JoJo covers Lizzo’s “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)”, and I might need a bit more pop from a bitch

JoJo is still alive y’all. And she did a cute couple of live performance videos recently. One of which was the song “Spiral SZN” from her 2021 EP Trying Not to Think About It. And another which was a cover of Lizzo’s “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)”. The latter was the most interesting to me. No disrespect to “Spiral SZN”. But “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)” caught my attention just because it put JoJo back in the proximity of pop, something that she’s kept a distance from for quite a while outside of performing her own pop songs such as “Leave (Get Out)”. A song of which I’m sure she’d cut from setlists if it wasn’t one of her biggest hits, and the song she’s still known for.

I’m not saying that JoJo should stop singing Soul and R&B AT ALL. With that voice!? And some of the great R&B songs she’s put out?

Don’t be crazy.

But JoJo is fortunate to not only have a great voice, and actual soul, but the type of voice that just sounds great on all types of songs. Like Mariah. Like Whitney. Like Beyonce. All of whom managed to navigate their careers by straddling radio friendly pop and (later in her career in the case of Whitney) R&B. And I’ve always felt this should have been the path JoJo walked when she returned with Mad Love. Not just to enjoy bigger success, but because I feel this sound is also one of several sweet spots for JoJo musically, and that she could find ways to balance it, as I felt she did brilliantly on The High Road. JoJo’s voice is also so damn soulful, that pop doesn’t just sound like pop when she sings it. It becomes something else.

If JoJo’s not feeling pop, then that’s fine. She’s an artist who is now fortunate enough (after over a decade) to be in a position where she can put music out, do what she likes, and release what she likes. BUT. You can hear from this cover of Lizzo’s “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)” that JoJo and pop still hits, and they have unfinished business. So it’d be nice to hear her on some pop leaning R&B cuts again.

Something else that JoJo should consider is releasing a cover album. She’s performed so many amazing covers over the years which span genres, that I think it’s about time she graced some of them with studio recordings and put them out. Her debut album featured a cover of SWV’s “Weak” which she had NO business covering at the age of 14. Everybody was ready to drag this little white girl for it, just for the damn thing to be great. She should also re-record the covers from #LoveJo so that they can finally be put up on streaming in some form. Because her cover of Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture” was incredible, and the fact that it’s not on streaming services is a type of crime.

A cover album from JoJo could just be the thing to have her reach the wider audience she once had. Because I am tired of some of these RGB (255, 255, 255) girls out here bagging hits and acclaim for weak albums, doo-doo performances and dusty vocals.

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💿 Album reviews: December Baby | Good to Know (Acoustic) | Good to Know | #LoveJo | Can’t Take That Away From Me
📀 Special Edition: The in-between | a makeshift album of unreleased JoJo material
🔙 Flashback Friday: That time JoJo kicked deadbeats and wigs to the curb at the age of 13