Jason Derulo Album Review
Pictured above is Jason Derulo with American Idol judge, and Warner Bros. Records Senior Vice President of A&R Kara DioGuardi and super producer JR Rotem holding a nice sized record plaque signifying that his first single Whatcha Say is certified platinum. Beleive it or not that record has sold over 4 million copies, with 3 million copies out of the 4 being sold in the US. Pretty crazy for someone who you were completely unfamiliar with last year.
It goes without saying, just based on his two singles Whatcha Say and In My Head, his self titled debut album should go platinum.The main critique I have read about his new album is the length, being only 9 songs with 1 digital bonus track if you buy it on iTunes. Personally, I am not going to look down on him trying to do what he needs to produce a successful album, which he may have thought is only 9 tracks deep for whatever reason. Maybe other tracks didn't fit the vibe he was going for, maybe he knew it was going to sell enough based on his two huge singles? Either way, I didn't mind, I actually think it's smarter nowadays for artists to give us less by way of an album and rely more on singles (because those sell more on iTunes than whole albums).
My only issue with the album has to do with the oversampling being a little over the top. We all know the sample worked real well for Whatcha Say (50 MILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS!!!), but with songs like Ridin' Solo borrowing Bittersweet Symphony's strings and Love Hangover sampling the classic Men at Work's Who Can it Be Now, the JR Rotem-ing of the album came off as a little over the top. I say that now, but currently Ridin Solo is ranked 12th in the Billboard Top 100 and climbing, so evidently I may be on an island with that critique. Now that I re-think it, it's almost like I'm saying he did too good of a job at creating catchy radio friendly singles that everyone could relate to sound wise due to the familiarity of the sample. To each their own, but In My Head is still my favorite single of his so far because of it's originality.
Two other tracks I've gained an appreciation for after a full listen are What If and the bonus track Queen of Hearts. I really liked the simplicity of the do do dodo on the chorus on What If. It's a catchy ballad lyrically and the slow piano vibe blends well. I've written previously about Queen of Hearts, but I really like the slower version of the track that didn't end up being the album version. The upbeat version is also good, but the slow version allows JD to shine more vocally. Check out the slow version...
Jason Derulo - Queen of Hearts (slow version) Better Version!!!
It goes without saying, just based on his two singles Whatcha Say and In My Head, his self titled debut album should go platinum.The main critique I have read about his new album is the length, being only 9 songs with 1 digital bonus track if you buy it on iTunes. Personally, I am not going to look down on him trying to do what he needs to produce a successful album, which he may have thought is only 9 tracks deep for whatever reason. Maybe other tracks didn't fit the vibe he was going for, maybe he knew it was going to sell enough based on his two huge singles? Either way, I didn't mind, I actually think it's smarter nowadays for artists to give us less by way of an album and rely more on singles (because those sell more on iTunes than whole albums).
My only issue with the album has to do with the oversampling being a little over the top. We all know the sample worked real well for Whatcha Say (50 MILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS!!!), but with songs like Ridin' Solo borrowing Bittersweet Symphony's strings and Love Hangover sampling the classic Men at Work's Who Can it Be Now, the JR Rotem-ing of the album came off as a little over the top. I say that now, but currently Ridin Solo is ranked 12th in the Billboard Top 100 and climbing, so evidently I may be on an island with that critique. Now that I re-think it, it's almost like I'm saying he did too good of a job at creating catchy radio friendly singles that everyone could relate to sound wise due to the familiarity of the sample. To each their own, but In My Head is still my favorite single of his so far because of it's originality.
Two other tracks I've gained an appreciation for after a full listen are What If and the bonus track Queen of Hearts. I really liked the simplicity of the do do dodo on the chorus on What If. It's a catchy ballad lyrically and the slow piano vibe blends well. I've written previously about Queen of Hearts, but I really like the slower version of the track that didn't end up being the album version. The upbeat version is also good, but the slow version allows JD to shine more vocally. Check out the slow version...
Jason Derulo - Queen of Hearts (slow version) Better Version!!!
In it's entirety I'd say Jason did one hell of a job on the album mixing in samples with original material and also blending the fast/slow tracks. Fallen and Encore are the only filler tracks out of 9 in my opinion, which isn't bad at all. Out of the 7 solid tracks, at least 3 of them are going to be top 10 Billboard singles too, so I think Jaysahn can hang his hat on that. The only two tracks I haven't touched on are Blind and The Sky's the Limit, both of which I had posted about before and are respectable tracks worth a listen. The only track I really wish would have made the final tracklist is Fairytale, which was a great mid-tempo love song that would have fit well as a middle ground track tempo wise, offsetting the fast and slow tracks.
Overall I'll give the album 4 headphones because it was a great debut effort with a timeless single or two on it.
If it was a little longer with mainly original beats and lacked the aforementioned filler tracks , it would have been in the discussion as a classic album. A classic single doesn't necessarily mean classic album, but I will give JR Rotem a 4.5 headphone rating on the production of the album. Most of these songs would be naked if he hadn't laid the groundwork with accessible samples and catchy instrumentals. As a bonus, here's a new remix to In My Head with the barbie doll herself, Nicki Minaj.
Jason Derulo feat Nikki Minaj - In My Head (remix) New Beat Hot Remix!!!
Overall I'll give the album 4 headphones because it was a great debut effort with a timeless single or two on it.
If it was a little longer with mainly original beats and lacked the aforementioned filler tracks , it would have been in the discussion as a classic album. A classic single doesn't necessarily mean classic album, but I will give JR Rotem a 4.5 headphone rating on the production of the album. Most of these songs would be naked if he hadn't laid the groundwork with accessible samples and catchy instrumentals. As a bonus, here's a new remix to In My Head with the barbie doll herself, Nicki Minaj.
Jason Derulo feat Nikki Minaj - In My Head (remix) New Beat Hot Remix!!!
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