Questlove is an amazingly accomplished artist, with six Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a slew of books and movies to his name. Likewise, fellow Philadelphian multihyphenate Quinta Brunson has a ton of hardware adorning her shelf, with an Emmy Award to go alongside multiple(!) Peabody Awards.
You’d think that these would be pretty serious people, but everyone needs to unwind sometime — and, in their case, they equally overachieve with their game nights as with anything else, putting on a party of epic proportions with a guest list that reads like a dream blunt rotation.
In addition to fellow Abbott Elementary stars Ayo Edibiri (who plays Quinta’s character’s sister), Cree Summer, and Zack Fox (who plays Quinta’s character’s ex), the guests included music stars like Eryn Allen Kane, Finneas, Jason Sudeikis, Jojo, Kelly Rowland, LL Cool J, Maggie Rogers, Steve Lacy, Thundercat, Vince Staples, Willow, and even Weird Al Yankovic. I’d ask what a brother has to do to get an invite, but it seems pretty obvious: Get nominated for a Grammy or two, shift the paradigms of popular music, or be one of the most talented humans alive. You can check out some photos from the hosts below.
Jojo Hailey is celebrated for his pivotal role in the influential R&B duo Jodeci and later as part of the duo K-Ci & JoJo with his brother. He has a net worth estimated at $1 million as of 2024, according to CelebrityNetWorth. Hailey’s distinct voice and emotive singing style have left an indelible mark on the genre of R&B. He contributed to the soundtrack of the 1990s and beyond. Further, his journey through the music industry reflects significant highs and the challenges often accompanying a life in the spotlight.
From his early days with Jodeci, Jojo Hailey helped to define a new era of R&B with hits like “Stay” and “Come and Talk to Me.” The group’s blend of gospel-rooted vocals with new jack swing and hip hop beats created a sound that resonated deeply with audiences. It propelled them to major success. Following Jodeci’s initial run of popularity, Hailey and his brother continued to impact R&B as K-Ci & JoJo. They delivered soulful hits that have become enduring classics, including “All My Life.”
Enduring Influence In R&B
Singers K-Ci (Cedric Renard Hailey), DeVanté Swing (Donald Earle DeGrate, Jr.). Jo-Jo (Joel Hailey) and Mr. Dalvin (Dalvin Ertimus DeGrate) of Jodeci poses for photos backstage after their performance at. The Arena in St. Louis, Missouri in June 1992. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
Jojo Hailey’s contributions to R&B extend beyond his initial chart-topping successes with Jodeci and later K-Ci & JoJo. His influence is seen in how he seamlessly blends emotive gospel influences with the urban beats of R&B, creating a template many modern artists have attempted to replicate. The enduring appeal of his music is evidenced by the continuous play of his hits on radio and streaming platforms, as well as their use in films and television, keeping his work relevant to new generations of listeners. His role in these groups showcased his vocal talent and also his ability to connect with audiences through heartfelt performances. Despite the shifting dynamics of the music industry, Hailey’s legacy as part of Jodeci and K-Ci & JoJo remains a benchmark for success and authenticity in R&B.
Solo Endeavors & Recent Projects
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 07: Recording artists Joel “JoJo” Hailey (L) and Dalvin DeGrate of. Jodeci attend the 2014 Soul Train Music Awards at the Orleans. Arena on November 7, 2014, also in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Earl Gibson/BET/Getty Images for BET)
In recent years, Jojo Hailey has ventured into solo projects. He has explored new musical territories and collaborated with other artists to keep his sound contemporary. These projects reflect his growth as an artist and his desire to evolve creatively beyond the frameworks of his earlier work. His solo music continues to delve into themes of love, redemption, and resilience, resonating with both long-time fans and new listeners. Moreover, Hailey’s commitment to his craft and his community is evident in his mentorship of younger artists and his participation in music education initiatives. These efforts help cultivate new talent and ensure that his wealth of experience is passed down.
ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 12: Singer JoJo of the R&B group’s Jodeci and K-Ci &. JoJo performs onstage during RnB Rewind. Fall Edition produced by Bobby Dee Presents at Toyota Arena on November 12, 2022, also in Ontario, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
Jojo Hailey’s impact on the music industry is significant. His career that spans over three decades of contributions to R&B. His work with Jodeci and K-Ci & JoJo, as well as his solo efforts, have not only provided a soundtrack for many lives but have also influenced countless artists. As he continues to engage with new projects, his influence is set to persist, bridging the gap between the soulful sounds of the past and the evolving beats of the future. His journey through the peaks and valleys of the music industry offers valuable lessons on resilience and artistic integrity. As Hailey moves forward, his ongoing contributions will likely add to his legacy, reinforcing his place in the annals of music history.
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
For someone whose debut album is titled Love And Compromise, there isn’t much compromising on Mahalia’s second album IRL (In Real Life). The British singer laughs as I make note of this during our Zoom call as she heads to LAX for a flight back home after a month in the States.
It’s been four years since Mahalia released Love And Compromise, and since that album’s release, the singer and the rest of the world have gone through a lot. In credit to things like the obvious effects of the pandemic as well as more personal experiences, Mahalia, now 25 years old, is far removed from the 21-year-old woman who released that breakthrough collection.
Growing up is just one of the things that allowed her to make IRL. “Therapy got me here for sure,” she adds. “Therapy was probably the biggest catalyst for me. I think it was the one thing that really allowed me to understand myself. That’s why making this album was so interesting because I really felt like I was reflecting the whole time.”
Throughout the 13 songs that make up IRL, Mahalia couldn’t be more aware of herself and her surroundings and both the good and bad within them. She’s so deeply in love with Stormzy on “November” that she fears missing a moment of this romance by blinking or dozing off into sleep. “Isn’t It Strange” highlights the contradicting moments in her behavior but she blankets it with nonchalance as to do nothing more than acknowledge its existence. It’s a level of honesty and bluntness that emphasizes the “real” aspect of the album title. “I think that’s why this album maybe means so much to me because I think it actually does feel like diary entries,” she says.
Elsewhere, we meet the new Mahalia, the one who refuses to compromise for the things she wants. The one who lays down “Terms And Conditions” for love and warns that a potential lover will have to endure a vetting process conducted by her closest girls. The same who one found the courage to say “It’s Not Me, It’s You” to a man who made her wrongly believe that she was insufficient for a relationship. Despite this, Mahalia admits that often slips back to her old ways. “Even sometimes, now I find myself compromising on things and going, ‘what the f*ck am I doing?” Mahalia notes. “Like this is not what I’ve agreed with myself.”
Mahalia doesn’t attempt to hide the moments she goes against her own terms and conditions on IRL, and it’s that authenticity that adds to the album. After four years without an album, the British singer could have presented herself as a flawless woman who learned from her past to conquer anything her future threw her way. Instead, we get the very real back-and-forth moments of laying firm rules on “Terms And Conditions” all to hopefully bend them on “In My Head” with Joyce Wrice. “Wassup” with Kojey Radical celebrates freedom from an insufficient lover with a fun night on the town all for “Lose Lose” to follow and present Mahalia’s reluctance to put herself first and end a relationship that is riddled with too many problems. Through these instances, you may think that Mahalia is a bit fearful of change, but it was quite the opposite for her.
“My partner and I have now been together for coming up on three years,” she says. “Before that, I only made it to about 10 or 11 months, three times. When I got to that point with my partner, I remember having an internal freakout because I was like I don’t think I can go past that point or I’m feeling like I need to change and feeling like I need to alter something so that I can grow artistically.”
That feeling didn’t last too long as Mahalia admits that she’s “very scared of change now.” She is currently working towards splitting her time between homes in New York and London, a transition that she admits “freaked” her out at its start. “As you get older and figure out your comfort and the things that make you bounce, I think you don’t really want to change that because it’s taken you 25 years to find that sweet spot.”
This relationship has also allowed Mahalia, for the first time in her career, to create an album from the perspective of someone in a stable relationship. Staying on the topic of change, it’s been quite an adjustment for her to write from this new point of view. “I’m so used to just writing about the guys that do the sh*tty things and the guys that leave,” she says. “This was the time to be able to talk about all the intricacies of long-term relationships. They are just as crazy as being single and dating and being in the streets.” It’s a change that Mahalia not only fully embraced, but enjoyed as well. “The process itself was really, genuinely fun. Like, just really fun,” she admits. “I laughed [and] cried a lot while I was writing and creating, and I think that’s maybe why I’m so proud of it.”
During an interview with Evening Standard earlier this year, Mahalia admitted that she “probably wouldn’t have written this same album” if not for the pandemic. It’s an unsurprising note from the singer for a few reasons. First, the pandemic change a lot of things in a lot of areas for people all over the world, changes that were temporary and others that were permanent. Secondly, Mahalia’s almost three-year relationship means that it began in the heart of the pandemic, so who knows how it would’ve existed, if at all, if not for this time that forced the world to come to a standstill. These points aside, Mahalia also credits the “post”-pandemic moments for helping her find a direction for her sophomore album.
“Through the pandemic, we obviously couldn’t go into studios and stuff,” she recalls. “So when, when that time was over, I was working with loads of different people. I wasn’t really taking the time to sit and think, ‘This is my second album, what do I want to say?’ So after that immediate rush of being outside again, I decided that I kind of wanted that. I missed that feeling, I missed the four walls, I miss seeing the same people every single day.”
What came out of that was the decision to work with a small circle of three people to create IRL, and through that, comes an album that she feels is more cohesive than her debut. “[Without that], I would have just been going in the studio with everyone and just making a bunch of music which is kind of how Love & Compromise felt to me,” she admits. “I love that record and I always will because it was my first, but it definitely felt disjointed to me because I wasn’t learning with people and I wasn’t creating with people in that way. I was just creating to create.”
So what is it that Mahalia wants to say on IRL? Through all the changes she’s experienced in her life (multiple managers, boyfriends, and friends), Mahalia wanted to showcase her newfound independence and the benefits that come from it. “I really wanted people to get a sense of independence from this record,” she says. “Even though there are moments when I talk about relationships and people that I do depend on, I think you can really hear that I am depending on myself to get through this life and human experience.” She later adds, “I’m in that phase of my life where I’m like, I can do this sh*t on my own.”
Compromise is a thing of the past for Mahalia. Now, she’s putting herself first, both in her music and in real life.
IRL is out now via Atlantic Records. Find out more information about it here.
It took almost four years, but at long last, British singer Mahalia is set to release her sophomore album IRL. The gap between her debut Love & Compromise and her upcoming release is reasonable, considering that a whole pandemic took place among other things. With that being said, Mahalia is ready to showcase all the ways that she and her artistry have grown in the last few years. So, before IRL arrives, let’s get you up to speed with all the details about it.
Release Date
IRL will be released on July 14 via Atlantic Records. The project is the singer’s first full-length release since 2019’s Love & Compromise. More information on IRL can be found here.
Through the 13 songs on IRL, listeners will hear guest appearances from Joyce Wrice, JoJo, Destin Conrad, and fellow Brits Stormzy and Kojey Radical.
Singles
Mahalia released three singles ahead of the arrival of IRL. She began with “Terms And Conditions,” a record she worked on with Raye. Next was “Cheat” with JoJo, and finally, she delivered the album’s intro, “Ready,” a week before the album’s release.
Artwork
You can view the artwork for IRL below.
Tour
Mahalia will embark on a UK and European tour later this fall. You can check out the dates for those below and stay tuned for North American dates.
10/08/2023 — Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy
10/10/2023 — Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Galvanizers
10/11/2023 — Manchester, UK @ Academy
10/13/2023 — Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
10/14/2023 — Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
10/16/2023 — Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
10/19/2023 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
10/20/2023 — Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
10/31/2023 — Paris, FR @ Trianon
11/01/2023 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
11/02/2023 — Brussels, BE @ La Madeleine
11/04/2023 — Cologne, DE @ Gebäude 9
11/05/2023 — Utrecht, NL @ Ronda
11/07/2023 — Berlin, DE @ Columbia Theatre
More Details
Mahalia shared details about IRL about the album in a press release. You can read it below
This is a real reflection of the journeys I’ve had, what actually happened, and a celebration of everyone who got me there. There are names and family members I mention because it all helped in shaping who I am. I’m so proud of this album, and so proud of how much I challenged myself to just let those stories out.
IRL is out 7/14 via Atlantic. Find more information here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The AI debate is one of the most controversial topics in tech right now. AI technologies, such as art generators and chatbots are becoming more and more prevalent. However, there is a growing opposition to the technology. Firstly, these AI tools work via machine learning. This means that they “learn” based off the contents of databases made available to them. However, the problem with this is that it means they are essentially mashing together elements of pre-existing works. To a lot of artists and writers, this is just stealing their work.
Furthermore, AI is now being used deceptively. An AI startup recently posted a clip of a song their software had created. The song was not just in the style of Drake, it had been created to intentionally sound like a Drake song sung by Drake. As AI regulation begins to gain steam, its proponents and supporters say the technology is inevitable.
JoJo Says If You Can’t Beat It Join It To AI music
Vermont-born singer JoJo has become the latest supporter of AI music. Speaking with TMZ, she called AI music technology “interesting” and argued that it could be used for “harmonies and backgrounds”. Additionally, she said that the use of the technology was inevitable and the music industry shouldn’t wait too long to embrace it. While a fair point, a lot of people said similar things about the metaverse and well, how’s that going for people?
However, JoJo is not the only musician who has been sharing their views on AI music. Khalid, also speaking with TMZ said he saw the potential benefits of AI but was afraid of what it meant for human performers. Moreover, this has been a valid concern across many AI fields. In one viral instance, an artist was working on a drawing on Twitch. A viewer took the drawing, fed into an AI to finish before the artist did, and demanded credit as if they were the original creator. AI clearly isn’t going anywhere for the time being. However, it appears that the music industry is split on whether it should be embraced or rejected.
While some people are still resisting TikTok, an increasing number of celebrities have joined the platform over the past few months. Many of them participate in the app’s countless ongoing viral challenges. While some certainly leave us laughing, others leave us in sheer awe of their talent. The latest to have her followers feeling the latter is Aquamarine actress JoJo.
On Monday (January 30), the R&B singer tried her hand at recreating a daunting riff from Beyoncé’s bold return to the stage in Dubai earlier this month. Standing in her kitchen, Jo straightaway attempts to match the Houston native’s incredible vocal performance.
“Beyoncé got all of us singers losing our minds trying to do this,” she wrote over the clip near the beginning. As she continues to stretch her voice, the former child star explains with text, “This is one of my favourite riffs I’ve heard in a long time.”
On her third try, JoJo finally gets the sound she was seeking. She then confidently belts out the run with gusto. “Tbh when I heard it I got tears in my eyes,” she admits of watching Queen B’s show.
“(Yes I’m an emotional bitch). I’m so touched by her command, mastery over her entire range, use of scales we aren’t used to hearing every day in Western music.”
In the comment section, countless viewers and celebrities have been gassing the “Too Little Too Late” singer up. “JoJo never got the credit she really deserves,” one popular response says. “[People] slept on her. Her vocals are top tier.”
Others wrote, “That’s close enough, when does tour start?” and “The flawless transition to your higher register at the end??? Hello??? Joanna?!”
JoJo attends the OUTLOUD: Raising Voices Concert Series at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on June 06, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
When she’s not participating in viral vocal challenges, JoJo can be found making and performing beautiful songs of her own. Her most recent project, an EP called trying not to think about it, landed in late 2021.
At the time, the “Spiral SZN” songstress spoke to HNHH about her return to music, the ongoing R&B renaissance, and her plans for the future. Read our exclusive interview here. Afterward, let us know who you want to hear try out the Beyoncé TikTok challenge next in the comments.
Love is in the air this Christmas season! Just ask JoJo and Dexter Darden. The couple celebrated yesterday’s holiday by revealing that they are now engaged after a little over a year of dating. “Forever with YOU? Sign me UP,” JoJo wrote in an Instagram post that included photos of her and Darden together in front of balloons that read “She Said Yes.” “Celebrating Christmas a whole fiancé!!! the most thoughtful, creative, positive, handsome, strong, loving, uplifting human being asked me to marry him. so obviously I said YESSS!!!”
She continued, “Thank you for the most epic birthday surprise ever. and for flying out my mom, your mom, and both of our best friends to share in that incredible moment with us. you are one of one. LFG @dexterdarden.” She also used the Instagram post to show off the beautiful diamond ring that Darden gave her. Their engagement comes a week after Darden showered JoJo with love to celebrate her 30th birthday.
“Happy Birthday To the Brightest Star In My Universe, The Beat To My Heart, The Woman I prayed for @iamjojo!” he wrote. “Jo Thank you for challenging me, Pushing me to be the best Man I can be, and Making me smile when no one else can. You are Gift from God to the world, and the best present I’ve ever received. TO THE MOON AND BACK, I got Your back!”
JoJo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
For years, fans have been begging for Aaliyah’s music to be released on streaming services. The late singer’s label, Blackground Records, finally announced that many of their artists’ music, including Aaliyah’s, will be made available to stream. While fans may be rejoicing about their ability to rock out to their favorite Aaliyah classics, not everyone can share the same excitement as several of the artists won’t see the profits.
Blackground Records announced on Thursday that they have officially inked a new deal with Empire, per a report from Billboard. The deal allows their artists’ music to hit streaming services for the first time ever. Aaliyah’s Estate, however, wasn’t happy with the decision. Hours before the news was announced, Aaliyah’s Estate issued a lengthy statement criticizing unnamed executives for coming forward to “leech off” the singer’s career. They called the deal an “unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music” without transparency or their approval.
R&B singer JoJo now finds herself in a similar position. The singer signed to Blackground Records when she was still a preteen. As explained in a recent Honda Backstage interview, JoJo says the label refused to release her music for years. Because of that, JoJo’s career fell off and she ended up taking matters into her own hands by suing Blackground Records and eventually re-recording her early albums.
JoJo reacted to the Blackground Records news shortly after it was announced. The singer took to social media to express her surprise about new deal. “Who would’ve thought…,” she tweeted.
Replying to a fans’ tweet, JoJo claimed she will not be awarded any profits from the streaming sales of her early albums. “never telling you what to do, but just so you know – a stream of the re-recorded 2018 version supports me and helps me continue to do what I love,” she wrote. “streaming the original unfortunately does not.”
thanks for the love babe never telling you what to do, but just so you know – a stream of the re-recorded 2018 version supports me and helps me continue to do what I love. streaming the original unfortunately does not. https://t.co/pYL0W8glEz
never telling you what to do, but just so you know – a stream of the re-recorded 2018 version supports me and helps me continue to do what I love. streaming the original unfortunately does not.