Disaster (song)

"Disaster"
Single by JoJo
from the album Jumping Trains
Released	August 29, 2011 (2011-08-29) (see release history)
Format	Mainstream radio, digital download
Recorded	2011
Genre	Pop rock[1]
Length	3.37
Label	Interscope, Blackground, Streamline
Writer(s)	Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, Gino Barletta, Mario Marchetti
Producer	Mario Marchetti
JoJo singles chronology
"Anything" (2007) "Disaster" (2011)

"Disaster" is a song performed by American recording artist JoJo. It was written by JoJo, Gino Barletta and Mario Marchetti who had also produced the track for JoJo's upcoming third studio album Jumping Trains.^[2] The song was released to US radio on August 29, 2011 via Interscope Records as the lead single from Jumping Trains and it was made available online on September 6, 2011.^[3] Musically, "Disaster" is a mid-tempo pop ballad with R&B and pop rock influences. The protagonist reflects on a relationship and wondering how it became a "disaster".^[4]

The song's accompanying music video was directed by Benny Boom and shot in Downtown Los Angeles. JoJo performed "Disaster" for the first time on Good Day Dallas on September 29, 2011. The video premiered on JoJo's official website on November 1, 2011.^[5]

Background

"Disaster" is the lead single from JoJo's third album "Jumping Trains." Previously titled "All I Want is Everything", the album has been delayed for more than five years due to issues with her record label, Da Family Entertainment, and the sorting out of distribution for the album. The album was reported finalized in June 2009, but more recording sessions were done for the album up until January 2011. Her debut mixtape Can't Take That Away from Me was released on September 7, 2010 through Rap-Up.com as a prelude to her third album and to hold over her paitent fans with a video released for the song "In The Dark". The new song is an acoustic pop driven song and is another break-up themed song, she sings “no happy ever after just Disaster…”.^[6] "The Other Chick" was initially announced as the albums lead single and they were ready to move forward with it, however, after JoJo went back in the studio and recorded more songs for the album, the label decided to release one of the new songs as the lead single instead and turned "The Other Chick" into a buzz single, "It’s something cool that’ll introduce people to a more mature me, I suppose. It’s edgy, but it’s a buzz single."^[7] JoJo describes the song being about "a relationship, this young passionate love that takes a turn for the worst. This thing you once held in your hand just slips out of your control and turns into a disaster, but what I love about this song is that there's the sense at the end there's a whole world out there to explore, just because a relationship is over doesn't mean that your world is over. There's that light at the end of the tunnel and the song is just more aggressive than the pop records I've come out with before."^[8]

Composition

"Disaster" is a pop rock^[1] ballad. Backed by a drum and acoustic guitar, JoJo sings of a relationship turned sour, "I'm trying not to pretend/That it won't happen again and again like that Never thought it would end/Cause you got up in my head/In my head like that."^{[9] [10]} The synths join in, the drums get louder as JoJo sings the chorus "'Cause the walls burned up/And our love fell down/And it turned into whatever/Now we're saying never."^[9] According to JoJo, the song's lyrics are "basically about how sometimes you get so deep into a relationship, and it gets progressively horrifying and real disastrous", "Whether it be emotional abuse or another type of abuse, it's like, 'How did I end up in this storm?' So it's an emotional record, but it's definitely resilient in the end.".^[11] it is reminiscent of her past hits “Too Little Too Late” and “Leave (Get Out)”.^[12] "Disaster" was written by Gino Barletta and JoJo and was produced by Mario Marchetti. The song was described by Barletta as an "edgy power pop song" with "a huge chorus".^[13] The song was originally penned for Barletta's friend, but she suggested JoJo to be the voice for the song.^[13] The lyrics of the song are about a deep relationship that has gone from happy and blissful to tumultuous and disastrous. JoJo claims that the song show resilience at the end.^[14]

Critical reception

"Disaster" received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics, who noted its similarities to a previous JoJo hit, "Too Little Too Late", and Jordin Sparks's "Battlefield", however the song was also criticized for not showing any progression after a five-year hiatus. Scott Shetler of PopCrush reviewed JoJo's song, claiming "JoJo doesn’t appear to be jumping on the synthpop bandwagon like so many other pop stars, but the flipside of that independence is that her music doesn’t necessarily sound current. 'Disaster' has the same basic pop-rock feel of JoJo’s last big hit, 2006's 'Too Little Too Late'. We’d like to see a little more artistic growth in five years, although JoJo is still just 20 years old, so she has plenty of time to figure out where she wants to take her sound as an adult."^[15] Katharine St. Asaph of Popdust rated the song three out of five stars, noting it's similarities in composition to that of American Idol winner Jordin Sparks' song "Battlefield". Asaph favored "Disaster" over "Battlefield" because of JoJo's vocal dexterity on the bridge of the song.^[16] Bradley Stern of MuuMuse rated the song 4.5 out of five stars, also noting its similarities to "Battlefield" while praising "The crashing drums, dramatic strings and triumphantly marching mega-beat" and her "growth as both a vocalist and an individual."^[1]

Chart performance

"Disaster" debuted at number 87 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.^[17][18] It also charted on Billboard Digital Songs at #64.

Live performance

JoJo announced on August 19, 2011 that she would be joining the Joe Jonas and Jay Sean Tour where she performed the song for the entire duration of the tour.^[19] She made her debut performance of the song at Perez Hilton's second annual VMA pre charity event One Night In… Los Angeles event two days before its radio debut.^[20] On a tour stop in Philadelphia JoJo gave a short acoustic Studio performance of the song with Q102 radio.^[21] She then performed the song on San Francisco’s NOW! 99.7 FM studio Lounge on September 19, 2011. She made her first TV performance of the song on Good Day Dallas on September 29, 2011.^[22] This was her first live TV performance in almost four years. JoJo also performed "Disaster" on 93.3 music radio station studio in Florida.^[23] She then made her second TV performance of the song on KTLA LA morning show on October 11, 2011.^[24][25] JoJo is set to appear at the 107.9 years end 2011 Jingle Ball on December 1 and is set to perform the song at the end of the show.^[26] She has also performed the song on Boston's Fox News morning show on October 28, 2011.^[27] Philadelphia’s Q102 will also be hosting its annual Jingle Ball on December 7 and they have invited JoJo to perform.^[28] She is also set to perform at the K104.7 Not so Silent Night on December 5, 2011.^[29]

Music video

“	My personal experience definitely has lent itself to not only this song but you know this whole album. I kind of like snapped in the recording process, I kinda lost my mind but it was great it was perfect, it was exactly what needed to happen. I was frustrated I was going through stuff and it was my outlet.	”
—JoJo on the set of "Disaster" music video[30]

In an interview at the VMA's, JoJo stated that their set to shoot a video soon, when asked about the concept of the video, JoJo replied: "I don't want to devastated in this video. I've got my heart broken in videos before. I just want it to be a real depiction of a real relationship".^[31] The music video for "Disaster" was directed by Benny Boom. The video was shot on September 14, 2011 in downtown Los Angeles.^[32] when asked about the video shoot JoJo stated that there would be fire, stunts, motorcycles, tattoos and kissing.^[33] when talking on the concept JoJo said "Were going to be seeing the inner workings of a relationship that starts off good and turns out to be disastrous, my boyfriend in this video (Rafi Gavron)is a motorcyclist so he runs a stoplight and there's an accident and it's not good".^[30]

In an interview with Idolator.com she said that she wanted to show young, crazy love and how passionate it can be — how you get wrapped up in it, and it’s awesome and it’s fun and sexy. She also wanted to have a dangerous element, so her boyfriend [in the video] is a motorcyclist. "This video is a little rock and roll. It’s colorful".^[34] On October 11, 2011 JoJo previewed the video in and interview with FuseTV where we see her performing the song with her band and close up shots of her performing the song in a warehouse type location. On a behind the scenes look at the video Jo said "I wrote basically this whole album so if I'm not involved with the creative aspect of how we represent it I wouldn't feel comfortable so its important to me that all aspects that is being created around "Jumping Trains" and this new project, its important that I'm involved in it because the creation of the album was really a labor of love, just my heart. I just wanna make sure that the visual representation that in the right way. so I worked closely with Benny Boom and my team to make sure that we chose visuals and an environment that kinda help paint the picture of what I wanted "Disaster" to feel like", while the director Benny Boom said "now that's she has grown up I want to give her a visual that kinda matches where she is and the maturity in her life and a visual that matches that". ^[35]

JoJo as she is performing with her band in the music video for "Disaster"

A sneak peak teaser clip of was shown on MTV '10 On Top.' on October 29, 2011 four days before the videos release.^[36] The full video premiered on JoJo official website jojoonline.com on November 1, 2011.^[5] and was made available to VEVO on November 2.^[37] Upon releasing the video JoJo released a statement saying "I'm thrilled to present you with Disaster, the first visual from my new album, Jumping Trains. I had such a great time making the video, and I hope you guys will love it as much as I do. Thank you as always for your support. You all keep me going everyday".^[38][39] When speaking on how she picked her on-screen love interest, Rafi Gavron. “In choosing our leading man, I wanted it to be someone that was genuinely a rough-around-the-edges kinda guy,” she said. “I had seen Rafi Gavron in Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist and thought he was a great actor and a natural choice for me. He embodied the edge and rugged sexiness that I wanted my guy to have. I wanted him to feel a bit like a bad boy from Boston, and although Rafi is from the UK, he pulled it off perfectly.” She also says of the kissing scene, “Kissing someone I had just met that day was…. uummm…. nerve-racking! But, I pushed my butterflies to the side and went for it. Rafi made me very comfortable and took any pressure that I was feeling off my shoulders.”^[40] The video received generally positive reviews, Jeff Benjamin of Billboard.com praised her more mature look and her styling that consists of short dresses, high boots and sultry make-up.^[41] Kristen Maldonado of thecelebritycafe.com said that “Disaster” is definitely a great comeback song for Jo and called it hard, raw, honest, and totally rockin’, and praised her for her higher range in the song.^[42] Kevin Kevipod of directlyrics.com said described the song as "a powerful tune, cleverly structured, where Jojo slays vocally and lyrics narrates a relationship coming to an end' story flawlessly" and went on to saying how the clip kinda got that idea. She has this "apparent awesome relationship with her fictional boyfriend, but sadly problems get in the way, and they have an abrupt end". and stated the video couldve represented the song a bit better as it may get a bit "boring".^[43] Wes Ferguson from Celebuzz.com said Jo is a very different girl we see before us since the release of her first single and called her "fierce, feisty and sexy".^[44]

By November 8, a week after the video's release, it had already accumulated little over 2 million views.^[45]

Promotion and release

JoJo revealed the cover artwork and iTunes release date for "Disaster" via Rap-Up.com on August 26, 2011.^[12] The song was sent to US radio on August 29, 2011. Two days before its release, JoJo performed the song for the first time at Perez Hilton's second annual VMA pre charity event One Night In… Los Angeles event, where she also premiered a new track from the album tentatively titled "Lie To Me"^{[46][47][48][49]} In support of the new single, JoJo was the supporting act for Joe Jonas & Jay Sean Tour co-headlining 19 city fall tour. which begun on September 6, 2011 at the House of Blues in Boston through October 6, 2011 at the Best Buy Theater in New York.^[50][51] The single had its radio premiere on August 29, 2011. It was made available for purchase as a digital download on September 6, 2011.^[12][3] A physical version of the new single has been released to some radio stations in the United States and has also been sold during the shows of JoeJay Tour. The CD consists of the full version of the song and a B-side - an acoustic version of "Too Little Too Late".^[52] It was set to officially impact U.S. Top40/Mainstream radio on November 1, 2011, However was pushed up 8 days and will now officially impact U.S. Top40/Mainstream radio on October 25, 2011. ^[53] On October 18, 2011 it was announced that JoJo will be performing a series of 7 free shows to benefit breast cancer awareness month (Pinktober) at Hard Rock Café locations across the US. The tour will kick off the on October 24th in Baltimore, before heading to Washington DC, Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Chicago. She will be performing some of her past hits such as “Too Little Too Late” and “Leave (Get Out),” her new single “Disaster,” and other songs from her forthcoming album. Fans will also be able to purchase copies of her CD single “Disaster” to be autographed at each event. ^{[54][55] [56]}

Track listing

• Digital download^[3]

1. "Disaster" – 3:37

Credits and personnel

• Lead Vocals - Joanna "JoJo" Levesque
• Writer - Mario Marchetti
• Writer - Joanna "JoJo" Levesque
• Writer - Gino Barletta
• Production – Mario Marchetti

Charts

Chart (2011)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100[57]	87

Radio add dates and release history

List of release dates with formats and record labels

Country	Release date	Format	Label
United States [58]	August 29, 2011	Radio Premiere	Interscope Records, Blackground Records, Streamline Records
Australia	September 5, 2011	Contemporary Hit Radio
United States	September 6, 2011	Digital download
Canada [59]			Universal Music
Australia [60]	September 9, 2011		Blackground/Interscope
Belgium[61]
Denmark [62]
Finland [63]
France [64]
Netherlands[65]
New Zealand [66]
Norway [67]
Sweden [68]
United States [69]	October 25, 2011	Top 40/Mainstream radio

References

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2. ^ "JoJo : News : JoJo's interview with Fashion News Live". Jojoonline.com. http://www.jojoonline.com/news/default.aspx?nid=36542&aid=1174&utm_source=rss&utm_campaign=rss&utm_medium=News&utm_content=nid_36542. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
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