Prior to the age of 20, singer/songwriter, actor and dancer Jason Derulo was signed to a minor record deal, and had two hit singles, one of which was certified double platinum. Before he turned 21 years old, that minor label had been absorbed by the Warner Music Group and Jason had released a self titled debut CD, along with a follow up disc a year and a half later titled Future History.
Jason will be part of 94.5 WPST’s “Pop Fest 2013″ on May 30 at The Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, NJ. Also on the bill for this event are Carly Rae Jepsen, Cher Loyd, Hot Chelle Rae and Emblem 3; a packed line up of some of today’s biggest names in power pop!
Awarded the honor of “Songwriter Of The Year” in 2011, Derulo was thrilled to receive the top nod. “It was awsome, an incredible feeling,” he said. “I’ve been writing my whole life but I actually had to split the award with Lady Gaga, it was really a tie. My song “The Other Side” was the second most requested song in radio history and her “Born This Way” was number one.”
After penning material for the likes of Diddy, Sean Kingston and Lil Wayne, Jason sites the song “Replay,” which he wrote for Iyaz as his particular favorite. “Yea, that was my favorite if I had to pick. I like all the ones that I’ve written and all the artists that I worked with or for but that one stands out for me.”
Several years ago, Derulo said that, “he found himself at the age of 21.” I must confess that when I read this I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit to myself. I point blank asked him about the statement; I told him that “I had socks older than he” and I asked, “how lost can you get by the age of 21?” To his credit, this young talent saw the humor in my question and answered without hesitation, “I, well, it was different. I had travelled the world three times, by the time that I was 19 years old, I had two number one hits; it was quite a whirlwind for a kid my age, it forced me to grow up. Then I broke my neck and it made me re-evaluate everything. I do a lot of dancing and moving in my stage performance and I did a flip and landed on my head, breaking my neck. That situation really made me take a look at things and make some decisions about what’s important in life.”
Fully healed and ready to go, Derulo had toured with Lady Gaga, which he called a “really great time because she has such a great fan base” and is very much looking forward to Pop Fest. He gave me a small description of what to expect at this “high energy show,” “Radio stations across the country like to assemble popular acts together on these type of shows. I really don’t get to have much interaction with the other groups due to the schedules and arrival/performance times, so I can’t really speak for them but as far as me, if you saw the recent “Dancing With The Stars,” that was a bit of a preview. I’ve got a new single to get out there, it’s gonna be a high energy show, a big party, I’m ready to go!”
Come September Derulo will be releasing a new album with a title that he says is, “unannounced” at the moment and there is the possibility of a world tour to follow. You can see Jason Derulo along with all of the other acts at “Pop Fest 2013″ courtesy of 94.5 WPST and presented by Campus Eye Group.
