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Before Joanna “JoJo” Levesque’s 16th birthday, the singer had released a pair of albums—”JoJo” in 2004 and “The High Road” in 2006—that, taken collectively, sold more than 7 million copies.

Then, like Keyser Soze, she was gone.

OK, maybe it wasn’t quite so dramatic. Levesque maintained a presence both on the big screen (she played Robin Williams’ daughter in 2006’s “RV” and appeared in the 2013 comedy “G.B.F.”) and in a series of mixtapes, including “Can’t Take That Away from Me,” which she released in 2010. But the singer’s professional music career remained in limbo for years during a prolonged contract dispute with her former label, and only recently has she been able to pick up where she left off nearly a decade ago, dropping three potentially game-changing singles in August.

“I was told at many turns that I wouldn’t be able to get out of the contract and that I would never be able to have ownership of my own voice, which was a very crazy concept because I had been singing since I was 2 years-old,” said the Massachusetts-native Levesque, 24, who appears Nov. 11 at a sold-out Lincoln Hall. “I considered going to college and trying to do something else, but I knew I wouldn’t have been happy. I would have always wondered, ‘What if I had fought?’ “

Does this really feel like a reintroduction for you?

It feels like the start of the rest of my life. [Laughs.] It definitely feels weird to call it a comeback because I’ve been making music this whole time, and because I’m 24, and it feels weird to talk about a comeback at 24. I’ve really been held back for a while, but I think when anybody looks back at a 10-year span, they realize it never goes exactly as they planned it. This is just a part of my story, and it feels amazing to have people who have supported me this whole way and to have new people who are just starting to wake up to me.

Are you super wary of long-term contracts now? Like are you on a month-to-month cellphone plan?

[Laughs.] That’s a good question. No. Contracts are scary, and of course they are binding, and that freaks me out. But, no, I have a long-term plan on my phone, and I signed another record contract [with Atlantic Records].

It does seem like your fans missed out on a couple of landmark birthdays, so I thought I’d ask how you celebrated turning 18 and 21, in particular.

At 18 it was like, “Oh God, I’m getting old. I’m an ‘adult’ now.” And then at 21 I was excited to be able to legally drink because I grew up in Massachusetts, which is very much an Irish drinking culture. Being able to walk into a bar and not worry was a huge deal for me. But after 21 I started to feel really self-conscious that I hadn’t released music. It made me feel terrible about myself, and I started to wonder who I was if I wasn’t singing and doing what I’d always done.

Obviously there are a number of instances of successful teenagers kind of going off the rails as they move into their 20s. What kept you grounded?

I think my New England upbringing kept me grounded, and just knowing I didn’t want to embarrass my family. Using discretion in the choices I made was something I tried to keep in mind. I never wanted to be made an example of. But I absolutely had my moments. I’ve gotten super-drunk and made choices that would not make [my parents] proud. But for the most part I’ve tried to be good to myself. I’m thankful that in my wild, formative years I wasn’t under the harsh scrutiny of the limelight. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber and to fall on your face and have everybody have an opinion about it. I got to do that on my own.

What’s the status of the full-length record at this point?

When I’m finished with the tour, we’ll get back into assembling the album. I’ve recorded dozens and dozens of songs, and there’s a blueprint of songs I love most. But, honestly, I might even go back into the studio because I still want these songs to feel fresh to me. At this point it’s looking like the first quarter of next year.

After waiting this long already, is that kind of patience difficult for you?

It’s difficult, for sure. Patience isn’t my strongest or most natural quality; it’s something I had to learn. I tried to adopt a different way of thinking about things. I think if I was a little older I’d be freaking out, but because I’m still young I believe everything is happening in the time it’s supposed to.

Andy Downing is a RedEye contributor. @andydowning33

JoJo, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11 at Lincoln Hall. Sold out.