Victoria Justice's debut studio album or solo extended play is scheduled for release, but information regarding the project such as its title and release date is currently unconfirmed.
Background and development
2000s
Victoria Justice began her career as a child actress. After landing small roles in various films, television series, and commercials, she gained recognition for playing Lola Martinez on the Nickelodeon comedy drama series Zoey 101, first appearing in 2005. In October 2008, it was announced Justice had signed a music deal with Nickelodeon and Sony BMG, which launched her music career.[1] That same month, she created a Myspace account originally named "victoriajusticemusic", apparently with the intention of releasing music. On her account, she described her musical genres as R&B and pop.[2] In December 2008, the film Adventures in Appletown was released, in which Justice played the character Betsy. Justice also co-wrote the unreleased song "I'm Changin'" (performed by Janel Parrish) for it, marking her first contribution as a songwriter in her career.
In February 2009, Nickelodeon aired the musical film Spectacular!, in which Justice starred as Tammi Dyson. Justice provided vocals on three songs on the soundtrack, "Lonely Love Song", "On the Wings of a Dream", and "Things We Do for Love", which were her first songs released as a singer. In November of the same year, it was reported she had signed a contract with Larry Rudolph under his company Reign Deer Entertainment.[3]
2010s
In March 2010, Nickelodeon premiered the first episode of the teen sitcom Victorious, starring Victoria Justice as protagonist character Tori Vega. Victorious gained more popularity for Justice not only in her acting career, but also in her musical career – The series often featured songs, mostly originals created for the series, most of which were performed by Justice since she was the lead star. She released three soundtracks during the entire series' run through Nickelodeon and Columbia Records. The highest-achieving first soundtrack album, Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show, appeared on the charts in six countries, including the United States, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200. It included singles such as "Freak the Freak Out", "Beggin' on Your Knees", and "Best Friend's Brother", which managed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 in the country. The latter was the first officially released song co-written by Justice in her career.
The day before the series premiere, the Associated Press uploaded an interview with Justice on YouTube, in which she revealed that after the series ended, she would start working on her own music, which would have her own individual style. In an interview with ClevverTV, also posted on YouTube the following month, Justice revealed her own album would be pop because she loves this genre and "stuff that just gives you energy and makes you motivated", but she wants her music to have "a lot of soul" and "a bluesy feel", because she loves the piano and when "you can really feel someone's emotion when they're singing the song". She also revealed she would like to go on tour in the future.
In June 2011, Justice confirmed to MTV her album is already in the works.[4] In September of that year, Justice revealed to Rolling Stone she has already written 20 songs, but hasn't told them to her friends yet, because they're about her experiences, such as "relationships and [her] being mad at some people, [her] loving people, and just random stuff".[5] In an interview with AOL published the same month, she commented although she wanted to separate her own music from that of Victorious, it wouldn't be "too crazy different", and she was "excited to really get in the studio more and show people who [she is] through [her] music".[6]
In January 2012, Justice told MTV she was still working on writing songs for her own album, and said about its style and inspiration: "I kind of get inspired by everything. It can be something that goes on in my life personally, or something that a friend is going through. Just the littlest thing can trigger something that I want to write about. I've done over 20 songs that have been produced already that I've written. It's pop, but some of them are more dance-y and some of them are more introspective and emotional. I always respect artists that are storytellers."[7] In an October 2012 interview with Digital Spy, Justice announced the possibility of releasing her album the following year and said of its sound: "It's going to be classified as pop, but I'm not exactly sure yet. I'm still figuring out what direction I want to go in because I feel like my taste in music is so eclectic."[8]
A few months after the cancellation of Victorious in 2013, in an interview with Billboard, Justice stated her album "definitely falls under the category of pop, but it's [her] own vibe", and said of it: "When you hear these songs...the people that know me are like, 'This is so Vic!' It's 100 percent my personality, messages I want to get across. Some of the songs are really fun, upbeat stuff you can dance to, and then I have some songs that are a little more introspective, a little more mellow. It's just all me, basically, so it's very cool." At that point, the singer and her record label were considering releasing her new single during her then-upcoming Summer Break Tour, again revealing the album was scheduled for release later that year.[9] The day after this article was published, Justice revealed on social media her debut solo single would be titled "Gold" and released on June 18, three days before she went on tour.[10] When it was released on music platforms, it also included the B-side, "Shake". Both of these songs were performed during the tour and probably intended to be the first songs to be included on the record.[11] Justice herself described "Gold" as "more mainstream pop", and also revealed she wrote another song, which she considered one of her favorites and described as "more singer/songwriter-y pop" in the style of "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars.[12]
However, Justice didn't release any new songs after "Gold" and "Shake", even after the tour ended. Although "Gold" garnered mixed-to-positive reviews, an August 2014 article by Billboard noted it was a commercial failure, failing to appear on any charts and selling only 33,000 downloads by that time, approximately one year and two months after its release. Justice was compared unfavorably to her Victorious co-star Ariana Grande, who managed to achieve major success with her debut album Yours Truly, released a few months after the series ended, particularly thanks to its lead single "The Way". The same article also revealed Justice had left Columbia Records, with hopes of finding a new label and releasing new music "next year sometime", although this also didn't happen (except for being one of many artists to release a charity single "Love Song to the Earth" in 2015).[13]
In October 2016, Justice released the soundtrack album for the Fox musical television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, in which she starred as Janet Weiss. The soundtrack was a moderate success, appearing on the Billboard 200 at number 107. On the same day as the soundtrack's release, People uploaded an interview with Justice on YouTube, in which she revealed she was still working on her own album in the studio, describing some of the songs she had already created as "vibe-y" and another song as having "a laid-back feel", but there would also be dance tracks. The following month, two songs she performed were included on the soundtrack of the animated film Get Squirrely, for which she provided voice work. Justice later took a break from releasing new songs for the next three years, focusing more on her acting career, although she continued to announce she was working on music.[14]
2020s
In December 2020, Victoria Justice announced the release of "Treat Myself", her first single in seven years. Originally, Justice wanted to release an album or extended play that year, but stated "2020 has not exactly turned out as many of us planned" and that she has written and recorded many songs, but decided to release this song as it "has a message that I think is more important than ever to share now".[15] The first song she released as an independent artist, it received positive reviews from critics for its lyrics and production, and Justice's vocals, stating it "was worth the wait".[16][17][18]
Justice wrote on social media in February 2021 she was looking forward to releasing new tracks.[19] A few days later, she released a new single, "Stay". As she said in an interview for Forbes, Justice herself believes both this song and "Treat Myself" are more mature than those she released in the previous decade.[20] In an interview with Billboard published in March of that year, Justice revealed she isn't sure if these two songs will be on the album, as she needs to get back in the studio first before making any promises. She also said she isn't interested in whether her songs will be successful on the charts.[21] The next single, "Too F*ckin' Nice", was released in May. In September, Justice released an extended play featuring the music for the Netflix comedy film Afterlife of the Party, in which she also played the protagonist Cassie Garcia.
Justice returned to music with the release of "Last Man Standing" in February 2023, on her 30th birthday. In an interview with Variety, she confirmed further work on her album, as for now wanting to release individual singles.[22] In an interview with Pop Culturalist uploaded the following month, Justice said she planned to release more music throughout the year. The next one, "Only a Stranger", was released in August. That month, Her Compus published an interview in which Justice revealed she was working slowly on the album because she "just want[s] it to be the most honest representation of [her] and who [she is] as an artist today." She said about its style: "It's going to be vulnerable with a lot of that singer-songwriter vibe. But I also love fun and sexy songs that empower women, and I love songs that people can vibe and dance to. I think it's going to be all of the above. I'm excited to keep experimenting and fleshing it out."[23]
In February 2024, Justice released a single titled "Tripped". In an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the Billboard Women in Music event the following month, the singer talked about her music: "Definitely overblowing with inspiration. I feel like I'm at the point in my life right now where I'm constantly be like 'Oh my Gosh, I wanna be in the studio, I have so many emotions, flowing through me all the time and I need to write a song about this'. But yeah, I'm really excited about the new sound. [...] I feel like people are just gonna like it and I really love it, so I can't wait to share more." She described her currently released music as "honest, empowering, and also fun, little dance-y".[24] That same month, she also appeared at the TikTok Awards Weekend Party, during which she spoke about her inspiration for creating music in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter: "Like, first and foremost, I want my music to make people feel good. [...] With anything that I do if I can leave some sort of positive impact on people around the world, like that is usually the goal, so this new stuff I have like some things that are a little bit like more dance-y, but I feel like all in all, like the through line is that it's always honest, it's always authentic, it's a little vulnerable, and it's empowering."
Possible tracks
Released
- "Gold"
- "Last Man Standing"
- "Only a Stranger"
- "Shake"
- "Stay"
- "Too F*ckin' Nice"
- "Treat Myself"
- "Tripped"
Unreleased
- "Ain't Nobody Else"
- "Beautiful Day"
- "Caught Up in You"
- "Favourite Song"
- "Firefly"
- "Love Zombie"
- "Our Little Secret"
- "Priceless"
- "Real"
- "Rollercoaster"
- "Solo"
Videos
References
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/nick-signs-zoey-101-star-to-music-deal-1304844/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20081001212905/https://www.myspace.com/victoriajusticemusic
- ↑ https://www.justjared.com/2009/11/20/victoria-justice-larry-rudolph/
- ↑ https://www.mtv.com/news/fe3335/victoria-justice-new-album
- ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/nickelodeon-star-victoria-justices-solo-album-is-freaking-out-her-friends-204901/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110925082022/https://blog.music.aol.com/2011/09/15/victoria-justice-interview/
- ↑ https://www.mtv.com/news/m35hxk/victorious-season-3-victoria-justice
- ↑ https://www.digitalspy.com/music/a433353/victoria-justice-to-release-first-album-in-2013-its-going-to-be-pop-433353/
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/victoria-justice-on-debut-album-its-time-for-me-to-reintroduce-1566122/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/342801394073477120
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/victoria-justices-gold-single-hits-digital-retailers-listen-1567334/
- ↑ https://www.mtv.com/news/exs1sl/victoria-justice-debut-album
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/victoria-justice-music-ariana-grande-6221801/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VictoriaJustice/status/948463262961623042
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/victoriajustice/posts/10159461244050832
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/10-cool-new-pop-songs-tate-mcrae-madison-beer-victoria-justice-9499304/
- ↑ https://www.idolator.com/7916705/victoria-justice-rolls-out-treat-myself-visual
- ↑ https://www.elitedaily.com/p/when-will-victoria-justice-drop-her-debut-album-her-new-singles-tease-something-bigger-61502795
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/victoriajustice/posts/10159637186325832
- ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2021/02/14/sunday-conversation-exclusive-victoria-justice-on-her-new-songs-music-is-such-a-passion-of-mine-and-part-of-my-soul/
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/victoria-justice-interview-new-music-treat-myself-9535583/
- ↑ https://variety.com/2023/music/news/victoria-justice-single-last-man-standing-30th-birthday-1235527122/
- ↑ https://www.hercampus.com/culture/victoria-justice-only-stranger-interview/
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=289426183994716