Jason Derulo on writing ‘Talk Dirty’ in a neck brace, fatherhood, and his next big moves!

The one thing that was constant the whole time is I believed in myself. Writing songs for Sean Kingston and Sean Kingston's label Turn Down Both. Imagine writing Talk Dirty when I'm in the neck brace. I was going to say, how did that inspiration happen? He was like, man, you should be an artist. And I was like, I'll be trying to tell you how to sew a tub! And I landed on my head and broke my C2 vertebrae and I was out. Jason Derulo. Paveler. As I saw, that's how you actually spell it, right? Did you kind of just break it down so that everyone would know how to spell it or say it phonetically? Is that why you changed the spelling? In marketing, you need to treat your audience as if they know nothing. And nobody knew how to say my name. When I was in school, it was like, de-zuh-luh-luh-luh-luh. I was like, why am I trying to confuse everybody? Let me just make it simple. And I did it phonetically. So it's D-E-R-U-L-O. But my actual last name is spelled D-E-S-R-O-U-L-E-A-U-X. Yes. So yeah, I did you guys a solid. Yeah, you were like, I've been through this in school. I don't need this for my whole career. For sure, for sure. Walking in every room, it's like, is Jason Derulo still in the room? Derulo, yeah, Derulex, getting all the names. What was it like growing up for you? It was dope. I grew up in a place called Carroll City in Miami, Florida. And not a very nice neighborhood. We never knew that we were broke. We never knew that we didn't have much. And I think my family did a great job of giving us what we needed in terms of time and love and togetherness. So I grew up in a very large family. My grandmother had 15 kids. Wow. And all of those kids had a lot of kids. So, you know, I had a lot of family around. So I didn't, I wasn't really a friend guy. My family members became my closest friends. So were you like popular in school? Were you like hanging around with loads of friends or not really then? Yeah, so I was pretty quiet in school. I was really always tired as hell from the night before because I made music at night. Oh, from a young age, you were doing that? Yeah, from eight years old. Wow. So I make music in the evening. And when I got to school, I was just really tired. But everybody knew me as the singer in school. And I played basketball in high school as well. So I had different crowds that I hung out with. I hung out with the musicians and I also hung out with the basketball players. So it's an interesting clash of worlds. So you always knew them that you were going to sing from the youngest age? Yeah, since I was four years old. I think that was one of my greatest gifts, honestly. I think God blessed me with certainty. Because I knew very early on, this is what I wanted to do. And I hardly wavered. I wavered a bit. I had some times where I thought I could do something else. But generally, I was set on music. What else did you consider doing? Basketball. For like two years of my life, I considered basketball. Because I didn't make my freshman team. And that year, I literally did not leave a basketball. And whether I was walking to get some water, whether I was walking on campus, whether I was walking to the bus stop, I had a basketball everywhere I went. And that one year, I've transformed into a really, really good basketball player. And the year after that, I won a state championship with my school. And the year after that, I decided to only do music. I had to make a choice. Because basketball was taking a lot of time, and music was taking a lot of time. So I had no time to sleep at all. After basketball practice, I would have to take the city bus home. I was young as hell, by the way. I took the city bus. But I took the city bus home. And I would get home around 7 p.m. I would try to at least spend a little time writing music. Maybe like an hour. So if I was asleep by 10 o'clock, I had to be up at 4 in the morning to catch the bus to get to school. So it was really, really tough. So I had to make a decision. Like, is it going to be basketball or is it going to be music? And I chose music. And I chose basketball. And then just happened to be an amazingly successful singer. And sitting here today doing an interview. And that's how I made it to the Lakers. Yeah, yeah. That's like your parallel universe in your mind. That's what's happening right now. Well, you made it to the equivalent of the Lakers in the music world, I would say, right? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, you've scored very well in this industry. Thank you very much. You were writing for loads of people, though, before you actually had your big break, right? Yeah, so I got my first writing placement at 16. And the whole thing started because, you know, people are like crabs in the bucket, you know? It's like, I don't want to see you get on. I'm trying to get on. So it was hard for me to get into rooms with decent-sized producers. Because those producers were trying to place records with the big stars of the day, you know? They didn't really care about who was trying to come up and make music. So to get in those rooms, I would be like, how about we write a song for Genuine? And they're like, yeah, yeah, come on in. I was like, yeah, I'm a songwriter. And then I was going to take those songs and put it on my demo, you know? And then, oddly enough, songs started to get placed. And I was like, okay, all right, let's roll with the punches. All right, I'm a songwriter. And yeah, that's how I got into a bunch of rooms. I was able to build up my songwriting chops. But yeah, the songs started to get placed. And I was 16 at the time. And I was writing for all of these people, not getting paid anything. But I was getting some good cuts. Wow. So then how did it go from there to you finally stepping into the spotlight? MySpace. MySpace at the time, it was like the new kind of calling card. It was like your biography? No, no, no. Like your resume. Resume. I was like, what do you bring to a job? Your resume. And you know, you got your little top five songs. You know, you got a little brief description of you. You got photos. So I was like, yeah, this is cool. So I put my songs up. And I got noticed by J.R.Rodham's brother, who's Tommy Rodham, who started to send me beats. He was like, you know, just write to these beats. And I was like, you do know I'm an artist, too. And he was like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just write to these beats. So I was sending songs. And then he would be like, cool, thanks. Then I was kind of in a limbo. And then two months later, he'd be like, hey, here's a fresh new batch of beats. Write to these. And then I would send the songs. And he'd be like, cool, thanks. And then like another month would pass. And I was like, damn, what's going on? And finally, he was like, hey, we want to fly you out to L.A. We want to sign you as a songwriter. And I was like, oh, that's fantastic. You do know I'm an artist. He's like, yeah, cool, cool, cool. But yeah, we're going to fly you out and you'll finally meet J.R. So I get into the room with J.R. Rodham, super producer, you know, making songs for Britney Spears and Rihanna and Sean Kingston and all of these people. And I was like, this is my moment. You know, like maybe he'll like think that I'm an artist, too. So we have a session the night that I get there and we make seven songs on the evening. And he was like, man, you should be an artist. And I was like, I've been trying to tell you all this time. But still, I was still placed on the back burner. And I was writing songs for Sean Kingston. I wrote a song called Replay. And I wrote a song called What You Say. And Sean Kingston's label turned down both. Replay ended up going to an artist called Ayez. And then What You Say was like, well, let's make that my first single. Cool. And that's what happened. Was there like this element of like, I can imagine that the hunger was just building up. Because you were so close to it all. And like hearing your music out there, but then it wasn't you. Yeah, I was really close to it all. But I also felt super removed, you know. But like, I never really wavered. I just was trying to figure out what way I was going to get in. Because it was by any means necessary, you know. If I had to try out for a show, I'd sing on Apollo. I was singing on, you know, in clubs. I was passing my CD to like, by any means necessary. I just wanted people to hear me, you know. And, you know, I think everybody has their path. Everybody has their journey. But I think the one thing that was constant the whole time is I believed in myself. If you can't believe in yourself, then it's going to be hard to get other people to believe in you. Yeah. And even hearing you speak, just, I mean, the amount of hours you were putting in. Even as a kid, I mean, I don't even remember hearing any kids saying they were tired because they were doing extra work that they weren't actually even getting paid for. Like, you were just, you were already working from such a young age. Your work ethic is just like, out of this world. Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, thank you. But actually, you push yourself pretty hard. I remember actually finding out about your world tour in 2012, the Future History Tour. And you were doing backflips. Oh, yeah. And you had an injury. That was pretty bad. I was actually preparing for the tour. And the trainer that I was with, he was like, you need to prepare yourself by doing a bunch back to back to back to back. So I got kind of used to doing that. And every day, he would increase the number more and more and more. And we were basically training to be able to do it when I'm at my most tired point. But anyway, I slipped during one and I bailed. You're never supposed to bail when you're doing a back tuck. And I landed on my head and broke my C2 vertebrae. And I was out. I was out for seven months of my life and very, very low point in my life. I talk about it all the time that sometimes when the world stops and you're at your lowest is when the change happens, you know, the best changes can happen. And I feel like in that moment, well, in that time period, I was able to, you know, just block out all the noise and just focus in on what mattered, which was the creative. You know, I got lost in a routine. So every single day, I did the same thing at the same time. I ate at the same time. I went to sleep at the same time. I made music at the same time every single day. And that was when I made my most successful album, the Talk Dirty album, which had six platinum songs on it. And it was at my lowest point in my life. So out of that hole, that period of just like nothing. Imagine writing Talk Dirty when I'm in the neck. I was going to say, how did that inspiration happen? You're like trying to bounce to the tune. Like, OK, let me just. Yeah, straight. I literally couldn't bop. Like, I could not bop. You know what I'm saying? I'm in a whole joint, right? So like. Wow. Yeah. But I was trying to make music that was totally opposite of how I actually felt inside. OK, that makes sense. You know. That's why you had bangers on that album. For sure. Yeah, I was really just trying to put myself in a different headspace. And yeah, it ended up paying off. Yeah. And then some. I wanted to ask you about TikTok because I feel like, I mean, you've been in this industry now for, what, 15 years since your first single, What You Say, came out. 15 years. That's crazy. That is. Wow. Why are you telling people my age like that? I was four when the song came out. Well, you were four, obviously, when you started. And I mean, TikTok and streaming and social media, it's kind of like a polarizing thing in the industry. Because I feel like there's a lot of purists that are like, oh, we're in the dawn of these songs that are like 30 seconds. And you've got a TikTok chart. And people are doing dances online. And this isn't what the music industry is. But I feel like you are someone who has diversified. Like you're like, yeah, but I can still ride this wave and still be credible. And I can, which I actually think is very smart. Because when Savage Love dropped, I was like, this guy's clever. That song was everywhere. Yeah. You jumped on it. You're like, yeah, I'm going to make this a tune. I'm going to make this a big, big hit. And I'm going to embrace and ride the wave. How have you felt about TikTok and social media? And how does that play into your career? Well, it's not really different to what I've always done. I've always looked for tracks that were pulverizing and felt different to everything else. I mean, when the hell did you hear a beat that sounded like that? And for me, I've always worked with producers that have had big hits, really. Talk Dirty, that was Wallpaper's first song that he's ever placed. The Marry Me, the first song that guy's ever had. Trumpets, first song that guy's ever had. And all these songs, I'm always craving whatever the void is. So if I hear something interesting in a track and it sounds like nothing, that's my favorite kind of track, every single time. My biggest pet peeve is for somebody to send me a song or a track that sounds like something that I've done in the past, or that sounds like something that's playing on the radio right now. It's like, how in the world, why in the world would I want to do something that somebody else is doing? So I say that to say, when I heard the Savage Love track, it's very similar to how I've always been. It was just like, oh, this is interesting. Let me get on this. And I think you got to roll with the times. Besides just that, you have to roll with the times and be able to change and morph. Otherwise, you're going to get lost. So whatever the times call for, you got to be able to morph as an artist. An artist today has to be as much a marketer and someone who's able to connect as someone that can make music. You got to be able to make music, of course, but how do you get that music out to the people? Record labels aren't necessarily signing people that just sing well. If people were just getting signed off singing well, then American Idol or The Voice would have all the biggest artists. I mean, to find lasting artists on those shows is very hard because it's not just about singing. It's about connecting and how you can connect to an audience and connecting changes with the years. So you got to be able to figure it out as the years go by. And you threw yourself into the social world. I remember seeing your videos online that were just going viral, like filming with Will Smith and doing all these crazy recipes. What surprised you? What's one video that you put out that you thought, wow, I didn't even think that was going to blow like that? I mean, every day. I did a video the other day, which is my biggest video in a couple of weeks. But it was literally one shot of me about to knock on the door and I was like, why do we knock like this? Why don't we just make it easy and just knock like this? And that's my biggest video. I'm like, yo, y'all like that one? What about the other joint that I spent all this money on doing all this special effects? Y'all ain't like that one? Yeah. No, y'all like the knock joint. So like, I don't know what people like. You know, I just post things. There's so many hats that you wear. Like you're a singer, songwriter, you're a performer, you're a dancer, you're a businessman. And now you've got a new hat. You're a daddy. I'm a daddy. You're a dad. You've got a son. Yes, yes. What is that chapter like? How has that changed you? You know, I feel like it's changed me in a lot of ways. But my favorite way is the fact that I get to relive my childhood. You know, watching him experience things for the first time, you know, seeing Mickey Mouse for the first time and his eyes light up, you know, trying my favorite ice cream, ice cream sandwich. And he's just like enjoying it. It just like brings me back to the beginning, you know, and even the cartoons, you know, I don't want to tell my age here of like what cartoons I was watching. But like he like enjoys those cartoons as well, you know, and getting back to, you know, who I was as a kid all over again. I think, you know, that's one of my favorite parts. Yeah, it's funny because you mentioned Talk Dirty a few times. And I have to admit, I don't know if it's something I should be proud of. But hey, so I have a daughter. She's eight months old. And, you know, you think of new inventive ways to entertain your kids and whatever. Of course. She loves music, firstly, but I played Talk Dirty to her for a whole afternoon and she was living her absolute best life. Oh, I love that. Genuinely. And then as I was singing the lyrics, I was like, Talk Dirty to me, to like this baby. And she's like, yeah, like loving it. Oh my gosh. So, I mean, you're speaking to the kids out there, the baby babies as well. Yeah, you know, it's voila, same thing, right? It's like for some reason, it just gets the kid, like Wiggle, it just gets the kids, too. Which song of yours is your son's favorite? Does he have a favorite? Yes, he does. Take You Dancing is my son's favorite of mine. He knows it word for word. I actually think it's a lot of kids' favorite of mine. Because, you know, it's like the melody. He can sing along, yeah. So, yeah, that's his absolute favorite for mine. And he will definitely let me know if he don't like a song, too. Oh, really? Yeah. So, you know, when you're making a song at night, it's always the best song you've ever done when you're in it. You're like, yeah, this is it. And then you listen to it in the morning and then you have the morning test. Yeah, you're like, oh, what was I doing? So, with my son, you know, I do the morning test with him. I would be in the car. I do the morning test and I know if he's liking it or not. He'll be like, next song. That's it. Okay. All right. So, I guess this is number one. So, he's like my A&R now. Do you actually, does that influence your decision making? If he doesn't like it, are you like, nah, okay, it's off. It's off the album. It has to play a part, you know. I think it has to. I mean, I think kids have a real knack for melody. Yeah. And what sticks as well, you know. They don't know about the content of the song, you know. It doesn't go that far. But I think, I genuinely think that everybody should like a song. Like, everybody should be unanimously like, yo, that's the one. And that's how I like pick my songs. Like, if your grandma and your baby like it, that's the joint. I'm just getting like an image of like labels having this like round table of kids. Maybe they're missing a trick. Come on, now you're giving me ideas for a TikTok. That's lit. Yeah, you should get your son at a round table and get to judge your whole album. Do a listening party with him and see what you need to get rid of. Do you think he's going to be musical? Can he sing? He can. I mean, yeah, he likes to sing. He's, his pitch is really good. And in random times, like he'll be in the bath, you know, and like, you know, the bath will make like a noise. And then he'll just be like playing with his rubber ducky. He'll be like. And I'm like, I record him. I'm like, why? Why is he doing that? But like, he's on pitch, you know. You know, like, I think that's like the first step, right? Like knowing what key you're in and like being able to like sing along. I mean, that's like really impressive to me. But he absolutely loves music and he loves the guitar. The guitar thing, don't know where that came from. But he's obsessed with the guitar. Is that something you want to nurture? Because it's difficult, isn't it? When you've come from that humble beginnings and you've really grafted and you've got to the position you are and then now you're raising your children. You want to give them the best chance, right? But you still want to instill that hard work in them. So how are you kind of navigating that as a dad? I'd like to build that spirit of the hustle. Man, I'm trying to figure it out myself. But somebody once told me, I have a great friend of mine who I think is a really great person. He was raised in a billionaire family and I think he's just a really great human being. He went to the army when he didn't need to go to the army and sacrificed four years of his life and has a beautiful family and just like a really great hearted person and very hardworking. So I asked his mom, I had to go to his mom. I'm like, what did you do exactly? Because you guys have everything and you were still able to raise really smart, hardworking young men. And she knew the answer right away. She was like, I made them work very early. Like they had to work and make their own money for the things that they wanted. And she thinks that was a big difference maker. So I was like, cool. So I'm going to have Bubba working at the car wash from five. Yeah, that's the trick. Let's talk about new music. So in recent times, like you mentioned a lot of the people you work with, when you had big hits, it was like their first big hit. And you work with a lot of fresh talent. And recently you collaborated with Joel Corey and Jax Jones in the UK. Amazing. But you don't only just work with people, you build some strong relationships because you guys were in Ibiza, you were here in the clubs. There was stuff coming out about the bills that you were racking up in these clubs. Like talk to me about the relationships that you've been building. I think it's a lot of fun, man. Because all these people have totally different personalities. And when you meet these people, just because somebody makes a certain kind of music doesn't mean they like their music. So I always think it's really interesting meeting people and what they're actually like. Those guys are out of their minds. To put it simply. We honestly had an amazing time in Ibiza. That's how I say it, Ibiza. Yeah, we had an amazing time. But yeah, I meet a lot of different personalities. I mean, just imagine Michael Bublé to Nicki Minaj from Sia to 2 Chainz. It's just like totally different worlds. But it's a lot of fun. It keeps things really interesting. And I wouldn't trade it because it reminds me of when I was a songwriter and I had to put on a different hat, so to speak. And get in the mind of a different person. But I think it keeps it fresh, it keeps it fun. Yeah, and do you do deep research into the TikTok world and stuff for music? Is that something that you do? Or is it just stuff that kind of just pops up on your algorithm and you're like... Yeah, it's not deep research. I feel like I need to hire somebody to do deep research. Because there's just so many cool people on social media. I think it's just my average scroll, if I'm being honest. Find something that I love. Just the same way where people are sending me beats all the time. That's the same kind of scroll. I'm just like, next, next. This sounds like next, next. Just looking for something that is pulverising enough to write to. Because you've teamed up with Josh again, right? For your new music. So talk to me a little about that. Yeah, Josh sent me a track that I fell in love with because it just made me feel so good and it made me feel warm. And it honestly reminded me of a song that I really loved when I was 12 years old, which is I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. Oh, great song, yeah. Just a really warm feeling kind of track. So yeah, I decided to write a happy song, a tonic for the world. All the craziness going on in the world. Great working with him again. I think he's a really talented kid from New Zealand. And yeah, I think in watching what is done on social media, I think we accomplished what we set out to because all the families are getting together. They're doing these dances and people are sharing in the song and sharing in the moment with their loved ones. And that's exactly what I intended. What's the direction for the new music that we're going to get from you? I've been in a very positive space. And the next song is the song with Sia and DJ Lucas called You Can Do Anything. And I've been in a really positive kind of uplifting space. So even though the song sounds dark, the juxtaposition is the message in it is so bright. Because the song talked about how I could have ended everything. Everything could have been over until I heard that one voice that said that you can do anything. And that's kind of the headspace I've been in. It's just a really uplifting kind of place. So I think a lot of the music has been coming out like that that I've been doing. You said that you're in such a positive mindset and the new music is in that space because you said you heard this voice when you were in your lowest point. Was that the time that you had that seven months? And that pulled you out of that time? Is that what you were referring to? 100%. Yeah, okay. Wow, that's been a big game changer for you that whole period. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I could have died. I had a hangman's break, which is the same break you get when you're home. So it could have easily been left. And you pulled through and you're still here. And yet you're doing all these multiple businesses, music. What's the next thing? What else are you going to dip your toe in? Women's volleyball. Sorry, I did not expect you to say that. Women's volleyball. Yeah, so I own a women's volleyball team, the Omaha Supernovas. Okay. And I started it off because in America, we don't have, we didn't have professional volleyball. And volleyball is one of the most popular sports on planet Earth. And after these girls were going to college and playing in college, they had to come overseas to play professionally. And I was like, how does America not have? So I started off, you know, it just to do the right thing so that people can just like get paid, you know, after college. But it ended up exploding. Like it went crazy. The first year was nuts, like 10, 15,000 seats sold, like at these games. And it just took over the world like this. You know, and as you know, women's sports is ever growing. Volleyball, I think, is one of the sports where like women are the leaders, right? People would rather watch women's volleyball than men's volleyball. Yeah, yeah, true. And it's exciting, you know, because I feel like these athletes are very deserving. They have literally put their lives into this sport. And it's the most incredible thing to watch. Now I am an owner of the Volleyball League. I mean, seriously, I can't. I feel like there's nothing that would surprise us that you get involved in. Sounds random, huh? Yeah, it does. But then I'm slowly learning, talking to you that you're just like, listen, if it's something I'm passionate about, and it's something that I enjoy, I'm going to get into it. Honestly, I've loved talking to you and I can't wait to see what you do next. Thank you, though.