a copy of Over the Influence here.
Keep up with JoJo: Instagram // X // Facebook // YouTube // TikTok // Website
