The legal struggles were endless. The label battles were arduous. The #FREEJOJO Twitter petitions were numerous.
But at last, the war is over.
JoJo is finally free.
As of this year, the ridiculously talented 23-year-old — formerly a caged songbird for over seven years thanks to the endless tomfoolery, bankrupt-ness and shenanigans of Blackground Records — is now out of her prior label deal and signed to Atlantic Records.
From the LA Times:
Her fans strongly lobbied for her release, even launching a #FreeJoJo campaign on Twitter; last summer, the battle with Blackground (once home to the late Aaliyah) went public after the singer filed a suit to be released from the label and its imprint Da Family Records.
In the suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in July and obtained by The Times, the singer claimed that the labels had essentially been holding her hostage for the better part of seven years.
Among her complaints in the suit was that Blackground and Da Family failed to release her third album despite delivery and acceptance of recordings and that the labels neglected to pay producers and “other vendors” she collaborated with.
More important, she argued that because her deal with the labels was signed when she was a minor, laws in both New York and California stipulated that she could not be bound to the contract after a period of seven years.
Finally free of label strife, the 23-year-old is on track to issue her long-gestating third album. She signed the new deal with Atlantic in December.
That’s right: Leave (get out), Blackground. JoJo’s time is money, and you can’t take that away from her now.
Let us now hold hands, call up André, pour some green juice in our cups, take sexy Instagram selfies, fly paper airplanes and celebrate the fact that this CrazySexyCool, über-talented diva is finally being given a fair opportunity to soar.
This is the best news of 2014, and also of ever.