A good song is all that matters to American singer-songwriter Jason Derulo, who says he would love to groove to Punjabi music once again following the success of ‘Jalebi Baby’. In 2020, the singer collaborated on the remix of ‘Jalebi Baby’ with Tesher, a Canadian singer of Indian descent.
The cultural connection made the song "more relatable" and so did working with Tesher, noted Derulo. The singer said he was planning a visit to India again after his December 2021 trip.
"It all comes down to the song. ‘Jalebi...’ has hit home because it's relatable and it involves someone from India as well. It's amazing when cultures can come together and create something so special," the singer, who has boarded the current edition of 'Tuborg Open' as a mentor, told PTI in a Zoom interview from Los Angeles.
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"I had a lot of fun with that and even doing some Punjabi dancing and dipping my toes in that world. I want to do it again, again and again because I had so much fun doing it. And I love Indian food and I'm excited to go over there soon," he added.
'Tuborg Open' is a global music project that gives artists from across the world the chance to work together and create music, as a mentor. A budding singer from India too is part of the programme.
Derulo, also known for songs such as ‘Wiggle’, ‘Talk Dirty’, ‘Trumpets’ and ‘Whatcha Say’, said guiding new talent through the programme reminded him a lot about his journey.
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"I see a bit of myself in a lot of these artists. I know what it's like to want something so bad that everybody else thinks he's crazy. Coming from a similar perspective and background, even though these people are from different places across the world, we share a few of the same interests," the singer, 32, said.
"It's been interesting from that perspective. I expect to hopefully inspire and help along somebody's journey. The goal is to help out as much as I can, wherever I can be a conduit and a partner, I'm going to try to be as honest and brutally honest when I see I see some things just to help people out."
To have a long-lasting career in music, Derulo said an aspiring artist would have to be "better than the rest of the world".
"You're not competing against the people that are in your class or your school. You're competing against the entire world of musicians. A lot of people forget that aspect. They think because they're the best singer in their class that they have a chance, so I think people should have more of a world view and competitive spirit so that they are rehearsing all the time. Of course, there are anomalies that people that are not great that are here today, gone tomorrow but I'm talking about lasting artists that are here to stay and that have a real shot at being artists that people will remember. You have to be the best in the world," he said.
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Previous successful editions of 'Tuborg Open' have had global artists like Diplo, Major Lazer and Clean Bandit collaborate with Vishal Dadlani, Badshah and Benny Dayal, respectively.
[With Inputs From PTI]
