One of the most popular TikTokers out right, Jason Derulo continues to dominate in multiple avenues and grow his audience. Most recently, the 32-year-old father and entertainer went all out for his new single “Slidin'” featuring Kodak Black. To celebrate, he took a few of his closest friends to a secret Miami location on a four-day luxurious getaway filled with private jets, yachting, a lavish six-figure dinner at the swanky Komodo restaurant, partying at the opulent Fontainebleau Hotel, and more.
Derulo not only chases a bag, he has no problem spending one. The lavish “Slidin’ Weekend” was also sponsored by organic water brand Treo as well as Dave.com and totaled up to $500,000. REVOLT caught up with the famed entertainer to discuss the festivities, his new music, fatherhood, being a TikTok influencer, and much more. Read up!
You hosted a lavish weekend with your closest friends to celebrate your new “Slidin'” single. Where did this idea come from and what were the vibes like?
I just wanted to do something special for the release — something different. The people that I invited happened to be some of the biggest influencers and creators in the world. It was a beautiful thing because content can happen organically or you can force it, right? I figured I would put on a great experience as a friend, and I’m sure amazing content is just gonna come out of it. No pressure to anybody to post my song or anything like that — I like to keep it super organic. I flew them over on the private jet and had a $36 million house waiting on them with a yacht in the backyard, jet skis, private chefs, lavish dinners, and animal experiences. It was one of those crazy weekends, but it was a beautiful thing and I think everybody had a great time.
Your son was also onboard for Slidin’ Weekend. How has fatherhood changed you?
It’s literally been the most incredible year of my life after Jason [King] was born — he came in and changed my whole world. We all have our selfish tendencies because it’s all about getting to the next level and following our dreams. Now it’s all about making sure I can provide for him and give him the best path to follow his dreams. That’s what life has become man, and I love every moment of it. We went on a hike for the first time.
Oh wow, how was that experience?
He was excited, man — he a little more lightskin than me so the sun hit him a little different (laughs). He had the rosy cheeks and I had to step back and say ‘rosy cheeks’ (laughs). It was a lot of fun, man. Every day he’s doing something new and different — he just learned to walk the other day and now he’s running around. It’s happening so fast.
Would you like for Jason King to follow in your footsteps career-wise?
I want to make sure to expose him to everything, and then he makes the decision on his own — I think that’s the key. I want him to make a decision early so he can go after whatever it is. I’m definitely not going to force him into the music path. Actually, if I had to force him into anything, it would be basketball because that was my dream that I didn’t get to. It would be that or even boxing. Maybe boxing early and then that should fizzle out into basketball. But once again — it’s his world.
So, the newly released single features Kodak Black. Did you initially imagine Kodak being on the record? How did you snag the feature?
Honestly, I didn’t initially think about Kodak as a feature for the record. I was actually trying to think about what look would be the most shocking — I thought of Kodak and then I thought of someone else. I said to myself, ‘Damn, but Kodak is perfect’ — he’s from Miami, he’s Haitian, so I figured let me holla at Kodak and see if he likes the record. He heard it and as soon as he FaceTimed me, he was like, ‘You know I’m with my momma slidin’, I’m with my brother in the car … slidin’’ (laughs). After that, I said, ‘Oh yeah, we ’bout to get this one,’ and the rest is history. I think it was perfect timing for that connection because I’ve been meaning to make that connection for a while.
Besides the lyrics, the coolest part of the song is hearing your tag. How did you come up with the Jason Derulo tag? What was the inspiration behind it?
When I first was coming out on the scene, I was 19 years old. I was trying to figure out how to brand myself to the world and let people know that it was me and I was coming out on the scene. That’s when the tag came out on ‘Whatcha Say.’ I started to do it on other songs because of the demand on it — people just really, really messed with it. I was like, ‘Okay,’ and then I went away from it for a while, and then TikTok came about, and people were really on my head about it. So I said to myself that I’m gonna bring it out of retirement. Now, here we are, I’m doing it again.
On the record, you sing “Slip, slip, slide in (slip and slide)/There’s somethin’ in the water worth tryin.’” When it comes to the ladies, when do you feel someone is worth trying for? What does it for you?
Hm, what really actually does it for me? If we’re not talking about looks, I would like if we can hold an intelligent conversation and genuinely have a good time together. I mean that in itself is the most attractive thing. There are so many beautiful women in this world — I mean, when it gets down to the nitty gritty, like, who can you really have a good time with? Life is short and who you spend your time with is really important — time is so precious. So someone can look as amazing as they want to but at the same time, if we don’t have a connection, if we can’t have an intelligent conversation, it’s not really for me.
With every good single comes an album. What can we expect from the new Jason Derulo project?
This album is going to be much more than just an album — I can’t mention exactly what it is. This album is going to be a lot different than the normal album. I’m doing something that I think is going to change the way people will listen to music. I’m really excited about it. It’s a project that I’ve been working on for a couple years now and it’s finally about to happen — I can’t mention exactly what it is yet. In a nutshell, just know that it’s something that’s really special, and it’s going to bring a very cinematic perspective to music.
Do we have a release date or a title yet?
Not yet, but it’s coming soon though. I’m going to be releasing songs, you know, like every six weeks type of situation — I’m about to flood the market.
How do you feel you’ve grown musically from when you first stepped on the scene to now?
I get that question a lot and I think the answer always is as I grow up as a man, as I’m going through things myself, and my voice is changing — my voice is morphing both literally and figuratively. The way that I say things is different than when I was 19 years old, obviously. My voice is obviously changing and morphing into styles and my interests are changing. So, as I grow as a man and as a performer and as a writer, I think the music just naturally takes shape to the man that I’m becoming.
You’re living your best life. What’s the best perk of being a celebrity for you?
The best part is the perks. Somebody could call Nobu Malibu and be like, ‘Hey, I’m trying to make a reservation for 6 p.m.’ They say something like, ‘Oh, no, I’m sorry. We don’t have any more reservations for the night.’ Then if that person says, ‘Oh, but it’s for Jason Derulo,’ then they turn around and say, ‘OK.’ That’s a beautiful thing. When I was broke, I never used to get anything for free — now I get a bunch of free things all the time. The best thing in the world is just to be able to do what you love to do — it’s my favorite thing in the world to get in the studio and write songs. Now that the pandemic is over, I’m getting back to doing shows again — certain things become a part of your lifestyle. Sometimes we kind of take it for granted but, like, shows — my main thing was taken away from me for years and it feels unbelievable to get back on stage. It feels like I never left.
What’s the most outrageous purchase you’ve ever made in your life and do you regret it now?
I don’t really get too crazy with purchases, I mean, relatively speaking (laughs). I would say real estate is my splurge — I love building homes and flipping them. I don’t have a bunch of cars and stuff like that. A lot of money is going into other businesses — I have 13 businesses now so I try to utilize every dollar to make $5.
As the 14th most-followed account on the social media platform, you’re definitely one of the kings of TikTok. I’m sure you get a lot of partnership opportunities. What has been the most odd or random proposal?
I honestly don’t partner up with brands that don’t speak to me and at this point, I can only work with the Blue chip brands. I’m really picking and choosing — like Walmart, Instacart, the big boy brands. If it doesn’t speak to me, I don’t want to put it in front of my followers. It really has to be a brand that I use like Treo, which is an organic water. When it comes time to do a partnership with [brands like] Treo, I’m down because it makes sense.
It’s great to know that you actually use the brands you’re promoting.
Yeah, man, you gotta have some integrity — I don’t want to push products in front of people that I don’t really mess with. That’s crazy to me. If you have the liberty to — I don’t knock anybody on how they make their money — but for me, at this point in my life, in my career, I don’t really need to do things. If I’m going to do a partnership with somebody, it needs be with something I mess with.
How do you make sure to stay on trend with your busy schedule?
It’s been progressively harder. Obviously, during the pandemic, it was a lot easier. Now that my world is back open, it’s a lot harder, but I still I love it. I still try my best and the best way I’ve noticed is to have specific shoot days, or just off-shoot a bunch of content and releasing periodically.
Does it feel weird to know that in addition to being a musician, you’re also revered as an influencer now?
I think it’s incredible man. I think the stigma behind it is finally changing and people are realizing the power behind it. The creators are becoming the new rock stars of the day — you look at the most popular people in the world, a lot of them are creators. I want to say that from a TikTok perspective, specifically, I’ve pretty much changed the scope of what creators were getting paid before, when people didn’t understand and know their power. As a creator, getting all these views, I came in, it was like, ‘Yo, if we’re going to be doing these brand deals, we got to come correct.’ For everybody coming in behind me, you got to pay to play — this person gets this amount of views, that’s gonna cost this amount of money. Brands were quick to do commercials and spending millions of dollars but when it’s time to pay a creator, that’s getting a similar amount of views as your commercial — where’s those millions of dollars you were spending on the commercial? The landscape is changing and I’ve been on the front lines advocating for creatives to really get their just due.
Do you have advice for Black TikTok creators who are trying to build and monetize their accounts and get the credit they deserve for starting trends?
I honestly think it’s not even close to where it should be. I do believe Black creators are starting the majority of the trends and are seeing the short end of the stick when it comes to the money side of things.