KEVIPOD Interviews Jason Derulo...
Two years have passed since Jason Derulo broke into the music scene as a recording artist with his hit single "Whatcha Say", and one year since he released his super successful debut album, which managed to sell over 750,000 copies and 11 million singles worldwide.
The Miami native started his career in the music industry as an independent songwriter for artists such as Diddy, Lil' Wayne, Donnie Klang or Cassie. But it wasn't until 2007 - after winning TV show "Showtime" at the Apollo's 2006 season Grand Championship - when renowned record producer J.R Rotem saw Jason's true perfomer talent and decided to sign him to his record label Beluga Heights Records and Warner Bros.
From there on, you know the history. A chart-topping debut album, mixing urban and pop music, with global hits like "Whatcha Say", "In My Head", or "Riding Solo", and minor but nevertheless Top 40 hits in some countries, "What If" and "The Sky's The Limit".
Jason had the opportunity to travel the world promoting his debut album (even headlined his own tour), discovering new places, new fans, and in the end, growing as a person and perfomer. However, those starting days are over, and Jason Derulo is now ready to release his second studio album called "Future History" (September 2011). An album that will show a more mature/confident side of him, but keeping his streak of party-anthems "Don't Wanna Go Home".
Check out below our recent interview with Jason Derulo, where he talks about his rise to fame with just one album, "Future History", the first single "Don't Wanna Go Home", reveals the producers on his second album, says Pussycatt Doll's Melody Thornton was the first choice for the leading female role on the 'Don't Wanna Go Home' video, exclusively confirms there will be 14 tracks on the album, and that we can expect a "huge suprise" in terms of collaborations.
The Interview
1. You've gotten huge worldwide success with your debut album, getting gold certifications in different countries and selling millions of singles. What are your thoughts on achieving this kind of success with just one album out?
My first album was the beginning of an incredible ride. I called the second album “Future History” because it represents where I’ve been and where I’m going. My first album was an absolute blessing to be honest with you. I worked so hard all my life and to finally see everything come to fruition was pretty amazing. It was amazing to see that happen, but there’s still so much to do, so many dreams, so much to accomplish.
2. “Jason Derulo”, the album, spawned five singles overall. Would you have liked to release a sixth? Or even more? In the end, each single you released was a success…
As a test to my fans, they were really into the music that I made and I tried to make every single song on my last album and on this album single material, if it’s not able to be a single I don't think it should be on the album, period. I have that in mind with every single song, if it’s not a song the world would love, it wouldn’t go on my album. If I can only make five songs that I feel are that strong to be a single, then I would only drop an album with five songs on it. But this time around I’ll have fourteen songs, so fourteen potential singles.
3. Now that the “Jason Derulo” (album) era is over, could you tell us what was your absolute favorite song in that album, or the one you enjoyed the most performing?
I have to say “In My Head” was my favorite to perform, but “Riding Solo” meant more to me because of what I went through.
4. Moving on, you have a new album coming out this year called “Future History”. What’s the message behind that title?
As I said, “Future History” is a representation of where I come from and where I feel like I want to go. I want to be someone that people can look up to; I want to be someone that is a role model. That's what “Future History” is.
5. The first single is “Don't Wanna Go Home”. How would you describe the song to those who haven’t heard it yet?
I would say it’s the ultimate feel-good record. You just turn it on and instantly you cannot help but to dance, it’s really hypnotizing.
6. Your new single was produced The Fliptones, which means you’ll be working this time around with new producers other than J. R. Rotem. Who else helped you in your second album?
The Fliptones produced the majority of the album or I should say half the album. And I have some productions from Jai Marlon, who’s another producer that’s signed to me. I worked with Polow Da Don, J.R Rotem, Ryan Tedder, The Dream. Yeah, that’s it in terms of productions. Well not really, there’s a couple that I probably can’t remember (giggles).
7. In the music video for “Don't Wanna Go Home”, you had a "one on one" time with Melody Thornton. How did she end up being the leading female in your video and how was working with her? Seems you had a great time.
I did have a good time. I was one of those kids who loved the Pussycat Dolls.
They were asking me who I wanted to be in the video, and I said, hey why not Melody Thornton from the Pussycat Dolls. And that’s exactly how it happened actually.
8. Tell us a bit about “Future History”, the recording process, what can we expect from it, any collaborations, perhaps?
“Future History” is my greatest accomplishment thus far in my life. Collaborations, I’m not going to mention the collaborations, because there’s a huge surprise. But there are so many different faces on this album; it goes from straight urban to having super pop, and having rock influence, to having euro-dance influence. It has something for everybody, and it’s really exciting because I feel like I’ve never done something this great. I worked really hard on it. It required like 150-something songs to make sure that I had the right material. But it was so easy to write this album, much easier than writing my first album. I guess it's because I've grown so much in these last two years. I've probably grown more in these two years that I've been going than in my whole life. You know, I’ve travelled the world, I’ve seen so much. Basically, the album wrote itself, because I had so much to write about.
9. Do you have any favourites songs already?
Yes, I have a few but I can’t reveal any titles just yet.
10. Thanks for your time, best of luck with everything, any last thing you would want to share with our readers?
I just want to say thank you, thank you for the support in the early on. This has been an incredible ride and I just want to continue. Let’s take this first step in future history.