Since JoJo released her debut album at the age of thirteen, the R&B popster has become a role model to suburban adolescents who talk gangsta but still carpool to school in mom's Kia Sorento. ("Yo, these cup holders is the shizz!") The High Road won't disappoint them, and it should also establish the now-fifteen-year-old singer as a future pop powerhouse. JoJo has got average-girl appeal with diva-quality pipes, and on songs such as the title track and "Too Little Too Late," she shows a nuanced command of how to work an R&B arpeggio like a pro. With a team of ace producers featuring Scott Storch, Vincent Herbert and Soulshock, it's no surprise that even the most cloying of these tracks is a potential hit, including Diane Warren's hankie-soaker "Exceptional," which could score the closing credits to the next Amanda Bynes flick. But the two worthiest numbers come right up top, with the Storch-produced opener, "This Time," and Swizz Beatz's bump-and-grind "The Way You Do Me," where JoJo does her best impression of Kelly Clarkson impersonating Beyonce. I still can't decide whether the sample from Toto's "Africa" in "Anything" is the coolest thing about The High Road or the lamest, but maybe that's because I've always preferred "Hold the Line."
