Joanna Levesque always knew she wanted to sing. At 2 years old, she sang nursery rhymes1 with a twist.“I would do riffs2 on them and make them jazzy3,” she says. As a young girl, Joanna enjoyed her mother’s singing at church.“I just listened and learned,” she says.
At age 6, she got her break4 by singing on a kids’ TV show. People loved her young, powerful voice. That led to more singing on other TV shows.
As she got older, her singing got better. Joanna made it big-time in 2004 when she was the opening act for R&B superstar Usher. She performed in front of audiences of 20,000 people. From then, everyone knows Joanna as simply JoJo.
Rising Star
JoJo is climbing the charts as pop music’s youngest teen star. Her first single, “Leave (Get Out),” became an international hit. Her album, JoJo, has also sold well. Some people are calling the singer and songwriter the next “pop princess.” That makes JoJo cringe5. At her age, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were still starring on The Mickey Mouse Club.
“I am not doing bubblegum pop6,” JoJo says,“This is real music that is not just for teens or for young kids or for older people. It is for everybody.”
JoJo sings a wide range of music. She can sing soulful7 R&B or hip-hop. She shows her youthful energy with songs such as “Not That Kinda Girl” and “The Happy Song”.
“I try not to limit myself,” she says.
Early Struggles
JoJo did not always have happy times while growing up near Boston. She lived with her mother, who took on cleaning jobs to help make ends meet8.
“We were the lower-income people [in our neighborhood].” JoJo said.“Everyone lived in nice houses, and we lived in a one-bedroom apartment. We had the tiniest bathroom ever. Money was tight. My friends could go to the mall and the movies, and I couldn’t,” JoJo says.“I had hand-me-downs9.... But I am grateful that I never lived in a shelter10.”
Some of her lyrics reflected those hard times. In“Keep On Keepin’On,” she sings about growing up poor but knowing there is hope.
Keep It Going
JoJo has stayed busy. Last year she’s starred alongside Robin Williams in the comedy RV: Runaway Vacation and Aquamarine with Emma Roberts. She released her second album The High Road in 2006. The lead single from the album, “Too Little Too Late”, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100.
JoJo is tutored11 and home schooled. She doesn’t have time for a boyfriend.“Boys are confusing right now,” she says.
JoJo says that she and her music are still growing.“I think that as you grow and your audience grows, you change and evolve12.” She has stated that her third album will not be released until she turns eighteen, citing that she wants audiences to“see growth” in her music.
乔安娜·利维斯克一直就知道自己想唱歌。2岁时，她就一边扭动身体，一边唱着童谣。她说：“我会给那些儿歌加上即兴重复，使它们听上去有爵士乐的味道。”乔安娜年幼时很喜欢听母亲在教堂里唱歌。她回忆道：“我那时只是边听边学。”
6岁时，她得到在一个电视儿童秀节目上唱歌的机会。人们喜爱她那稚嫩洪亮的嗓音，从那以后她得以在更多的电视节目中亮相。
她越大，歌就唱得越好。2004年她为R&B超级明星亚瑟小子做了开场演出，并大获成功，她在两万名观众面前表演。自那以后，大家都认识了乔乔（乔安娜的简称）。
新星崛起
乔乔作为年龄最小的少年流行歌手登上排行榜。她的首张单曲《离开我》全球热卖。她的专辑《乔乔》销量也很好。她能唱也能写，有人称她为下一个“流行公主”。这种说法让乔乔很难为情。像她这么大的时候，布兰妮·斯皮尔斯和克里斯汀娜·阿奎莱拉还只是在《米老鼠俱乐部》节目中演出。
“我唱的不是泡泡糖流行乐，”乔乔说，“而是真正的音乐，不仅仅是只给小孩、少年或老人听的，是每个人都能欣赏的音乐。”
乔乔歌路很广，无论抒情R&B还是说唱乐她都能唱。她在《不是那类女孩》和《欢乐歌》等歌曲中展示了她的青春活力。
“我不想限制自己的歌路。”她说。
早期拼搏
在波士顿附近长大的乔乔并不总是无忧无虑。她和母亲住在一起，母亲靠给人洗衣来维持生计。
“在我们住的那一带，我们算穷人。”乔乔说，“别人都住在漂亮的房子里，我们却住只有一间卧室的小房间。我们用过最小的浴室。经济上总是很拮据。朋友们可以去大商场购物，去看电影，我不能，”乔乔说，“我总是穿旧衣服……但是我还是很庆幸自己从没住在收容所里。”
她的一些歌词反映了那段艰难时光。歌曲《努力再努力》唱的就是在成长过程中虽身处困境却心存希望的主题。
勇往直前
乔乔总是很忙。去年她和罗宾·威廉姆斯主演喜剧《RV：休旅任务》，和艾玛·罗伯茨同演了《美人鱼》。2006年她发行第二张专辑《高速公路》。专辑中的主打歌《有点太迟》首次跻身100首热门歌曲排行榜。
乔乔在家里由家教授课。她没时间交男朋友。“现在男孩们让人难以理解。”她如此说。
乔乔说她和她的音乐仍在成长。“我想，随着你长大，你的听众也在成长，你要变化、进步。”她声称第三张专辑将在她18岁时发行，会让观众在她的音乐中“看到她的成长”。
Q: You’re back with another huge song—are you enjoying being back on the music scene after a couple of years out?
JoJo: I’m loving it! It feels very good. I’m more prepared than the first time round—I was really nervous back then! 13 to 16 is a big difference and I feel more confident as an artist and a person.
Q: This album’s got the hottest names in music involved—Scott Storch, Ryan Leslie, as well as legends like Diane Warren14—how was it working with them?
JoJo: It was a dream. It was so cool. Everyone brought something unique with them which were so much fun. I was open to their ideas and they were open to mine and they were all very down to earth15.
Q: You’ve been working towards your career since you were really young, do you feel like you’re missing out on16 being a normal kid?
JoJo: There are parts I miss about it. You know, like, I’m homeschooled now so I don’t get to see my friends as much as I’d like to, and I’m traveling a lot—but that passion and that drive just keep me going. If I didn’t want to do this, it would be a different story, but I love doing it and I do keep in contact with my friends and I do get to hang out with them when I get the chance.
Q: How do your friends feel about your success?
JoJo: Obviously there are the haters, and stuff like that. But I do have a really good circle of friends in New Jersey and I keep in touch with those people.
Q: There’s a lot of tough competition in your industry. What makes you unique?
JoJo: I think that some young artists that we’ve come to be familiar with have just skimmed the surface and haven’t really looked that deeply at real issues that affect people. I think that my music speaks to a wide age group—I don’t think it’s just for the 6 to 17 year-olds. I think a lot of people will like it for a lot of different reasons.
Q: Who are your musical influences?
JoJo: Growing up I listened to a lot of Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, and even The Beatles. My mom and dad liked different types of music, so I’m sort of a product of that.
Q: Are you concerned about how image-conscious17 the music industry is—that often it seems that people succeed based on how little they’re wearing versus18 how talented they are?
JoJo: At this point, I’m not really worried about it. I’ve gotten this far while still keeping my clothes on. The way I look at it, what do you have to show when you’re 20 or 25 if you’ve shown everything already?
Q: What advice would you give to kids who want to do what you’re doing now?
JoJo: I would say, sing for anybody who will listen. Take any opportunity that comes up—but just make sure you have your parents there because you never really know what you’re getting into and you don’t want to get into a situation that you can’t really handle yourself. Even though you feel like you can do anything when you’re a teenager, you still need your parents.
问：你回来了，还带来一首优秀的作品——几年之后重返歌坛，感觉好吗？
乔乔：感觉很棒！我爱死这种感觉了。我比第一次准备得更加充分了——以前我真的很紧张！13岁和16岁差别很大，作为一个艺人，作为一个普通人，我更加自信了。
问：这张专辑牵涉到乐坛最炙手可热的名字——像斯科特·斯托奇、赖恩·莱斯利，以及传奇人物戴恩·沃伦——跟他们一起工作感觉如何？
乔乔：棒得像做梦一样。太酷了！每个人都带来自己独特之处，有趣极了。我们彼此开诚布公地交流想法，他们都很脚踏实地。
问：你自幼就向演艺界发展，你是不是觉得错失了像普通孩子那样成长的乐趣？
乔乔：我确实是错过了一部分。呃，比如，现在我在家里接受教育，这样我就不能随心所欲地去找朋友玩。而且老是出远门——但是对唱歌的那种激情和热爱驱使着我不断前进。如果我不想做，那就是另一码事了。但是我喜欢唱歌。也和朋友保持联系，一有机会就和他们一起玩。
问：你的朋友们怎样看待你的成功？
乔乔：很显然，有些人心存嫉妒或类似的想法。但是我在新泽西有一个很好的朋友圈，我和他们保持着联系。
问：娱乐圈竞争十分激烈，是什么使你独一无二的呢？
乔乔：我觉得我们所熟悉的一些年轻艺人很肤浅，并没去深入地搞清楚是什么真正影响着人们。我认为我的音乐适合不同年龄段的人——而不仅仅是给6至17岁的人听的。我想很多人会因为各种不同的原因喜欢上我的音乐。
问：你的音乐都受了谁的影响？
乔乔：成长过程中我听了很多的音乐，像艾瑞莎·弗兰克林、艾拉·费兹杰拉，还有披头士的音乐。我的父母喜欢不同的音乐，所以我是受不同类型音乐熏陶的产物。
问：你是否在意音乐圈里对个人形象的这种注重——看起来人们成功通常是基于穿得有多露而不是他们多有天赋？
乔乔：对于这一点，我倒不是很担心。我到现在这个地步仍然穿着衣服啊。我是这样看的，如果你已经把什么都秀出来了，那等你到了20或25 岁，你还能秀什么呢？
问：如果有孩子想从事你现在的事业，你会给他们什么忠告？
乔乔：我想说的是，唱给想听的所有人听。抓住每个出现的机会——但要保证父母在身边帮助你，因为你不知道会遇到什么，你也不愿撞进一个自己不能解决的困境。即使你觉得自己是个小孩也能做一切，你还是需要父母。
1. nursery rhyme 童谣
2. riff n. (流行音乐或爵士乐的)重复段
3. jazzy adj. 爵士乐风格的
4. break n. 机会；运气
5. cringe v. 感到尴尬不安，难为情
6. bubblegum pop <美俚>泡泡糖流行乐，指甜美悦耳、朗朗上口的乐曲，旋律简单，并无深度，仅在青少年间流行一时。
7. soulful adj. 抒情的，深情的
8. make ends meet 糊口
9. hand-me-down 旧衣服
10. shelter n. 收容所
11. tutor v. 辅导
12. evolve v. （使）发展
13. adjust to 适应
14. Scott Storch，Ryan Leslie都为欧美著名音乐制作人；
Diane Warren为欧美著名音乐创作天后。
15. down to earth 实事求是；脚踏实地
16. miss out on sth. 失去…机会；错过
17. image-conscious 注重形象
18. versus prep. 与…相对，比较