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Chart-topping singer Jason Derulo has been making smash hits since he emerged on the music scene back in 2009. 

Although Jason recently became a breakout star in the music industry, Jason has had his hand in the music industry since he was 16. At the tender age of 16-years-old, Jason started writing songs for hit artists like Diddy, Lil Wayne, Cassie and Sean Kingston. 

GlobalGrind caught up with the 21-year-old to get the scoop on all his new music, his favorite things in life and his celebrity crush on Rihanna. 

Check out the exclusive interview below!

GlobalGrind: You’re an amazing dancer. When did you start dancing?

Jason Derulo: I started really young. I started watching Michael Jackson and being in front of the television. I went to school for performing arts so I learned how to tap, ballet, jazz, you name it. But I was always doing this street type of dancing. I joined a dance team which then led me to become a professional dancer, going on the road and doing theaters and stuff with this dance company called Fusion. I’ve pretty much been dancing my whole life.

Who produced the track “Don’t Wanna Go Home”?

They’re called The Fliptones. It’s a production team I signed to my publishing company and I also manage them. They’re brand new and they did a lot of my album.

When did you decide that you wanted to do dance music?

I do all kinds of music. On this record I even explore a lot more, I explore some urban stuff. I’m just a music lover and I love all kinds of music. It was a point in my life where I just didn’t know what kind of singer I wanted to be. I went from thinking I was going to be a jazz singer to thinking I was going to be a neo-soul singer, to thinking I was going to be a rock singer at one point, gospel even. It took a while for me to decide that I didn’t have to choose one, which I could just make music and whatever spoke to me at that moment is what I would do. On this next record you’ll hear a urban side of me at one point and you’ll be like ‘wait a minute, I didn’t even know this existed.’ But at one point in my life that’s all I did. The first songs that I wrote were for people like Lil Wayne and Birdman in the industry.

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If you could collaborate with anybody who would you collaborate with?

Prince, I think.

If you were sent to a deserted island and you could only bring 3 albums with you, what 3 albums would you bring?

I would definitely bring the “Thriller” album. I thought “Confessions” was an amazing album, I’m actually bringing that back into my iTunes. So I’ll bring that one and my new album. It’s called “Future History.”

Do you have any celebrity crushes?

I think Rihanna is hot, I think Meagan Good is hot, I think Megan Fox is hot.

What’s your favorite thing to do besides make music?

I like to play basketball a lot and then I like watching movies. I go to the movies and watch three movies and only pay for one.

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What’s your favorite movie?

I’m into the old movies like “Troy” and “Patriot.”

What’s your favorite food?

McDonald’s.

What combo do you get?

The Big Mac meal. It’s so good. And you know what’s crazy? No one ever says McDonald’s, but McDonald’s is the biggest restaurant in the world so I’m not alone in this. People just want to be bourgeoisie and say they stopped. So I’m going to be real and say what everybody else won’t say. So when we’re going out do dinner and I’m like ‘where do you want to go’ and  she’s like ‘you pick, it’s all good’ what do you want and I take her to McDonald’s, don’t be surprised. She’s going to like it though, she’s just going to be bourgeoisie and mad. I love McDonald’s but I don’t eat it all the time.

What’s your favorite color?

Black.

What’s your favorite thing to wear?

I’ve got this one Burberry jacket that I think I wear way too much. And [they’re] like ‘you gotta stop wearing that, people have seen you in that a couple times.’

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Did you start songwriting when you were a teenager?

No, I started when I was 8, but professionally since I was 16.

What is your method when you’re writing songs?

I just go in the booth and let it rip.

Who were a lot of your musical inspirations?

My biggest inspiration was Michael Jackson initially, then Elvis and Madonna, Prince, Jim Moss and Kim Burrell, India Arie and Musiq Soulchild, Justin Timberlake, Usher, all those people. I’m 21 so all the new stuff kind of influenced me as well, but I was really interested in a lot of the big pop stars.

Do you have an all-time favorite moment with a fan?

There have been so many different occasions. I always bring fans up on stage with me and I’ll serenade them with a song in my concert and stuff. It’s always amazing to see the reaction. Some will cry, some will hang onto me and never let me go. Stuff like that is always pretty amazing. But it’s always really cool to read some of the mail that I get. People talk about how I’ve changed their life and how it impacts their life. I’ve got messages like ‘you’ve saved their marriage’ or ‘I had my first child to your music’ or ‘my brother’s deathly ill but whenever we listen to your music we forget that he’s sick.’

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Has it ever been an embarrassing moment when you get on stage?

Absolutely! I was performing at Wembley Stadium in front of 90 thousand people and I had a leather jacket on. I’m dancing so I’m sweating and my jacket gets stuck. I’m trying to take it off and it’s sticking to my skin. So I get one side off but I just cannot get the other side off and the song is starting and I still can’t get this off. I’m going to my dancer telling them help me with my jacket and then my mic falls on the stage.

Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t really know.

I can’t really wake up off an alarm or a phone. Someone has to physically wake me up or bang on the door really really hard. I’m a very rough sleeper.

You’re parents were born in Haiti. Do you speak Creole?

I do. When I was really young all I spoke was French I couldn’t speak English at all. Now it’s going away slowly. I have a bad memory so that doesn’t help.

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Tell us anything you want about your music, album and upcoming projects.

I won songwriter of the year along with Lady GaGa, me and Lady GaGa won it together. Which was probably the most amazing award I could win, I don’t think there’s any award that can top that one because nothing matters more to me than the songs that I write. That was really really special to me. “Don’t Wanna Go Home” is on iTunes obviously and my album is coming out in September, it’s called “Future History.”

Are you on Twitter?

I am on Twitter, it’s @JasonDerulo. I’m also on Facebook, Facebook.com/JasonDerulo and JasonDerulo.com, all things Derulo.

One last question, what do you think of Twitter beef?

I think it’s ridiculous, it’s so dumb. You know what though, if someone said something bad about me I’d probably, not say anything. I’ve got a bad temper when it comes to disrespect.