walking upstream…
Jason Derulo
photo: warner music new zealand · cc by 3.0 ↗Jason Derulo
Jason Joel Desrouleaux was born in 1989 in Miramar, Florida, to Haitian immigrant parents, and trained as a singer and dancer at performing-arts schools while still a teenager. He first made his name behind the scenes as a songwriter, penning material for artists including Diddy, Sean Kingston, Danity Kane, and Lil Wayne, before breaking through as a performer in 2009 with his debut single 'Whatcha Say.' Across the 2010s he became a fixture of mainstream radio with a run of dance-pop and R&B hits — 'In My Head,' 'Ridin' Solo,' 'Talk Dirty,' and later the viral 'Savage Love' — built on glossy production, falsetto hooks, and choreography-ready grooves.
the sound in question
2013
Talk DirtyJason Derulo
walk the tributaries ↓
Michael Jackson1980s · Pop / R&B / Dance
Derulo has repeatedly named Michael Jackson as his single biggest inspiration, saying Jackson is 'the reason I am who I am today' and recalling that as a child he studied Jackson's videos and copied his moves. That debt surfaces in Derulo's dance-first approach, where rhythmic, percussive vocal delivery and choreography are treated as inseparable from the song itself.
listen: upstream & here
1979
Don't Stop 'Til You Get EnoughMichael Jackson
2010
Ridin' SoloJason Derulo
listen forThrow on Jackson's 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough' and then Derulo's 'Ridin' Solo' — listen for the same buoyant, four-on-the-floor disco-pop lift and the way each vocal skips lightly across the groove in short, rhythmic hooks that keep pushing the dancefloor forward.
Usher2000s · R&B / Pop
Derulo has recalled practicing to Usher's songs and copying his routines as a kid, alongside Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake. The influence shows up on his contemporary-R&B side — smooth, confessional mid-tempo cuts and pleading vocal runs pitched at radio-friendly emotional drama.
listen: upstream & here
2004
Confessions Part IIUsher
2009
Whatcha SayJason Derulo
listen forPlay Usher's 'Confessions Part II' before Derulo's 'Whatcha Say' — hear the same confessional-R&B setup, a man owning up to a relationship he's wrecked, delivered in a pleading, melisma-laced tenor over a mid-tempo groove built for maximum contrition.
Justin Timberlake2000s · Pop / R&B / Dance-pop
Derulo has counted Justin Timberlake among the artists whose songs and dance routines he practiced as a young performer. You can hear it in his move into Timbaland-styled, beat-driven pop, where a light falsetto floats over crisp, syncopated production rather than a big belted hook.
listen: upstream & here
2006
SexyBackJustin Timberlake
2010
In My HeadJason Derulo
listen forCue Timberlake's 'SexyBack' and then Derulo's 'In My Head' — notice how both hang an airy falsetto over a stark, percussive club beat, letting the rhythm and a chanted vocal phrase carry the song instead of a soaring chorus.