The High Road (JoJo album)

After the success of her debut album, JoJo quickly went back in the studio to work on new tracks. While recording, she worked with producers such as Josh Alexander, Beau Dozier, Ryan Leslie, J.R. Rotem, Matthew Gerrard, Soulshock & Karlin, Stargate, Billy Steinberg, Peter Stengaard, Scott Storch, Swizz Beatz, Justin Trugman, and Focus... It was reported that over 30 songs were written and recorded for the album, before being narrowed down to the twelve that made the final track listing. During an interview, JoJo compared The High Road to her previous album by stating, "I recorded my first album when I was 12, and now I'm 15. From age 12 to age 15 is a big jump in a young girl's life. I think with the new album, you can hear the maturity and confidence in my vocals. I'm coming into myself and being more comfortable. All of the songs on the album came out well - the music style is mostly urban like the my first album, but there are some rock elements too."

When asked about the recording process, JoJo stated, "I had finished promoting my first album, then I went to Australia to film Aquamarine", she recalled. "It was a busy time – while I was in Australia, I auditioned via satellite for RV. When I finished with Aquamarine, I came home and started working on the new album. It was mainly recorded in New York, Miami and L.A. We recorded over 30 songs with a lot of different people. [...] I feel that doing 30 songs was fine for the album. Some people would say that's too many to do, and it's costly to record that many songs. But Chris Brown recorded 50 songs for his album, and then he whittled it down and made a great record. When you record a lot of songs, you come up with different styles and ideas."^[1] On the album, JoJo got to work with Diane Warren, whom she had idolised. She recalled the process by saying, "I was very excited to get together with Diane Warren," she said. "I love Diane – she's one of my favorite people. We recorded four or five songs together, two of which made the album, 'Exceptional' and 'Note to God.' She's so cool."

The High Road contains a mixture of styles, ranging from R&B to pop. During an interview, JoJo stated, "I definitely felt more confident recording this album because I know how to go into the studio and how to work with producers. When you go into the studio you have to have a relationship with the producer while recording. Also, this time I knew how to warm up my vocals and what to expect." When asked about how the type of music she wanted on the album, she stated, "Well my executive Producer is Vincent Herbert [...] and he is very good at picking songs he thinks I'd like. He does like to throw curveballs sometimes and try different things. But most of the time we have the same taste."^[3]

On September 20, 2006, fans were able to buy from the iTunes Store snippets of three of JoJo's songs from the album, including "The Way You Do Me", "Let It Rain" and "This Time". The three promotional singles were released to raise hype for the album, after the success of the lead single. On September 27, JoJo performed "Too Little Too Late" and "This Time" on MTV's TRL. On September 28, AOL released Sessions@AOL, an exclusive performance from JoJo. During the performance, she performed the singles "Too Little Too Late" and "How to Touch a Girl", as well as two of JoJo's personal favorites, "This Time" and "The Way You Do Me", which had both been released as promotional singles before the album's release.

Though there has not been an official tour, she has been performing with a live band as part of the Six Flags Starburst Thursday Night Concert series during the summer of 2007.^[4] During some of these shows she has included medleys of her favorite popular songs from Beyoncé ("Déjà Vu"), Kelly Clarkson ("Since U Been Gone"), SWV, Gnarls Barkley, Jackson 5, Justin Timberlake ("My Love"), Maroon 5 ("Makes Me Wonder"), Usher, Carlos Santana, Jill Scott, Michael Jackson, George Benson, Musiq Soulchild, and Amy Winehouse ("Rehab", replacing the title with "Boston").^[5][6][7][8] In November 2007, JoJo she toured in Brasil at the Live Pop Rock Brasil.^[9]

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[15]
AllMusic	[20]
Entertainment Weekly	B[21]
The Guardian	[22]
PopMatters	2/10[23]
Prefix	6.5/10[24]
Rolling Stone	[25]
USA Today	[26]

Close

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics.^[27][28] Alex Macpherson of The Guardian awarded The High Road four out of five stars, praising JoJo's vocal performances and the balance between contemporary R&B, pop production, and emotional ballads. He highlighted "The Way You Do Me" and "Too Little Too Late" as standout tracks, with the latter serving as the album's emotional centerpiece.^[22] Matt Collar of AllMusic also gave the album four out of five stars, describing it as a collection of catchy pop songs that effectively showcased JoJo's vocal abilities. He praised her increased maturity and highlighted tracks such as "This Time," "The Way You Do Me," "Like That," "Anything," and "Good Ol'" for their melodies and stylistic variety, while noting that the album remained within mainstream pop conventions.^[20] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B grade, praising JoJo as more than a typical teen-pop artist and highlighting her vocal range and polished songwriting. She described The High Road as a refined and understated pop album, with "Too Little Too Late" standing out as a highlight.^[21] Elysa Gardner of USA Today similarly praised JoJo's growth as a performer, crediting the album's strong hooks and production while naming "Too Little Too Late" and "Let It Rain" as highlights.^[26]

Norman Dreads of Prefix rated the album 6.5 out of 10, praising JoJo's vocal ability and the album's more mature R&B-influenced sound. He highlighted the contributions of producers such as Scott Storch, Swizz Beatz, Ryan Leslie, and Soulshock & Karlin, while noting that JoJo's performances remained the album's strongest element.^[24] Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times offered a mixed review, stating that most of the album did not match the quality of "Too Little Too Late." He praised JoJo's vocals and performances on songs such as "The Way You Do Me" and "Anything," but criticized the abundance of ballads and some of the album's romantic themes.^[29] Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone gave the album two-and-a-half out of five stars, praising JoJo's vocal talent and the work of its high-profile producers but finding the material uneven. She highlighted "This Time" and "The Way You Do Me" while criticizing some of the album's production choices, including the use of the Toto sample on "Anything."^[25] Sawdey of PopMatters gave The High Road a two out of ten rating, arguing that the album relied too heavily on the success of "Too Little Too Late." While he acknowledged JoJo's vocal ability, he criticized the production and songwriting as generic, singling out tracks such as "This Time," "The Way You Do Me," and "Anything" as examples of the album's shortcomings.^[23]

The High Road debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 108,000 copies in its first week.^[30] Nearly a month after its release in the United States, on November 28, 2006, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),^[31] and had sold 538,000 copies in the United States by March 2007.^[32] The album debuted at number 12 on the Canadian Albums Chart, becoming JoJo's first album to enter the top 20 in that country.^[33] It was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) on January 17, 2007, denoting shipments in excess of 50,000 units.^[34]

In the United Kingdom, The High Road debuted at number 59 on the UK Albums Chart,^[35] peaking at number 24 in its third week on the chart.^[36] On June 8, 2007, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified it gold for shipping over 100,000 copies.^[37] Elsewhere, the album reached number 45 in Japan, number 94 in Belgium and number 96 in Switzerland.^[38][39] As of August 2015, The High Road had sold three million copies worldwide.^[40]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The High Road.^[2]

Quick facts Released, Recorded ...

The High Road (2018)
Studio album (re-recorded) by JoJo
Released	December 21, 2018
Recorded	2018
Length	45:49
Label	Clover Music
JoJo chronology
JoJo (2018) (2018) The High Road (2018) (2018) Good to Know (2020)

Close

On December 20, 2018, JoJo re-recorded The High Road along with her self-titled debut album and singles "Demonstrate" and "Disaster", released under JoJo's new label imprint Clover Music on December 21. The decision to re-record the singles and albums came from the removal of all of JoJo's original music released under Blackground Records from all streaming and digital selling platforms.^[60]

Blackground owns the master licensing to the original recordings and has control over their release.^[61] JoJo sought after getting the original songs and albums back online, but would never come to an agreement with the label. JoJo's lawyer stated they had reached the end of the statute of limitations on the re-record clause which gave her the rights to "cover" her own music.^[61][62][63]

Despite the releases of the original versions of JoJo and The High Road on digital and streaming platforms in 2021,^[64] JoJo stated that she does not benefit financially from the releases, encouraging fans to support the re-recorded versions instead.^[65]