CD Review: Jojo – “Good to Know” (2020)

A lot can happen by the time that you’re 30. For instance, you can be on your way to achieving your goals, maybe through an apprenticeship or starting in a position that will get you there. In general, your 20s is a time of discovery, of trying to figure out the adult that you want to be and facing those trials and errors along the way. It’s the moment where we first experiment with a permanence that will define us for the rest of our lives. It’s scary and exciting, allowing us to make decisions that bring with it life lessons. We’re on our way to something, but few of us will have any major achievements by the end of it.

Then again, not everyone is Jojo. You likely remember the singer going back to 2003 when she was a teenager singing “Leave (Get Out).” At the time it was a quirky pop song, starting off a career that may prove interesting, but nobody expected her to last.  And yet she defied the odds over and over, producing various hits throughout the years as she grew into a more confident performer, shedding the artifice in favor of something more raw and honest.

Even then, she had to deal with studio interference and various issues that made the past decade of her career one that wasn’t without eventfulness. There were lawsuits that freed her from her previous contract, eventually leading to her forming Clover Music. It was a place for her to release her own music, starting with the album “Mad Love.” She would go on to rerecord her earlier albums, freeing them from her previous label’s ownership and giving royalties to respective parties that had been ignored.

For someone approaching 30, Jojo has had quite the career trajectory. Most of all, she comes out a veteran of almost 20 years. She has had experiences that inform so much of her music now that she’s had all of her diva moments. The thrill of being a new artist is largely past and any impulses she had inside her are now gone. Along with being freed from her label, it allowed her to be more honest, reflecting deeply on her own mental health and relationships, asking what was important to her as an individual. 

As a result, “Good to Know” is more stripped down than the average pop album. The title is said to be a reference to the life lessons that Jojo has acquired along the way, believing that these songs are full of things that are good to know. She is no longer a young and petty singer, eagerly complaining about her frustrations. There is nothing holding her back from moving on with her life, doing her best to be a better person. 

This isn’t a record geared at those vitriolic lovers. There isn’t a moment where she revels in a vengeful ex. She may be desiring to have somebody to love, but the way that she discusses romance becomes something more mature, less seen in pop records of these kinds. Compared to the more bombastic “Future Nostalgia” by Dua Lipa, this record is meditative and peaceful. There is self-acceptance that is powerful, reflective more of R&B with mild hip-hop twinges as she goes through things that are important to her. There is nothing confrontational to be found here, and it makes it a sigh of relief.

What follows are songs about various forms of relationships, both in the men that Jojo court as well as to herself. The opening is especially true as “So Bad” presents noir imagery. She’s at the bar in a trench coat, waiting to do something back. Even if the instrumentation lacks a novelty, there is this sense of playful imagery as she’s calling out for a lover to keep her company throughout the night. They both want it “bad,” and it’s a cute form of foreplay. When paired with the minute-long opener “Bad Habits,” there is already a sensuality building. Jojo is a woman whose confidence shines through the album. She’s forthright in her desire for sex, a love of getting drunk and having fun. It’s empowering to hear both sides colliding with each other, forming the duality of a modern relationship.

Things can be great one minute and bad the next. Her next song “Pedialyte” continues the album’s addiction imagery. Having already referenced sex, weed, alcohol, and bars, it makes sense that this is a moment to reflect on her wild night of being bad:

Open up the blackout blinds

Unbottle my emotions

Sippin' on a potion

Last night was a real good time

It’s a song that’s literally about a hangover. She suggests that she’ll never drink again during the bridge, but by the chorus, she is back to saying that every day is a celebration, a reason to party. Is her drinking a bad thing? It’s hard to say, but to her credit Jojo’s insight into a hangover isn’t just a physical response. The choice to focus on how it plays with emotions, making her distant from others, gives a better self-awareness that few songs want. She’s addicted to the joy that everything brings her, which is why the outro becomes overwhelmed with her sexual drive once again, giving in to the pleasures of life:

I forgive all my exes

And my sex be the best

It was love, it was fast

Put in work, just get it back

Everything in Jojo’s life is fighting against each other, but the outlook of her addiction and desires feel healthy. The choice to acknowledge forgiveness within a passionate phrasing serves as a double-entendre. Is she referencing sex as in gender, or are women superior? Whatever the case, it informs the next two lines about how she wants them to forgive her and love her, whether emotionally or sexually. It’s the type of wordplay that the album carries throughout, finding a mature core underneath that captures relationships that have moved onto something more staid and true.

As the album continues, there is something underneath that she is trying to pull up. She sings on “Man” how she wants to have someone who “rides for her like a stan.” Along with “Gold,” there is this thankfulness that the men in her life have treated her right, making her feel special about being in each other’s lives. Her tender voice whispers in the ear of a listener, loud enough to make you feel the sensitivity of her inner monologue. As the album goes along, she becomes more comfortable in her own skin, sometimes doing songs in the throes of passion (“Comeback”). 

That may be the most enjoyable part of the album. It’s one that isn’t ashamed to dive into a lot of dicey subject matter. Jojo proudly declares:

And it's crazy how we didn't talk for years

But we don't need to say much to get caught up

My body knows you like you've been the only one

Baby, when we're making love (Oh, yeah-yeah)

Give me what I want

It’s quite a vivid image, and yet it never once comes across as some salacious E.L. James fan fiction. Jojo treats sex as seriously as everything else on the album. It’s because while the starting point is the sensation that it gives her, it’s ultimately about the intimacy, of a person who knows how to make her feel comforted. Even as she sings “Give me what I want,” it’s not out of greed, but of desire to give into each other’s desires. Sex is just the starting point. Her attraction to him is physical, and that is what she gets across so well.

Even then, her most staggering songs are the ones where she puts aside these desires and reflects on something that only comes from inside herself. “Small Things” reflects a personal desire to grow and move on, but that she has moments where she wants something to return. Small things keep reminding her of something, whether toxic or not, and she pushes against living in the past. The song perfectly reflects how she claims to be okay, living in the present, but:

Heard your name

Just as I was headin' home the other day

And I swear, I couldn't even sit up straight

I swallowed hard

It’s an abrupt feeling that we all have and she keeps having them throughout the song. It may be her most relatable on the entire album, reflecting how our past never entirely goes away. She swallows hard to keep from giving back into those moments, allowing herself to be vulnerable but not hopeless. It’s beautiful in its simplicity and continues to reflect the idea that love is as much an internal struggle as it is about our own confidence. We can be strong mentally and still have these struggles. 

Her next song “Lonely Hearts” continues this by reflecting her instinct to not swallow hard and give in to her impulse. The way that she controls herself as admirable and reflects something that feels counterintuitive to the general pop song structure:

I could pick up the phone right now

And make that 2 AM call, I know just what to say

But that ain't what I need right now

And I won't let my wants get in my way

Jojo is human in a way that pop music rarely allows, and it’s so life-affirming. Sometimes all we need is to be left alone, letting the sensation pass so we can be better people. Ultimately this is an album about how love informs our decisions not only on a reasonable level but an instinctual one, reflecting our growth from the naïve youth where we give into bad decisions more and our adulthood where the pain from past mistakes has built up a deeper understanding. “Lonely Hearts” is a standout for how it manages to capture that moment beautifully.

If the album wasn’t good enough, she ends with what sounds like a voicemail from her mother. Just as symbolism, it’s like wisdom being passed down to her like this album is advice to us. After all, this is the stuff that is good to know. A key phrase that gets repeated throughout the closing number “Proud” is simple, but ultimately the powerful thesis of the entire album.

All we have is the present, just the present. 

So just let your higher power work through you, he's inside of you

At the end of the day, there is no call to be malicious towards anyone that may have done you wrong. Instead of giving into vindictive ways, let love be your higher power. It is why despite being the simplest song on the entire album, it has a life-affirming feel to it, where Jojo decides to repeat the phrase “I’m so proud of you” in order to make the listener feel that warmth that she has desired in her own life. It feels great, servicing as a warm hug. She doesn’t deny that we may have had our struggles, but we’re all good people. 

She’s forgiven her exes, and she’ll forgive you. All you have to do is believe in your soul that the world is capable of goodness. What this album lacks in bright and shiny sound is more than made up for in lyrical substance, capturing this affirmation for love as something essential and inherently human. It’s ultimately a message of forgiveness and not letting the negativity inform our decisions. We may still have affection for our exes, but there are ways to reflect on it rationally. We may be alone, but we can do so without hating ourselves.

It’s a radical record in how low key it manages to convey these themes. What it lacks in memorable hooks it more than makes up for in the sensation one gets listening to “Proud” and feeling better about oneself. This is the album of someone who has excised herself of petty actions and favors something more adult and sincere. What she says is good to know, especially in a time where it feels like everyone else wants to divide us. To stop and think about what our actions mean allows us to free ourselves from what’s holding us back. Once we’re on the other side, it will feel amazing. Listen to Jojo. She knows what she’s saying.