At the age of 5, Jason Derülo wrote his first song, “Crush on You.” Fifteen years later, his resume boasts songwriting credits that include the following artists: Birdman, Cassie, Danity Kane, Diddy, Lil’ Wayne, Pitbull, and Sean Kingston. By the sheer diversity of his portfolio, it is evident that this emerging talent has versatile songwriting skills.
Focusing his sights on a solo career, Jason Derülo has become one of the major breakout stars of 2009. His debut single, “Whatcha Say,” quietly stormed up Billboard’s Hot 100 chart—resting comfortably, for the past few weeks, in the #2 spot. While promoting “Whatcha Say” on a promotional tour, Jason Derülo managed to squeeze some time out of his busy schedule and settle down for an interview with Clayton Perry—reflecting on Imogen Heap, “Around the World,” and his formal music training.
You have a long history of being engaged in art and music performance. In fact, you are a graduate of New York’s American Musical and Dramatic Academy. What elements from your early classical training have prepared you for the pop life?
Well, one of the things I pulled from classical training is discipline, and the fact that in classical music you have to do everything exactly as it is written. There's no flexibility. You have to do everything exactly how it's written. And it's particularly hard work, also. I mean, there were times where I had to learn an entire song and present it the next day in class from memory. So that really taught me discipline. And Shakespeare – just to go to the acting side – every word is perfectly placed and no word is put there for no reason. Every word is strategically placed and holds a purpose. In my songwriting, I try to match that as closely as I can and try not to have any filler lines or lines that don't mean anything. Bringing the musical theatre part of it into it, you have to explain the story line and song. There is hardly any dialogue, so that forces the writer to have to be vivid in the writing, so I'm definitely focused on that also. It's always more fun to listen to something when you can actually see what the person is saying.
Even with all your classical training, your music is definitely genre-defying—incorporating elements of pop and R&B. What impact do you hope your records have on the contemporary music landscape?
I feel that there's a lot of music out there that is very gimmicky. I really want to be one of the people to try to bring good music back. You can have fun and dance to good music, and you don't need a gimmicky sound to have a good time. Also, on my album, there's inspirational stuff on there, too. Every song doesn't have to be about love. That's not all we deal with. So I definitely want to bring that out because I'm a very charitable guy – and I want people to know that, also.
Article comments
1 - haleema
he is soooooooooo fit do more sngs derulo!!! ur such a good singer