Artist: Jason Derülo
Album: Jason Derülo
Label: Beluga Heights/Warner Bros.
Release Date: 2nd March 2010
Production: J.R. Rotem (exec) & Fuego.
Jason Derülo exploded onto the commercial scene late in 2009, witht the huge hit, 'Watcha Say' which used samples from Imogen Heap's 'Hide and Seek'. The song was hugely popular, reaching number 1 around the world. The trademark "J-J-J-J-J R" tags instantly sent subliminal signals out to RnB fans that this was set to become a massive hit, from just the first 5 seconds of ever hearing it. The 'S.O.S.' hitmaker for Rihanna, and JLS producer, who has also executively produced for his own artists, including Sean Kingston and IYAZ.
Videos of Rotem and Derülo working together in the studio on this project, soon became available on Youtube. The attention to detail that Rotem was putting into perfection was quite visible to see. It also gave us the chance to hear the style that Jason Derülo wanted for the album - a sort of Euro pop feel, as Jason then sings a variety of different melodies over each beat, until he finds the one best suited for the song.
In fact, serious fans of Jason Derülo may also know him from before his solo efforts, when he was a song writer for other artists, just like Keri Hilson was before she made it into the industry as a solo singer. Jason has ghost written tracks for Cassie, Donnie Klang, Pleasure P, as well as featuring on Birdman's album '5* Stunna' on the bonus track, 'Bossy', which was also covered by Cassidy.
The self-titled debut album first struck me as an album full of singles. Since most of the songs had leaked onto the internet over the weeks leading up to the eventual release. With 'In My Head' becoming an unusual choice for the second single, it was not as successful as the previous single, but still big none the less.
I was impresseed with 'Love Hangover' - a song which personifies the feeling of love for a new lady into the physical feeling of alcohol on a morning after a night out. Other songs which caught my attention were 'What If'', which is basically about proposing to a lady and 'The Sjy's The Limit' which in my opinion, should be single number 3.
The album seems to carry a storyline - from the theme of breakup in the opening track, to finding new love as the CD unfolds. Although his vocal style may be very similar to that of Chris Brown, the style of music could not be any more different. Chris Brown used the traditional RnB sounds, whereas Jason Derulo seems to be mixing traditional mainstream RnB, with Euro-pop and pop-indie in a rather bizarre way. This album will not disappoint the fans who have jumped aboard after olnly hearing a couple of tracks played on radio stations, and I must say, this is going to be one of the biggest albums of 2010, and Derulo is certainly going to be one of the biggest RnB stars in years to come.
9/10
