"Good to Know" by JoJo has no taboos: She's revealing her life through her autobiographical material

Photographer: Dennis Leupold/ ADB Agency

JoJo: “Good To Know”

Released: May 1, 2020

Label: Clover Music; Warner Records

Genre: R&B

Producers:

BeatGodz, Doc McKinney, Fade Majah, Lido, and Sir Dylan

Writers: Andrew Jackson, BeatGodz, Brandon Colbein, Cameron Lazar, Chantal Kreviazuk, Chelsea Lena, Chris Petrosino, Doc McKinney, Elizabeth Boland Lowell, Evon Barnes, Joelle James, JoJo, Kennedi, Lauren LaRue, Lido, Merna Bishouty, Nat Dunn, Pluss, Rob McCurdy, Sir Dylan and Sofia Quinn

Joanna "JoJo" Levesque released her fourth album, "Good to Know," at midnight on May 1. The American singer has grown into herself and her sound. "Good to Know" shows a 29-year-old woman with all the self-knowledge and sensuality her age and experience should portray. This album marks JoJo's first release since leaving Atlantic Records and starting her record label imprint Clover Music through a joint venture with Warner Records.

In an interview with Billboard, she justified the title album based on "(...)everything I've learned in the past few years – every piece of feedback, criticism (internal or external), whatever it is – it's all just information. I've been lucky to have the space to reflect on my own journey up to now, and I hope people can take comfort in the fact that I am not anywhere near perfect, and I will never sugarcoat anything. We are all constantly living and learning, and that's what makes this life so fun."

JoJo proves, at the opening of the album, that she is a free girl who is not afraid to share everything she thinks. "So Bad" is sexual, and there is nothing to hide in this hot bop. 

"Look, boy, look at me now." She started, and immediately all our focus was on her. Here, JoJo is using her upper range as she sings about having sex with another woman's man, asking if the other girl "knows that you like it in the morning," or "you smile when you're performing."

Photographer: Dennis Leupold/ ADB Agency

"Pedialyte" reveals that she gets out of control when she drinks. And she apologizes for her behavior when she gets drunk. It is probably one of the artist's most personal revelations on this album. "But when I wake up, Who's gon' be my savior/ Excuse my behavior/ Swear I'm never, never gonna drink again." She said, at NPR, that "I remember when I was around college-age, just hearing that people were using Pedialyte as a hangover cure, so I figured that would be the right title for the song about the morning after a big night(...)". 

The album's third track is when JoJo gets to what an excellent R&B sex bop should be. She expresses how much the love she feels for another person is like "Gold." 

"You're bringin' it out of me, from my head to my toes / I call that anatomy, just the way that shit goes," she sings. "You movin' inside of me, speakin' so heavenly / I call that divinity, we already know." 

"Man" declares her self-confidence and desire to find a lover who can return her affections.

"Small Things" is the first ballad on the record. Here, JoJo shows a more emotional side; it was probably a love disillusionment or nostalgic moment when she was with someone.

In "Lonely Hearts," the feeling of being by her lonesome seems to be settling in. Choosing herself is what she needs the most, and in being alone, at least she knows that her heart can't get broken anymore. 

 JoJo picks herself apart, whispering about not being able to get over an ex on "Think About You." She lets her old lover know that the door will always be open, no matter how hard she tries to move on, even her friends encouraging her to see other boys.  

"Comeback" featuring Tory Lanez and 30 Roc brings sex to the topic once again. This one is the climax of JoJo's musical horniness.

Photographer: Dennis Leupold/ ADB Agency

The relatable and sincere "Don't Talk Me Down" closes the album. Only accompanied by a piano and elegant strings, the singers arrive at a point where she can finally stand independently.

On "Good to Know," JoJo is making the music she wants to make, and she's not afraid to speak about what's going on with her mind.

Favorite Lyrics on the album: Editor's Pick

"You're just my late night friend undercover" (So Bad)

"Opposites attract, but do they last? / Light us up and burn out just as fast/That's lust, that's us" (Don't Talk Me Down)