2006–2010: Beginnings and Jason Derulo Derulo has been writing songs for artists including
Diddy,
Danity Kane,
Donnie Klang,
Sean Kingston,
Cassie, and
Lil Wayne since he was young, also intending on becoming a solo performer. After attending performing arts schools, such as The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and honing his talents as a singer and dancer, as well as acting in theatre productions like
Ragtime and ''Smokey Joe's Cafe
, Derulo won the grand prize on the 2006 season finale of the TV show Showtime at the Apollo''. Derulo was discovered by music producer
J. R. Rotem, who signed him to his record label
Beluga Heights Records and
Warner Bros. Records. In a
HitQuarters interview, Rotem highlighted Derulo's dedication to his art by saying, "Jason Derulo has one of the most impressive work ethics I've ever come across – he just keeps knocking out songs in the studio. That's an amazing quality." On August 4, 2009, Jason released his debut single, "
Whatcha Say". It was produced by
J. R. Rotem with additional production by Fuego. The track heavily samples the
Imogen Heap song "
Hide and Seek". In late August 2009, the song debuted at number 54 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and hit number 1 in November 2009. It was Derulo's first number-one hit. The single's music video was released in September 2009; after the single became successful, Derulo began work on his debut album. He released the second single from his album, "
In My Head", on December 8, 2009. It debuted at number 63 on the
Billboard Hot 100, and reached number five. Derulo's debut album,
Jason Derulo, stylised with an
umlaut as
Jason Derülo, was released on March 2, 2010.
Jason Derulo first charted within the top ten of the
UK and
Irish Albums Charts in early March 2010. He spent six weeks promoting the album in his appearances as one of the opening acts for
Lady Gaga's 2009–2010
The Monster Ball Tour. The third single of the album is "
Ridin' Solo", which was released worldwide on April 26, 2010. By July, the single had reached number nine in the
Billboard Hot 100. Derulo detailed his journey recording the album via a series of
webisodes posted on his official website. Derulo planned to embark on an eight-date UK tour in support of the album in February 2012, including a show at
Wembley Arena on March 1. However, on January 3, 2012, while doing 50 backflips as an endurance test during rehearsal for his Future History Tour, Derulo broke his C2
vertebrae, an injury known as the hangman's break. On March 28, 2012, Derulo appeared on
American Idol to announce he would allow fans to help him finish the lyrics for a new song entitled "Undefeated", as part of a partnership with
American Idol and
Coca-Cola. Fans were given the opportunity to submit their own lyrics to complete the song, and fans were then given the chance to vote on which lyrics they liked the most. On May 5, 2012, Derulo announced that his first post-neck injury television performance would be on the
eleventh-season finale of American Idol, on May 22, 2012. In August 2012, Derulo became a dance master alongside
Kelly Rowland, for the
first season of the Australian dance talent show
Everybody Dance Now. The show was cancelled shortly after its fourth episode aired due to poor ratings. On July 9, 2012, Derulo announced that he had signed Australian singer-songwriter Arlene Zelina to his record label Future History (co-owned with his manager Frank Harris) after he attended one of her performances at
Whisky a Go Go in 2011 before she returned to
Melbourne, Australia. On July 10, 2012, Derulo confirmed this on his
Twitter.
2013–2014: Tattoos and Talk Dirty On April 16, 2013, Derulo released his single, "
The Other Side" to radio on April 23, 2013. As of July 4, 2013 "The Other Side" peaked at No. 18 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Derulo announced via Twitter that his third album would be called
Tattoos. The album was released on September 24, 2013. The album's second single, "
Talk Dirty", was released internationally on July 27, 2013 (digitally). "Talk Dirty" peaked at number three on the
Billboard Hot 100. The album features American hip-hop recording artist
2 Chainz; it is the first single from Derulo to contain a feature. The tracks accompanying music video had already been shot and was released in early August 2013. "Marry Me" made its US radio premiere on
On Air with Ryan Seacrest on August 26, 2013. It was scheduled to be released to all digital retailers as the second single to the U.S. market, third overall, on the same day. On December 11, 2013, he was the headline act for Radio City Live in the Echo Arena, Liverpool. He performed Ridin' Solo and Talk Dirty. Six months after Derulo's third album
Tattoos was released (other than in the U.S) he announced on March 18, 2014, that he would be releasing an album with four newly recorded songs and seven from
Tattoos as the U.S album and that it would have different artwork and be re-titled
Talk Dirty.
Talk Dirty was released on April 15, 2014. That same day, Jason Derulo released the special edition of
Tattoos in the UK, which included the four new songs from the
Talk Dirty album. On November 21, 2014,
Pitbull released a song off the album
Globalization featuring Jason Derulo and
Juicy J titled "
Drive You Crazy", which was later to become a single on August 21, 2015.
2015–2016: Everything Is 4 On January 22, 2015, Dick Clark Productions announced that Derulo would be a judge in the upcoming 12th season of
So You Think You Can Dance, alongside new judge
Paula Abdul and returning judge
Nigel Lythgoe. "I am truly excited, and eagerly look forward to joining the cast of
So You Think You Can Dance," said Derulo. "It is one of the most respected and longest-tenured shows on network television, and I hope to be a part of new growth and continued success." "Want To Want Me" became the most-added track in the history of Top 40 radio: it was added to 156 monitored pop stations, making it the biggest Top 40 US radio launch thus far. The album features 11 platinum certified singles. On March 17,
Pitbull and Derulo released the song "Educate Ya", from the former's album
Climate Change. On March 31,
Cheyenne Frontier Days announced they added Jason Derulo to their 2017 Frontier Nights concert lineup on Friday, July 28, 2017. At the
2017 Billboard Music Awards on May 21, Derulo announced that his next studio album would be titled
777. "
If I'm Lucky" was then released on September 1. "
Tip Toe" (featuring
French Montana) was released soon after, on November 10. "Swalla" and "Tip Toe" were expected to be included on the album, according to Derulo. The album was later renamed
2Sides. Derulo explains the reason why he changed the album's name, saying: ,
Japan "
Goodbye", a joint-collaboration with
David Guetta and featuring
Nicki Minaj and
Willy William, was released on August 24, 2018. In 2019, Derulo released the singles "
Let's Shut Up & Dance" with
Lay Zhang and
NCT 127 on February 22, "
Mamacita", featuring
Farruko, on July 5, and "
Too Hot" on August 27. In a telephone interview with the
Official Charts Company, Derulo revealed that he will release "a seven-track EP and then another one shortly after", and that his previous singles "Swalla", "If I'm Lucky", "Tip Toe", and "Goodbye" will not be included on this project because "those songs have had their time. Even though putting them on an album would make it go platinum in two seconds, it’s not about the numbers. These are brand new songs, brand new vibes."
2Sides (Side 1), the first part of
2Sides, was released on November 8, 2019, with
2Sides (Side 2) arriving in 2020. Derulo starred as
Rum Tum Tugger in the film
Cats, which premiered on December 20, 2019. For the role, he was nominated for the
Golden Raspberry Award for
Worst Screen Combo, with "his CGI-neutered bulge", which was a reference to a photo he posted on
Instagram earlier that year, with a prominent outline of his penis. In May 2020, Derulo confirmed that after a lengthy negotiation, he had left his record contract with
Warner Bros. Records due to creative differences. By leaving the label, Derulo also cancelled the release of
2Sides (Side 2), but confirmed that new music would arrive later in 2020. In June 2020, "
Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)" by Derulo and
Jawsh 685 went viral on
TikTok, eventually peaking at number one in the UK, becoming Derulo's 5th number one in the country. The song was originally released without properly clearing and attributing a prominent sample in the song to Jawsh 685. The clearance issue was resolved and the song was eventually re-released and credited to both artists. The song was later remixed by
BTS, wherein the remix reached number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming Derulo's second chart topper in the region (his first since "Whatcha Say" in 2009, the longest time between number-one hits for male artists since
Dr. Dre's "
Crack a Bottle" reached number one after a 12-year hiatus in 2009). In November 2020, Derulo released another single entitled "
Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)" featuring
New Caledonian beat producer
Nuka. It was inspired from the latter's
SoundCloud track known as "The Tampa Beat" which was earlier released in 2018, and has been used in over 23 million
TikTok videos.
2021–present: Singles, collaborations and Nu King Derulo signed with
Atlantic Records in March 2021. In May, Derulo featured on the remix of "
Jalebi Baby" by Indian-Canadian singer
Tesher. On September 3, Derulo released his new single "Acapulco". In March 2023, Derulo was announced as a judge for the
Australian version of the singing competition,
The Voice, replacing
Keith Urban. Later that month, he starred as
Isley Brothers frontman
Ron Isley in the biographical film
Spinning Gold. On May 18, 2023, Derulo released the single "When Love Sucks", which features singer
Dido, sampling the latter's 2000 single "
Thank You". On September 27, 2023, Derulo performed a medley of his upcoming song "
Hands on Me" with
Meghan Trainor and "Take You Dancing" during the finale of
season 18 of ''
America's Got Talent''. After being introduced to TikTok by his nieces and nephews, Derulo began posting content on TikTok. His account has amassed a sizable following, becoming one of the
most-followed on the platform. On February 16, 2024, he released his long-awaited fifth studio album titled
Nu King, his first studio album since
Everything is 4 (2015). The album features some of his big hits since his last album, as singles, including "
Take You Dancing", "
Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)", and "
Lifestyle", as well as his recent song "
Hands on Me" on which he collaborated with
Meghan Trainor. ==Artistry==