Can't Take That Away from Me

Following the release of The High Road, JoJo stated that she had been writing and working with producers for her third studio album, but would not go into the studio until early 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.seventeen.com/entertainment/features/interview-jojo |title=Teen talks to: JoJo |author=Fine, Audrey |work=Seventeen |date=7 September 2007 |access-date=2010-09-18}} In mid-2008, JoJo revealed that the album, titled All I Want Is Everything, was scheduled for a fourth quarter release that year, to coincide with her eighteenth birthday in December.{{cite web |url=http://www.rap-up.com/2008/07/08/jojo-wants-everything-on-third-album/ |title=JoJo Wants Everything On Third Album |date=2008-07-08 |work=Rap-Up |access-date=2010-09-18}} However, the album's release was delayed due to issues with her record labels, Blackground and its imprint Da Family Entertainment, which had encountered financial difficulties. Eventually, JoJo decided to sue the labels to be released from her contract.{{cite web |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/1881794271.html?dids=1881794271:1881794271&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+19,+2009&author=Anonymous&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=JoJo+has+her+mojo+back&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103214011/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/1881794271.html?dids=1881794271:1881794271&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+19,+2009&author=Anonymous&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=JoJo+has+her+mojo+back&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |title=JoJo has her mojo back |date=2009-10-19 |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=18 September 2010}} However, in October 2009, JoJo reached a deal with Blackground Records, who had reached a deal with Interscope Records for distribution.{{cite web |url=http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1166184&SMap=1 |title=JoJo Preps New Release |date=2009-12-24 |publisher=RTTNews |access-date=2010-09-18}} The mixtape served as a "re-entry to the music industry".{{cite web |url=http://www.rap-up.com/2010/08/23/jojo-experiments-with-new-sounds-on-mixtape/ |title=JoJo Experiments With New Sounds On Mixtape |date=2010-08-25 |work=Rap-Up |access-date=2010-09-18}}

In late 2009, JoJo stated that she would be working on her first mixtape with producers Clinton Sparks and Chester French.{{Cite web|author=RapUpTV |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZXZUISHLwA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/JZXZUISHLwA |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=JoJo Reveals New Album Details (Part 2) |publisher=YouTube |date=2009-12-22 |access-date=2010-09-06}}{{cbignore}} The mixtape's recording took place over one year. JoJo thought that it was more experimental than her album because she "was able to explore the full spectrum of things that interest me and inspire me musically", which resulted in a broad range of sounds, such as pop, hip-hop and soulful records. Compared to an album release, the mixtape allowed JoJo to be "more soulful, incorporate live instruments, and say things that I wouldn't normally say on an album. I was just able to take more of a risk." The mixtape's black-and-white cover was designed by Mowie Inc., and photographed by Steven Taylor.

The mixtape's title, Can't Take That Away from Me, was personal to JoJo because it reflected what she was going through "professionally as well as personally. Starting with the fact that I want to release music and you can't really take what comes naturally to me, away from me." Upon the mixtape's release, JoJo said that "in releasing this mixtape, I'm affirming that even though some have tried they CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME. What is THAT? My voice, my spirit, my drive, my dreams. As you listen to these songs, I hope that they make your head nod, your mind tick, your emotions move, your belly laugh, and maybe elicit a 'stanky face' or something."{{cite web |url=http://www.rap-up.com/2010/09/07/mixtape-premiere-jojo-cant-take-that-away-from-me/ |title=Mixtape Premiere: JoJo - Can't Take That Away From Me |date=2010-09-07 |work=Rap-Up |access-date=2010-09-18}}

The track "In the Dark" premiered on August 30, 2010 on Rap-Up.com. Produced by Jordan Gatsby and co-written by JoJo and Gatsby, the singer thought that the song was unlike anything that she had previously released because "it's a very sensual record and there's an undertone of sadness to it." The track's "experimental sound" was not meant to reflect the material on All I Want Is Everything, but was released as "a thank you to her loyal fans who've stuck by her throughout the years".{{cite web |url=http://www.rap-up.com/2010/08/30/new-music-jojo-in-the-dark/ |title=New Music: JoJo - "In the Dark" |date=2010-08-30 |work=Rap-Up |access-date=2010-09-18}} The song's viral video was released on September 8. Filmed in January 2010 and directed by Nicole Ehrlich and Clarence Fuller in New York, the scenes were originally shot in color, but it was later decided that black-and-white imagery would best convey the lyrics and mood.{{cite web |url=http://www.rap-up.com/2010/07/06/rap-up-tv-jojo-provides-album-update-reveals-latest-collaborators/ |title=Rap-Up TV: JoJo Provides Album Update, Reveals Latest Collaborators |date=2010-07-06 |work=Rap-Up |access-date=2010-09-18}}{{Cite web |url=http://giantredcarpet.com/JoJoistheway/statuses/8005075548 |title=JoJo: Shooting a viral video for "(I Only Know Him) In the Dark" tomorrow |publisher=Giantredcarpet.com |access-date=2010-09-06 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Rap-Up wrote that "JoJo sheds her good girl image for a more risqué one in the viral video" as "the blindfolded singer gives into her physical desires in the provocative clip."{{cite web |url=http://www.rap-up.com/2010/09/09/video-premiere-jojo-in-the-dark/ |title=Video Premiere: JoJo - "In the Dark" |date=2010-09-09 |work=Rap-Up |access-date=2010-09-18}}

JoJo performed the song "Boy Without a Heart" several times since the release of the mixtape. She performed the song for the first time at 4th annual Jordin Sparks experience in North Texas on February 2, 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSNGQUJqZGo|title=YouTube|website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}} She then performed the song at the Girls Who Rock 2011 Concert benefiting She's the First where she also debut her the song "Jumping Trains" from her upcoming third album of the same name.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3mCwbKIjfM&feature=channel_video_title |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/r3mCwbKIjfM |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=JoJo "Boy Without A Heart"|last=9Gitz|date=10 June 2011|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} She has also performed the song on the Joe Jonas & Jay Sean Tour as their opening act and has performed it a few other times.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyPVYFpX818&feature=channel_video_title|title=YouTube|website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}

Writing and production credits adapted from Bandcamp.{{Cite web|url=https://rap-up.bandcamp.com/album/cant-take-that-away-from-me|title = Can't Take That Away from Me, by JoJo}}

{{Track listing

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| total_length = 38:06

| title1 = Can't Take That Away from Me

| writer1= {{hlist|Joanna "JoJo" Levesque|Mischke}}

| extra1 = Theron "Neff-U" Feemster

| length1 = 3:02

| title2 = Running on Empty

| writer2 = {{hlist|Levesque|Mischke}}

| extra2 = Feemster

| length2 = 3:15

| title3 = Pretty Please

| writer3 = {{hlist|Levesque|Jim Beanz|Kenna}}

| extra3 = {{hlist|Chad Hugo|Kenna}}

| length3 = 3:21

| title4 = Why Didn't You Call

| writer4 = Levesque

| extra4 = State of Emergency

| length4 = 3:28

| title5 = Just a Dream

| writer5 = Levesque

| extra5 = Jeremiah McConico

| length5 = 3:31

| title6 = When Does It Go Away

| note6 = featuring Travis Garland

| writer6 = {{hlist|Garland|Beau Dozier}}

| extra6 = Dozier

| length6 = 4:16

| title7 = My Time Is Money

| writer7 = {{hlist|Levesque|Nasri Atweh|Luke James}}

| extra7 = Oak

| length7 = 2:43

| title8 = What You Like

| note8 = featuring Jordan Gatsby

| writer8 = {{hlist|Levesque|Gatsby}}

| extra8 = Gatsby

| length8 = 3:39

| title9 = In the Dark

| writer9 = Levesque

| extra9 = Gatsby

| length9 = 3:32

| title10 = Boy Without a Heart

| writer10 = {{hlist|Levesque|Atweh}}

| extra10 = The Messengers

| length10 = 4:15

| title11 = All I Want Is Everything

| writer11 = Levesque

| extra11 = Gatsby

| length11 = 3:04

}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.audiomack.com/album/jojolevesqueonline/cant-take-that-away-from-me The Mixtape] on Audiomack
• [https://rap-up.bandcamp.com/ The Mixtape] on Bandcamp

{{JoJo}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2010 mixtape albums

Category:JoJo (singer) albums

Category:Debut mixtape albums

Category:Albums produced by Chad Hugo

Category:Albums produced by Kenna

Category:Albums produced by the Messengers (producers)

Category:Albums produced by Theron Feemster

Category:Interscope Records mixtape albums