Grammy U Live! with Jojo at the 2026 Grammy U Conference in NYC

0:02 Hey, hey,

0:22 I'm so excited to introduce our next guest.

0:24 So excited.

0:26 She's a multi-platinum singer, songwriter, actress,

0:29 and New York Times best-selling author who first first broke onto

0:33 the scene with Leave Get Out and Too Little Too Late.

0:37 Yeah.

0:37 Yeah.

0:38 Y'all know those, right?

0:41 Yeah.

0:41 Becoming the youngest solo artist to top the Billboard mainstream top 40 chart.

0:46 Since then, she's continued to evolve across music, film, theater,

0:50 releasing critically acclaimed projects like Mad Love and Good to Know,

0:54 earning a Grammy Award for Say So with PJ Morton,

0:57 and taking on major roles on Broadway, including Mulan Rouge the musical.

1:02 Yeah.

1:03 In 2024, she added author to that list with her best-selling memoir,

1:08 Over the Influence, offering a deeper

1:10 look into her personal and professional journey.

1:13 Please join me in welcoming Jojo.

1:19 Hey guys.

1:20 Hi.

1:21 Hello to you.

1:24 Thank you.

1:25 Hi.

1:26 How are you guys doing?

1:26 What's up, New York?

1:29 Come on, Grammy.

1:29 You ladies, thank you for having me.

1:33 Thank you so much for joining us here today.

1:34 We're so excited.

1:35 This has been so cool.

1:36 I love all your rings.

1:38 Oh, yeah.

1:38 Just getting a closer look at them all.

1:40 She's all out.

1:41 She never misses with the accessories.

1:43 I'm living.

1:44 Oh, thanks.

1:45 All right.

1:46 We have so much to talk about and like as an artist myself,

1:49 I'm kind of like geeking out right now.

1:52 A um Okay, so let's just jump into this.

1:55 Okay.

1:54 You have had fans who have been supporting your music since your first album,

1:58 as well as younger generations who are just discovering you now.

2:02 In fact, we were literally just like jamming out to you

2:05 the whole time, all week preparing for conference.

2:07 All the reps stalking you on social streams.

2:09 I'll take them.

2:10 Yes.

2:10 Always.

2:12 How has your relationship with your fans evolved over

2:15 the years as you've grown as an artist and a person?

2:19 My fans are so dedicated and amazing and Okay.

2:25 Yes.

2:25 Woo.

2:26 For for team Jojo.

2:27 For real.

2:27 For real.

2:29 Um, I feel like for those of us who have been together from the beginning,

2:34 we've truly Am I Am I showing?

2:36 Am I okay?

2:36 Okay.

2:37 I'm like, just want to make sure.

2:39 I'm modest.

2:40 Um, clearly.

2:42 So it has been uh a growing up like I mean I I recorded my first album at 12 and

2:50 a lot of people who've been with me

2:51 for the beginning of that journey have gone on to have

2:56 successes and failures in their own life and just

3:00 go through the roller coaster that is the human experience.

3:03 So, I think that like it feels so I I

3:08 feel that depth of our relationship in like the live performances.

3:14 I really really love that.

3:15 It's amazing to be a touring artist and to get to step

3:18 out into different cities and to feel that in the air that like,

3:22 oh, we're ready to touch and relate and we're ready

3:26 to have these shared experiences through nostalgia and through newness.

3:32 And that's that's what's amazing about having the privilege of longevity because

3:38 not everyone's guaranteed that and even just to like see another day.

3:42 We're just not guaranteed anything.

3:44 So the fact that I have this dedicated fan base

3:48 um speaking to that part of it is like so special.

3:51 And then the way that streaming services work

3:55 and the way that social media works and that younger

3:58 people are just randomly discovering songs from over

4:02 20 years ago is very very cool to me.

4:05 And that they don't know like any of the history or the back.

4:10 Like I I I don't care if you don't know about the fight with my record label.

4:13 Like I don't give a[ __] about that, you know?

4:15 like we'll talk about.

4:16 Yeah.

4:16 I'm just I'm just glad that that you dig

4:18 the song and um it's just I'm so grateful that I

4:23 have like a couple records that have that traveled

4:28 the world and um and still resonate with little babies today.

4:34 It's cool.

4:35 It's really wild.

4:36 Yeah.

4:36 Yeah.

4:37 And talking about your early experiences,

4:39 um you've spoken about how those experiences

4:41 made you question your own creative instincts, right?

4:43 So, for instance, you were disappointed that your label

4:46 wanted to release Leave Get Out as your first single.

4:49 Um, but your fans really seemed to love it,

4:51 and I know that led to some self-doubt.

4:53 Um, how did that eventually How did you

4:55 eventually retrain yourself to trust your gut again?

5:00 I mean, I wasn't disappointed that they chose Leave Get Out.

5:02 I was So, for those who don't know, Leave Get Out was my first single.

5:05 I recorded it at 12.

5:07 I released it when I was 13.

5:09 And and the thing about that, just to give some context, is that like I never,

5:14 this might sound weird,

5:15 but I just never I I never thought about being a pop star.

5:19 I just thought that I was a soul singer.

5:21 And then I just happened to become a pop star.

5:26 My old manager was like, "You're the reluctant pop star." I'm like,

5:28 "I I whatever, but like or or um you know,

5:33 a tortured pop star." I'm like I just I didn't know

5:36 that much about pop music so I didn't understand and I'd

5:40 done my research now but um I it didn't sound

5:45 like the rest of the album so I was just confused.

5:48 I'm always seeking to understand and at 12

5:50 years old I was seeking to understand too.

5:52 So when the record label felt that that was going

5:55 to be the song to go with, I was just like,

5:58 but but the rest of the album is like so hip-hop or so R&B.

6:01 Like it just I didn't it wasn't quite adding up.

6:06 Um but the truth is they knew what they were doing.

6:10 They knew what they were going to put their money behind.

6:12 They knew much more than I knew.

6:14 So since that was my first experience where I didn't

6:17 quite get what was going on, I was like, "Oh, okay.

6:22 So I should just I should trust that other

6:24 people know better than me." And at 12 years old, that's appropriate, I guess.

6:27 You know, you you hopefully have people in place

6:29 that know more than you and will guide you.

6:32 You don't always get lucky to have um someone showing you the ropes or whatever.

6:38 And it's not like it was a perfect linear path for me.

6:42 But you asked about how I retrained myself to like trust my gut.

6:46 Trust your gut.

6:47 Yeah.

6:47 To trust my gut.

6:49 I'm still It's a everyday exercise in in trusting my gut.

6:54 And I feel like books and podcasts like

6:57 Rick Rubin's are Who Who's read Rick Rubin's book?

7:02 Yes.

7:02 It's so necessary.

7:04 I mean, it's something that I'm going to return to all the time.

7:06 I mean, I think about things like The Artist's Way.

7:09 I think about Rick Rubin's book.

7:11 I think about the untethered soul, which is another great like all the self-help

7:16 has been really helpful for me in my journey.

7:18 And I'm gonna return to those things all the time

7:20 because I don't know if anybody feels like this.

7:24 Um, but I feel like it is our job as artists and creatives to uniquely

7:32 bring our perspectives and our synthesis of inspirations

7:39 in a way that only we can.

7:41 And it's no, we don't need another carbon copy of someone else.

7:45 We don't need the safe stuff.

7:47 We don't need, you know, Kani's album is already out.

7:52 You know what I'm saying?

7:54 And it is so important for R&B and now what are we all going to make next?

8:00 You know what I mean?

8:01 I think is is I was I was conditioned to to be like,

8:06 well, this is working, so that's what you need to do.

8:08 And at a young impressionable age, that's so confusing.

8:12 So, um, every day I'm having to like shed and just be like, do I like it?

8:20 Do I think it's cool?

8:21 do I want to stand behind it?

8:23 Um who whose voice am I hearing in my mind

8:27 as opposed to like it should be this way?

8:31 Yeah.

8:30 Like there is no should.

8:33 It's just like what is resonant for for us I think is um and honestly I

8:39 try to align myself with people who don't question their themselves.

8:42 That's helpful for me too.

8:43 Proximity.

8:45 Jacob Collier is a great friend of mine.

8:47 And you guys did you guys get to see him here with Willow?

8:49 Yeah, y'all were here yesterday

8:50 and I got to see him at the Blue Note the other night with Chris

8:53 Thee and that was just like as always every time I see him on stage.

8:57 But talk about someone who just trusts their gut and is

9:01 and with great I mean he he can do anything.

9:07 He's a he's a mastermind.

9:08 He's a worldbuilder.

9:09 And to be in proximity with someone like Jacob or PJ Morton um or Yes.

9:16 or, you know, plenty of other people.

9:18 Um, but those are the first two that come to mind.

9:21 That inspires me to kind of abandon any

9:25 past conditioning that I'm still holding on to.

9:27 Yeah, that's such incredible advice about just

9:29 protecting your voice and your authenticity as well.

9:31 Yeah, I think that's part of the job.

9:33 It's like no one's going to um it's it's it's protection.

9:39 Yeah.

9:40 Protecting your artist.

9:41 And that's kind of what The Artist Way talks about too,

9:43 that book is like um being in in in your artist's essence and um you know

9:50 like going on artist dates or whatever like

9:52 taking yourself out to go see inspiring things,

9:55 be around inspiring people and protecting that because

10:00 our our artist is also our inner child.

10:02 So it's inner child work as well I think.

10:04 Yeah.

10:04 Absolutely.

10:05 Yeah.

10:06 So talking about that, what advice would you give to artists

10:10 about protecting their voice and like creatively and professionally so early on?

10:15 Like we were just discussing how 12,

10:18 13 years old, that's such an impressionable age.

10:21 And I'm sure you felt like a lot of pressure on yourself.

10:24 I wanted that pressure though.

10:26 I never wanted to be a kid.

10:28 I was like, can we speed this[ __] up?

10:30 Like I'm ready to go work.

10:32 I'm ready to you know I 24 five hours in the day I wanted to work

10:35 basically you know I just but um so the question was how to protect that

10:41 just like advice to other artists.

10:43 Yeah, I am always hesitant to give like prescriptive advice

10:48 because I think that it is such an individual path.

10:54 But what the things that have worked,

10:59 the things that I find helpful are to be really uh

11:09 be really sensitive to what your yeses are and your nos are.

11:16 and be protective of what it is that you like.

11:28 Um, everyone's going to have opinions and not

11:31 everyone's opinion needs to go all the way in.

11:34 You know, I think that like for me personally,

11:37 I like to know what what people think,

11:39 but that but I maybe only in one hand or two hands really am looking,

11:45 you know, to someone else to tell me like this is what you need to be doing.

11:52 Um, for me, following what lights me up has

11:59 been gamechanging in my life and career because there

12:02 are so many things that people told me I

12:03 should do that actually drain me of my life force

12:07 and and I just Jacob was giving a talk at um NYU I think it was recently

12:13 and I was voice noting it because I was

12:15 like he is spitting knowledge and it was so inspiring.

12:18 He was talking about vitality

12:20 and that he's seeking what what brings vitality

12:26 and I realized that that's what I've been looking for too.

12:29 I live in New York now.

12:30 I lived in LA for 13 years and I have so much love

12:34 for the West Coast and I have so much love for honestly anywhere.

12:37 I think you can kind of find the beauty in almost anywhere you are.

12:41 I think a lot of artists, you know, can find like the inspiration wherever.

12:45 But I found that I was slowly not feeling it over there.

12:52 And my team even was like, you know, you want to do musical theater?

12:59 You want to move to New York?

13:01 No, the music industry isn't happening in New York.

13:03 Yeah, you really need to stay in LA.

13:05 Blah, blah, blah.

13:05 Everyone's there.

13:06 I'm like, I don't care.

13:08 Like, I I just I I'm closer to my family on the East Coast.

13:12 there's something in my spirit that's telling

13:14 me that there's something for me here.

13:16 And so my advice would be like if you feel compelled to do

13:22 something and it's not going to hurt nobody else, go ahead and do it.

13:26 Like that that's really Yeah, that was incredible right there because you

13:32 don't want to look back and and regret

13:34 that you didn't take a chance and then you blame it on someone else.

13:39 You can't blame your decisions on anyone else.

13:42 I think I did that for a while.

13:43 I'm like, well, you told me to do this.

13:45 I'm like, but I said, okay.

13:46 And and I'm I'm kind of speaking about like when I

13:49 cut songs that I didn't like or when I, you know,

13:52 was exploring genres that I didn't really resonate

13:55 with or wore things that I was like,

13:57 I feel stupid or like I feel boring or I feel whatever.

14:00 Um, so I think that it's easier with age,

14:05 but I know y'all can do it before I could.

14:08 I I needed to grow into the audacity and the courage.

14:11 Um but I I think that you guys have

14:14 that and I think being a part of um communities

14:20 that can hold hold a mirror to you and serve

14:26 as inspiration and you can look around and be like,

14:30 "Oh, what you're doing is sick." And it

14:33 and it doesn't make me feel like bad about myself,

14:37 but I'm like, I want to do sick[ __] too, you know?

14:39 So, I I think it's so awesome to be around other artists,

14:43 to put yourself in positions to be around people that are doing stuff.

14:46 Doesn't need to be in the same vein sometimes.

14:48 Like, I love being around other singers.

14:50 Are you guys singers or producers ever?

14:52 Okay.

14:55 Amazing.

14:54 Okay.

14:54 Oh my god, I want to hear.

14:56 So, sing.

14:59 No.

14:59 Don't you love being on the spot and someone's just like

15:02 honestly like maybe like sometimes but not right now cuz I'm sharing

15:05 the stage with you so this is already like oh my god

15:08 no I'm totally kidding I it's you know as singers they're always like and go

15:14 okay I've been there it's terrifying

15:15 but but I I just think it's really inspiring

15:17 to be around other people that are doing cool stuff.

15:20 Yeah.

15:20 You said you don't like to give prescriptive advice

15:22 but that was incredible advice that really resonated with me.

15:26 I think, you know, we're all,

15:28 it's so early on in our careers that saying yes to ourselves

15:32 and not listening to what other people have to say is so important.

15:36 Do you think that's easier said than done, though?

15:38 Like, I mean, I I I feel like I've been doing this so long that I

15:41 I can't imagine what it feels like to be

15:43 starting out right now in this wild climate, in this changing landscape of 2020.

15:49 I'm like, 2026, right?

15:50 What year is it?

15:52 Um, and and then and I'm sure a lot of people give

15:55 the advice of like just throw your stuff on TikTok and like,

15:59 you know, verality and it's like where's the artistry in that?

16:01 So, I just want to say that I I feel like

16:05 it's a very exciting time to be an artist and to be

16:08 a new artist and genres don't really matter now and you can

16:11 literally do it's the best time to do whatever the f you want.

16:14 Um, but I also my heart goes out to you guys because it's just like

16:20 more music than ever is being uploaded, right?

16:22 You know, every single day.

16:23 So, you're like, how do I cut through?

16:25 But those that do really really do.

16:27 And it's really cool.

16:27 And it's like you also have to be a jack of all trades.

16:30 Like you need to know how to market yourself.

16:32 You need to be an influencer and a content creator

16:34 and like also be good at songwriting and also be like it's

16:37 because you're never gonna make any money if you're not writing the songs, too.

16:40 Yes.

16:40 And if you're not a touring art,

16:41 it's like it's it's really challenging to think about how do

16:44 I how do I live a creative life and be an artist

16:48 um in this economy and yeah and and learning how

16:52 to like no one is a master of all these things.

16:55 Yeah.

16:55 So, and that's why we we can't exist in a in a vacuum.

16:58 And here I am saying I'm not giving prescriptive advice,

17:01 but if you can find people that do things that could be helpful,

17:04 y'all can help each other, too.

17:06 Like, you know, if you don't produce,

17:07 maybe you have a friend who is into production, great.

17:10 Someone who's like really good with the content, great.

17:13 Bring them on, have a little pod, just make stuff together.

17:15 I mean, this is our community, right, Grammy?

17:17 You This is our community of people.

17:19 It's all right here at your fingertips.

17:22 Um, speaking of artistry and collaboration,

17:25 when you're in the process of creating,

17:27 what kind of things have been like inspiring you recently?

17:30 Is there like artists that are inspiring you?

17:32 Oh, I saw that there was a little guest appearance last night.

17:36 Last night.

17:38 Yes.

17:37 I was at a Madison Square Garden, y'all, with Demi Lovado.

17:40 It was so fun.

17:43 And um yeah, that was so the energy was crazy there.

17:48 MSG is the pinnacle.

17:50 So, I was so proud of her and I've known

17:52 her since we were kids and it was just really cool.

17:55 Um, but yeah, being I try to see as much

18:00 live music as possible and since moving to New York, that gives me even more.

18:04 Do you guys live here?

18:05 You live here, right?

18:09 Since moving here, I've just taken advantage of that as much as possible.

18:12 So, I love to go see theater.

18:14 I love like you just get to see the top tier

18:18 of performers that are doing it eight times a week right here.

18:21 And um I absolutely love the jazz scene here.

18:25 I go to the village.

18:26 I was just at Blue Note like I said for Jacob

18:28 and um and Smoke in Harlem and um the what's the other one?

18:37 Birdland and you know there's just so many I love to go to the opera.

18:41 Um I love Timothy the ballet.

18:45 The ballet.

18:49 Um, no.

18:50 I I I just try to be inspired as much as possible.

18:54 There's so many opportunities here and even like street performers.

18:57 I always try to make sure that I have some cash on me so I can,

19:01 you know, give them something.

19:02 It's amaz There's so much incredible talent all around us.

19:05 Sometimes on the subway, you see some weird stuff.

19:08 You see some like acrobatics and stuff.

19:10 I'm like, I need to stretch.

19:13 There's just inspiration all the time.

19:15 And actually, I just got to go to Bogaloosa, Louisiana.

19:20 My friend PJ Morton just um acquired this studio called Studio in the Country,

19:24 which is an amazing history.

19:26 It was built in 1972 by the same uh designers that built Westlake Studios in LA,

19:33 which is where Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones did a lot of stuff historically.

19:36 So, this place in in Louisiana,

19:39 um Stevie Wonder recorded the Secret Life of Plants album at.

19:42 So just being in that place, you can still like the carpets are the same.

19:48 You It's like mothballs.

19:49 It's like, you know, it's a time capsule.

19:52 And that song uh carry on my wayward son by Kansas was recorded there.

19:59 They did their whole album there and stuff.

20:00 So I was just like in the live room with PJ and he was playing me

20:03 stuff and and I was just like hoping

20:07 to get like positively possessed by the energy there.

20:11 So, just putting myself in positions to go have some new experiences, too.

20:16 I flew to New Orleans.

20:17 I drove 80 miles.

20:19 Yeah, New Orleans.

20:21 I drove 80 miles um to Bogaloosa.

20:24 I hope I'm saying that place right.

20:25 And I just like that lights me up though.

20:29 That makes me feel vital to be able to go

20:31 to a place I've never been to and make some music.

20:33 And it was just PJ and I and we're making

20:35 stuff for a new album that I'm slowly but surely,

20:39 you know, starting to assemble songs for.

20:42 And I'm so inspired.

20:44 And I I do feel that it is our responsibility as artists.

20:47 We're going to we're going to go through es and flows.

20:50 We're not always going to be like lit up and and and inspired,

20:54 but I do think it's our it's our job

20:57 to find those those things that keep us feeling good.

21:02 Um, and yeah, so in in this album mode, I'm listening to a lot of stuff.

21:09 Um, listening to a lot of music from the early8s.

21:12 I'm really into like Patrice Russian, George Benson,

21:17 you know, Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton production.

21:21 Um, Mini Ripperton, I think that's late 70s.

21:24 But like I'm just like interested in like a little bit post disco

21:28 like when they're starting to get like like real groove oriented and yeah Tina

21:34 Marie[ __] is fire and I'm really inspired by it and like getting real

21:38 specific with the sounds and um and I love what's going on right now.

21:42 I I love listening.

21:44 There's this new artist Gareth Duncan.

21:46 Does anyone know Gareth Duncan?

21:49 Yes.

21:49 Those who don't know, you guys are going to freak out.

21:51 He just released an album.

21:52 He's like 25.

21:54 He's like a oneman band.

21:55 He's from the UK.

21:57 Like discovering new artists gets me so hype.

22:01 So check out Gareth.

22:02 Not G.

22:03 Gareth.

22:04 I just landed in New York.

22:06 Where are we?

22:07 Period.

22:08 Where are we?

22:09 I just landed in New York a couple days ago and I

22:11 just being here I felt such an inspiration just of the city.

22:15 I don't know if y'all feel that way too.

22:16 I know not everybody's from New York.

22:17 Do I just feel so inspired being here?

22:19 So that's location is so important.

22:21 Where you from?

22:22 Texas.

22:22 Okay.

22:22 Texas chapter.

22:23 Are you here?

22:26 Okay.

22:25 Okay.

22:26 A little bit.

22:28 A little reluctant.

22:28 Woo.

22:31 Yeah.

22:31 Um, so your music career has spanned so many genres.

22:34 Um, performing in various styles like R&B,

22:36 jazz, musicals, and classic standards.

22:39 Does being an independent artist provide

22:41 more freedom to explore creatively without limitations?

22:44 I think so.

22:46 I think that there there's a lot of reasons why labels or people

22:53 in general want to categorize things because even like my friend who you

22:58 guys all know I'm just not going to call them out like

22:59 this but they were playing me their album

23:02 and I'm keeping it gender neutral whatever.

23:03 So they were playing me their album and I was like

23:07 what are you what genre are you going to put this in?

23:09 What are you going to you know for for Grammy submission?

23:13 What is this going to be under?

23:14 And that's what that's what's challenging I think about

23:16 like when you really love all different types of things, what do you call it?

23:21 You know, it and um that's what you know people

23:24 want to be able to know how do we market this?

23:26 It really probably comes down to marketing.

23:28 So I I understand it now that I'm older.

23:30 I used to be so mad.

23:31 I'm like stop trying to put me in a box.

23:33 But I'm like okay it's because it's a whole machine

23:36 and there's money behind it and there's business behind it and everything.

23:39 But since I've kind of unsubscribed from the idea of like

23:43 I need to be the biggest star in the world

23:46 and actually I kind of just need to like do what's

23:49 right for my nervous system and seek longevity and seek fulfillment.

23:54 Um that feels much better to me than than you know

24:01 white knuckling it to be something that I'm not meant to be.

24:04 Um, and so I having the flexibility to take three

24:11 months off and say yes to a musical or to create

24:15 something um with a friend like a side project or you

24:21 know take some time and write a book or whatever.

24:24 That is the one of the blessings of being an independent artist.

24:28 And I talked to a lot of my friends who have been a part

24:30 of the major label systems before and I

24:33 think we're just interested in a new way forward.

24:36 It just doesn't seem um equitable anymore.

24:41 And I'm so grateful to get to play

24:44 with my voice because I was a singer before anything.

24:48 You know, from the age of 2, three years old or whenever I started

24:53 identifying as something I'm like I'm a singer.

24:56 And the fact that I get to sing jazz standards with John Batiste or I

25:00 get to um you know do musical theater with Aaron Tate or I get you

25:07 know it's just so fun or I get to go sing with my sister Tory

25:12 Kelly and we're doing like pop R&B

25:14 or do some weird experimental stuff with Jacob.

25:17 It is so such a pleasure.

25:19 It's like the thrill of my life to just get to play with my voice.

25:23 Yeah.

25:23 And how do you navigate which uh opportunities will be beneficial career moves?

25:27 I let my team tell me about beneficial career moves because

25:31 I that someone said to me a few like over 10 years

25:35 ago they were like you I think they meant it as a compliment

25:39 but they were like you sound like a like a like

25:43 a label person like or or a manager the way that you're

25:47 I'm like I don't know if that's going to be you

25:49 know the most beneficial or I I don't know the word I

25:52 use but I was being very strategic and that feels so gross.

25:57 Um, I am not a strategic person.

26:00 I try to be discerning about like what is true and correct and like makes sense.

26:08 But I I have a team.

26:12 Um, Randy Jackson of American Idol is actually my co-manager

26:16 and he is so amazing because he started as a bass player,

26:20 then became an executive in the music industry and then,

26:23 you know, the dog Randy Jackson on American Idol.

26:26 And so he he definitely is like,

26:30 "You shouldn't do that." I'm like, "Respectfully, I appreciate that.

26:32 Still going to do it." Um, but yeah,

26:36 I I also think about like, yeah, where where do I want to go?

26:40 What do I want to represent?

26:42 So, I kind of just contradicted myself.

26:44 I do think about like what's what's correct for me,

26:47 but I try not to think about it as like I never want it to feel like climbing.

26:52 I've never been good at that.

26:53 I just if I don't like someone, I just don't like them.

26:57 I just can't do it.

26:59 So, um I tried to see if it if something would be fun and and sound

27:04 like it might light me up or it

27:06 might be positive for other people and myself ideally.

27:10 Yeah, being authentic is key.

27:11 Absolutely.

27:12 But speaking about different genres and musical theater,

27:18 I'd love to give a big congratulations to you.

27:20 You're going to be Florence Vassie in Yes.

27:24 Like, hello.

27:24 Do we have any musical theater kids in the audience?

27:29 YES.

27:29 I knew I felt us in the room.

27:31 Yes.

27:32 This is such an exciting moment.

27:34 When you're performing in musicals, how do you balance your career as an artist

27:38 physically and mentally while committing to a role like that?

27:43 It's all consuming.

27:44 Broadway is the hardest thing that any performer well this is this is what I I

27:49 hear and I'm like I agree that it's

27:51 the hardest thing you'll ever do as a performer.

27:53 Um and people who are in plays feel that way.

27:56 And then if you're also singing on top of it, you are living for your voice.

28:00 At least I am.

28:01 Eight times a week.

28:01 Eight times a week.

28:02 That's insane.

28:04 I don't know how Nicole Scherzinger did Sunset Boulevard eight times a week.

28:09 Like she literally like ripped out her heart and put it on the stage every time.

28:12 and I saw it like five times and I

28:14 just want to celebrate her performance again because

28:16 I was just like in shambles from the audience

28:20 every single time and that's expected every single time.

28:24 Um, and I just think it's it's amazing.

28:27 And then there's the the press on top of it

28:29 and then there's the talking and then there's stage

28:31 door and it it really is I have I have

28:34 no balance really while I'm while I'm in a show.

28:36 So it's like I heard that um Me the Stallion

28:40 when she's in Mulan Rouge right now was also

28:43 m make music while she was in it and I'm

28:45 like she's going to learn that that's not really possible.

28:48 It's it's really you know there's just yeah you kind of have to at least for me

28:53 I spend the day preparing for for the night and then there's those two show days

28:58 um where you just wake up have a bagel

29:02 and you know and spend the day at the theater.

29:04 But I love it so much and I love being it's the community

29:06 for me that's the best part and the fact that you get to share

29:09 the stage with people who also have their own things going on and you

29:14 you you bring that and you feel that energy and it's really magical.

29:19 Um but I it's very athletic I think it's it's

29:25 it instilled in me a discipline that I really

29:29 yearned to see if I was capable of and it changed my life forever.

29:33 So when I did Mulan Rouge for the first time in 2023,

29:36 I like spent a lot of time vocally preparing for it and physically

29:41 preparing for it and wanting to just like not be winded at all,

29:45 you know, running on the treadmill, doing all the age-old things that people do.

29:52 And I just think that um it really showed me that I was I was capable of it.

29:58 So that was a good feeling also to be so deep into my career

30:02 and to still have new experiences and new things to to be excited about.

30:08 So I'm super hype about chess.

30:10 I hope you guys will come see it.

30:11 My first night is June 23rd and I'll be in there till September 13th

30:16 and um does anybody know the score from chess?

30:20 Oh, cool.

30:21 It's so cool.

30:23 It's um it's the guys from ABBA wrote it

30:26 and the guys with from ABBA and Tim Rice.

30:29 So it's like classical opera.

30:33 So it's really really dope.

30:33 So I'm I'm very hyped to be singing

30:35 these songs and Liam Michelle is spectacular in this role.

30:38 So I just hope to hold it down for a few weeks and and see what I can do.

30:42 It'll be really fun.

30:43 Well, I'm so excited.

30:44 I'm gonna buy a ticket literally right after this.

30:48 Um thank you so much for joining us today.

30:51 It's a joy.

30:52 You guys are amazing.

30:53 Thank you.

30:53 You're amazing.

30:54 I'm so excited to hear about what's next for you, too, with this album.

30:59 I will be streaming.

31:00 You guys, I'm so honored to be a part of this panel and I

31:04 love what Grammyu does and just thank you for embracing me and um

31:09 congratulations on beginning your journey and I just can't wait to see what

31:14 you know what the fruits of all of this is going to bear.

31:18 So, everyone give it up for Jojo.

31:20 Thanks, guys.

31:21 Oh, thank you.

32:01 You want to stay?