10 things you didn’t know about Jason Derülo.
1. He’s the hitmaker behind Whatcha Say and In My Head.
2. Jason’s debut single, Whatcha Say, topped charts in America and featured in the third season of the hit TV series Gossip Girl. The song is an electro-pop spin on a sample of British singer Imogen Heap’s 2005 song Hide and Seek and the lyrics were inspired by his brother, who called him right after his girlfriend broke up with him.
3. He has performed since he was five and wrote his first song, Crush on You, when he was eight.
4. He studied opera, theatre and ballet and he’s a singer-songwriter, choreographer, dancer, producer and actor.
5. His music career started in 2007 when he was featured on Birdman’s song Bossy.
6. He has written hit singles for big names such as Lil Wayne, Pitbull, Sean Kingston and rapper P Diddy since the age of 16. But he always dreamt of becoming a solo performer. “It was killing me,” he says. “I had a huge attachment to the songs I was writing but I had to give them up to make a quick buck.”
7. The 20-year-old singer was born in Miami to Haitian parents. His birth name is Desrouleaux but he changed it to Derülo as a stage name so fans could pronounce it.
8. His self-titled album is due for release in America next month and features 12 tracks. It will be half R&B and half electro, he says.
9. He promoted his album during Lady Gaga’s recent The Monster Ball tour, for which he was one of the opening acts.
10. His third single will be the electro number She Flys Me Away, featuring Nemesis. It samples the song Hummell Gets the Rockets by Hans Zimmer and is due for release in April.