LAUNCH artist Jason Derulo takes us to “The Other Side” this week with his latest single which happens to be the No. 1 added song this year to Top 40 radio. In an exclusive interview with Radio.com, Derulo explained the story behind his current hit and how his neck injury inspired the music on his upcoming album and made him re-evaluate his life.
Derulo explained how he always puts his life into his music, “The Other Side” being no exception.
“It’s basically about going from that friend zone into a little different situation. Sometimes all it takes is that one little kiss, that one moment, that one drink that changes things and takes it to the next level,” he said. “I went to the [sound]booth and that was on my mind at that particular time so that’s what came out.”
The second single released since his neck injury nearly two years ago, Derulo is thankful for the success of the song which is also the No. 2 most added song of all time at Top 40 radio.
“It’s a crazy feeling. Coming back, it’s been about a year-and-a-half since people have seen me on the scene because of my injury. To be received so well when I’m coming back is really something special,” he said.
In fact, his injury had a major impact on the songs he has been writing. “A near death experience always changes people’s perspectives. It helped me to grow up,” he said. “It made me take a look at my life and decipher what was important, the things that were working for me, the things that weren’t.”
He added: “I decided to focus my time on those things that are positive in my life and can help take me to the next level as an artist and as a man. There’s a celebratory position, just living life every day like it’s my last. There’s an element of falling in love and new love and what that feels like. In different ways, my injury has inspired a lot of my album.”
While Derulo said he doesn’t have to be in love to write a love song, he confessed that reality is always easier for him to write about.
“When I am in those moments in my life where I’m inspired to write a song I feel like those are the songs that come to be the best songs,” he said. “Those are the songs that end up being hit records that everybody loves. I’m only human. We all go through the same things and it’s just a cycle. These love songs will continue to be amazing because we all fall in love at some point.”
Derulo’s forthcoming album will drop later this year and in preparation of recording it he studied his favorite albums and artists to make a solid compilation.
“There was only one ‘Thriller,’ there was only one ‘Billie Jean.’ There were no duplicates. Quite often people will ask me, ‘I love ‘The Other Side!’ Are there any other songs like that on your album?’ I have to tell them, ‘No. Unfortunately, ‘The Other Side’ is it’s own monster,’” he said.
While he promises a versatile release with several surprise features, Derulo wouldn’t give any details about his album’s collaborations. He did reveal though that girlfriend Jordin Sparks will be on one of his tracks.
Derulo wrote close to 300 songs for his album, which is due out late September. While not all the tracks will make the cut, he said some will make their way to other artists.
“Just because it doesn’t fit for me doesn’t mean that it can’t be great for somebody else,” he said. “I have a tattoo on my back and what it is is a feather pin and it goes into birds. What it signifies is every song has it’s own journey. Every song is it’s own song. If I wrote it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I need to sing it. As long as it can touch somebody, I think it was made for a purpose.”
Jason Derulo is CBS Radio’s LAUNCH artist from June 17 – June 21. Watch his video for “The Other Side” below and click here to view pictures of this super star!
