JASON DERULO: BREAKING MY NECK LED TO MY BIGGEST SUCCESS

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2:48Hello, everyone. My name is Jamie Lang, and this is Great Company.

2:58Well, Jemima, hello, producer Jemima. Hello, Jamie Lang. Hello, hello, hello. I'm excited. Oh, for what? Our guest today, our show. Welcome. Oh, I thought you were about life. And life, 2025. It's going to be feeling alive. Feeling alive. Hey, by the way, before I start, I want to ask. I'm going to thrive. I'm going to thrive. I want to ask our listeners something, by the way. High five. Are you still rhyming things? That's it. Okay, that's good. What are you asking the listeners? So we obviously do our episode Which comes out every single Wednesday And it's a beautiful episode with a guest And we do it that way You and I have this chat at the top So if you're new to this podcast And you're wondering who we are I'm Jamie, I'm the host And you're my producer Jemima Hello And we talk about things that you would How you edit and the show And different things like that We have a great big audience And we love you guys who listen to this show We do And I thought it could be fun Is maybe we start thinking about a bonus episode And we want to know from you If we were to do a bonus episode would you be interested in doing listeners questions?

3:55So you can send in some questions, some messages, whatever it is, and we can talk them out and riff them out. What kind of questions do you think people might have? Oh my God, I ask questions about a guest or about life or about things that you've learned or about business or about happiness or about anything. You could ask anything. Oh, real open forum. An open forum for you and for me. Maybe they want to know about how to produce a podcast. Maybe they want to know about how editing or booking guests work. anything at all we want to put it onto the show as a bonus episode. I love that. So if you do think this is a good idea, please get in touch in our DMs at Great Company Podcast, or you can send us an email, greatcompany at jampproductions.co.uk.

4:32We'd love to hear from you. That's what I wanted to say before we start. Can we talk about the guest now? Because I'm so excited. We can. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Jason Derulo. Jason Derulo. I don't think I realized how much I love this amount of music until I was like going through and I was like, love, love, love, love. Jason Derulo, so much of his songs are incredible. Not only that, he's a really sort of incredible entrepreneur businessman. A hundred percent. Like TikTok. I remember in lockdown, he was all over TikTok before anyone else. And then he like used songs, sampled songs with like Savage.

5:10He's got over 50 million followers on TikTok. Social media is huge. His songs that he's sung are just so many. He's incredible. but there's that side of him which is amazing but also there's a side of him which is a little bit darker and you know he struggled with weight and confidence and different things like that and loads of different things so hopefully today we're going to open up Jason Derulo like a little book and he's going to reveal everything to us I can't wait he also had an insane accident yeah he broke his back yeah I did not know that so we're going to chat to him about that which I'm very excited about I can't wait I cannot wait do you think I can say to him Jason Derulo I want you to I don't think I can he'll probably hate it so I'm not going to do it maybe I will let's see what happens I don't know I think more people should I think more people I think honestly I think it's a really smart way to like market yourself because you say Jason Derula and everyone goes Jason Derula like everyone knows it they're good pipes Jemima thanks I sing the theme yeah so Jemima does sing the theme tune great company that's not our theme tune but it could be great company shall we get on with it okay ladies and gentlemen We're very excited for this.

6:16If you haven't subscribed to the show already, please do. If you haven't checked out our social media and our YouTube, please do that as well. Great Company podcast. Let's get ready for this. Here we go. Welcome to Great Company. It's Jason Derulo. Hey, what's up, people? I'm Jason Derulo. And I'm Great Company.

6:37People know you just for putting your name in the song. You like that or are you... No. Do you like it? No, no. No. I don't dislike it, but it's not like... I get it. You know? I get it. Like, it can be a little annoying sometimes. I get it. I don't know what you're saying. It's the worst shit in the world. Somebody's just like, Jason, I'm just like, shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up. Jason, how's your energy? How's your jet lag? How's those kind of things? I'm good, man. I'm actually, I'm feeling good. I have had two hours of sleep. Good. That's good. You know what I'm saying? So I'm feeling very energized.

7:18Do you survive? How many hours of sleep do you think you get a night? Man, not enough. On average, I would say about four, which I know is really terrible. And I'm actively working on trying to fix that. Is that because your mind is always thinking or is it because you just generally just don't, you're always... It's just not enough time in a day, man. It really is just not enough time in a day. I'm trying to juggle businesses. I'm trying to juggle music, recording shows, and being a dad, you know, all at the same time. So it's just a lot. I've also been building a house for the last three years.

7:59On top of all the other fuckery. There's the guy who founded Levi's, right? He always says, do one thing and do one thing well. I do a lot of things and do a lot of things badly as well. You do a lot of things really well, right? Thank you, brother. You really do, man. Like I said it to you before we sat down. Jemima, who's sitting over here, who's my producer, going through the shit that you've been doing, dude, correct me if I'm wrong, you've sold 250 million singles worldwide. That is a shitload. That's a crazy amount. Dude, it's a crazy amount Yeah And you were so young going in You were writing songs at 8 years old Yeah And you had this obsession to do it And you were just writing these songs and going for it If you don't quite know yourself Because we don't as kids, right?

8:59We don't really know ourselves Especially our teens, especially our 20s We have no freaking clue We're trying to be everyone and everything How do you even write music or create When you don't even know who you are? Well, my story was kind of interesting because I could never remember any fucking songs. So I love to sing, but I couldn't remember songs. It was very hard for me to remember lyrics and shit. So I'd start singing a song and then forget the lyrics, and then I'd just start singing anything. So I'd just start freestyling, and that became a thing that I just did, just sing anything. Because I just wanted to sing something, but I just couldn't remember people's lyrics.

9:38Um, so I think naturally I, I got a knack for creating melody, uh, and creating words because I couldn't remember anybody else's. Um, and it wasn't until I decided to sit down one day and actually write a song that I knew, um, how much fun it could be. But eight years old was the first song that I made. What was the song you wrote when you ate? It's called Crush on You. There we go. Yeah. And it was for this girl in my class, Amy Hume, sat in front of me. She had curly blonde hair and I was into it. And I didn't have no money. I didn't have nothing to give to her. So I was like, I'm going to write her a song.

10:24And yeah, that started the journey of songwriting. Can you remember that song? Of course. Come on. Come on, a little bit. 24-7 days of the week My mind is on you And it's getting to me I got a crush on you I got a crush on you

10:49Thank y 'all, thank y 'all You were eight? I was eight That is wild Yeah, man I remember my brother Brought me to his high school And he made me sing that song For every single girl he knew and every single teacher he had at this high school, Hollywood Hills High School. I'll never forget that day. But yeah, that started the journey of songwriting, man. And from there, when I was 16, I got my first writing placement. Amazing. And that just kind of kick-started everything. When you're writing songs and you're creating music, what does it do to your... Because, I mean, your new single, What Makes Me Happy, we were listening to upstairs and everyone was vibing to it.

11:33And man, you seem to know what people want and you can create a vibe in so many different ways. When you're creating a song and you feel like the melody is good and you can feel it within you, what does it make you feel? I don't know what the fuck people want. You get it right, but you get it right. I definitely don't. I really, honestly, I just try to... I try to make things that don't exist... I try to fill voids. And that really works for me. I think a lot of people chase sounds. They chase a trending kind of vibe. And for me, I'm chasing what's not there. You know, like something interesting.

12:20Like what is needed? What is the void? And the new song with Make Me Happy, I really just wanted to create a tonic for the world that is like so much crazy shit going on so I wanted to formulate some sort of tonic for people and make me happy is what came out and I just felt like this song was such a feel good record the vibe of the beat is just so feel good and feels really joyful so I thought that would be the perfect kind of subject matter to go with that. So much so that I instantly called Make a Wish. And I was like, listen, I would love to work with you guys and do something together with this song.

13:09I feel like when I think of happiness, nobody in the world can make the most deserving kids happier than you guys make them. So let's do something together. So we're doing so many different activations together where we try to make as many wishes come true in the shortest amount of time. And that stemmed from making this song that I didn't even know that was inside of me. So, you know, it's all about me trying to fill some sort of void. Like when I made trumpets, right? Like, what the fuck sounded like trumpets? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, what the fuck sounded like talk dirty? You know what I'm saying?

13:47like those those songs are just like uh experimental and experiments that who the fuck knows people are gonna like that shit like you know what i'm saying but like i i but you're trusting your gut that's the biggest thing yeah and i think the biggest problem i see i have a radio one show right that i do and i see it with certain artists at the moment especially okay country comes out you know beyonce does her country and and that feels like a vibe so everyone instantly instantly man yeah and that's the last thing that i want to do it's the last thing that i want to do that's the last thing that i want to do and like so so much so that actually when i created make me happy it had a country feel to it and there was all sorts of country uh tidbits in the song that i ended up taking out because of the craze of country so it actually started off as a country vibe and then all of this all of this country stuff came out and then i pulled it all out because you don't want to be like yeah so like now it like has more like an island um feel but it was actually if i play you the original you're gonna be like what the fuck um but yeah that's that's how badly i don't want to be a part of what's happening you're like anti zeitgeist like anti-trend it's like you're you're the antidote to what like is going on in a way.

15:11I think that's the only way to have an identity. There's a great quote which I live by, which I say all the time, which is never follow logic because logic gets you back in the same place as everybody else. For sure. And follow that to the end. Man, that's a really good quote. What was it again? Never follow logic because logic gets you back in the same place as everybody else. That's fire. I should write that down. I'm going to write that shit down. That's fire. But it's true, right? everyone's trying to fit it i give you we know this one everyone tries to fit in when we're born to stand out you you you want to follow your own thing and that's you know look at these quotes coming out sheesh did you write a book yet yeah i did it shit you know but but i but i think like it's true right we i someone said to me once that that creativity is the best place of creativity is when you don't know if something's good or not.

16:05Yeah. Do you feel that? I totally agree. I remember Mike Caron, who's one of the best A &Rs ever, and a dear friend of mine, he heard Talk Dirty for the first time, and he was like, either this is going to be the biggest shit in the world, or it's going to tank the hardest record that you've ever had. It's going to be the biggest tank. And I was like, perfect.

16:33And my mom, my mom, let me get to my mom. My mom is like, this is not you. Don't put this out. This is going to ruin your career. Are you serious? And then I called my album, Talk Dirty. She's just like, oh, we're finished. We're serious? Yeah, crazy. Like, it was, like, deep. Like, my mom was, like, trying to have a heart-to-heart with me. Like, this is going to ruin everything that you worked so hard for. Like, this is not you. I'm like, but it is me. This is me. I literally wrote it. Yeah, I like it. It's me. What void do you think you're trying to fill? In life. Because there's a thing, right, which is where you could stop today and you could live in your mansion and you have your son and you have your businesses and you have your music and you could just go, do you know what?

17:34I'm okay. You're one of the most followed people on social media. You have songs that are hits over hits over hits. You're employing over a thousand people with your business. You've made more money than most people are ever going to do in generations. What keeps you going? There was a point

17:59at the beginning of the pandemic or like right before it in that time period where I was like, man, I've done well for myself. Cool. I, I, I did it, you know, like I, I'm, I think I'm good. Um, and I remember that thought crossing my mind, you know, for, for days, maybe even weeks. And then I started to challenge myself, like, what the fuck are you thinking? From where I started to where I am now, I'm way closer to being the greatest ever than I was to, like, when I began to where I am now. Like, that was impossible. But where I am now to how far I have to go to be one of the best ever, that's not that far.

18:55So why the fuck would I stop at right at the edge of glory? Like that makes no sense. Like, what are you doing? Um, and that was what, what changed my mind. Um, so now for me, it's the chase, you know, the chase keeps you alive. I feel like I would have, I would have died, you know, a million deaths if I stop doing what I love doing most. It's my favorite thing in the world to go in a studio and make music. It's like, there's nothing better than that. Will one day I stop releasing music? Yeah, maybe I'll stop releasing music, but making music? I don't think I'll ever stop making music.

19:37Okay, bring that to like little Jason. I want to know this because I always describe myself as like you throw a bouncy ball into a room and it just won't stop. I'm like this and so that's why when I'm um I had to write I had to write a speech uh for my wedding right and the only way I could write it was I had to go and sit in a busy place because I can keep getting distracted but then I can keep going back to the same thing were you like that all the time just fascinated by everything that was going on no I wasn't like that at all I wasn't fascinated by anything except music uh in science for some reason science like really uh uh i'm always i love facts i love like learning like interesting facts i i know like all sorts of useless um facts uh that would never have use in my life but i just like knowing things i like learning i um i've got one for you i know i have uh so many it's crazy like um i'll give you a great one um the reason why james bond has a martini shaking on stud I can tell you.

20:43Tell me. I was trying to think of it first, but no, I have no idea. So Ian Fleming wrote it, basically, when you have a martini shaken, right? When you have a martini... Oh, I know it. What? You get the froth, more the bubbles at the top. A little bit like that. So yeah, when you stir a martini, the ice and the alcohol mix together. When you shake a martini, the water of the ice sits on top of the alcohol. So he's only sipping water, pretending to get drunk. Get out of here There you go Take that Wow Yeah That's not That's not what I said at all No it's not I don't know why I agree with you But thank you for that You're a good guy I would have been like Yeah no that's not it at all But I'm the same with these I got so many of them I love that But so you were You were focused on music and science And you liked facts But you were quite like Driven from a young age Yeah Yeah, I was driven.

21:41I mean, driven is like an understatement. I was obsessed. I am obsessed. And I found that the obsession isn't just with music. It's just the obsession of creating, because I have the same sort of obsession with everything. when I didn't make my freshman basketball team, I literally walked around with the basketball everywhere that I went. Like it didn't matter where I was. It didn't matter like who I was with. I always had a basketball, whether it was inside, outside, didn't matter. And I was going to be sure that I made the team the next year. And I would spend hours upon hours upon hours. that one year, I think I totally transformed into an entirely different player and different person.

22:36I made the team the next year. And then the next year, well, the first year, my 10th grade year, we won a state championship. And then the next year, we're on the verge of winning another state championship. And then that's when I decided to quit basketball and I was going to focus on just music but that's it's that sort of obsession that um that makes anybody great at anything it's just the hours that you put in it's like like how many hours are you actually uh putting in to what you want to do right and um i think that i would have been successful at anything that i decided because of of that obsessive kind of behavior but that's you interesting i I so agree with you.

23:20But that's like a learned thing, which is so interesting, right? Which is where people don't achieve what they want to achieve because they give up too early, I think. Agreed. But you didn't. You knew that if you kept picking up with that basketball and kept bouncing and kept shooting hoops and going for it, you would make the team. Most kids don't think that way. Yeah, truth. It's not like I wasn't the fastest. I wasn't the highest jumping. I was just the hardest working. So if there was something that only took tenacity, I was going to win every time. For instance, if we were going to run four miles that day, I was always going to be first.

24:00If we're doing sprints, probably wasn't going to be first. If it was who's going to jump the highest, I wasn't going to be first because that took like that took like some athletic ability. I didn't have that. But what I had was the hard, the hard work ethic. so I so since I didn't have a lot of those other things I built a crazy shot so I had like an amazing just uh jumper my jumper was just crazy because that's something that I could work on right and like so that that just got really really crazy and then um yeah and then I and then I gave it all away for music there's so many things I want to unpack here Percy do you have a moment when you were younger that like almost beats any achievement that you've done in your life?

24:46I have, I have one. Um, not, I don't think it's what you're looking for, but, um, I was on this team called the 49ers. And so I caught this beautiful, beautiful catch and I'm running down to the end zone and all of a sudden I have an asthma attack and I have to stop running. So they tackled the shit out of me. But like, that was a crazy turn of events for me. It was just like on top of everything else. I was like, I got acne. I'm fat. I got asthma. It's too much. It's too much. I'm only eight years old. Because I wanted to mention that we all have these insecurities as kids. And you've spoken about in the past that you said, you know, you were overweight.

25:38You had acne. You had asthma.

25:43Did you feel insecure as a kid? Yes For For Quite some time as a child There was a lot of insecurities I would say mainly like Three years of major Kind of insecure thoughts What age are you at that point? I had to be between like eight and 12. Cause when I got to, when I got to high school, things right before I got to high school, things changed. Cause when I joined the track team, that's when things started to change for me because I saw these girls on the track team and I was like, they run track. I need to run track. So I started, I went for the tryouts for track, which is not really a tryout, right?

26:48Because everybody's not running to go join the track team. Again, I wasn't fast. I didn't jump high. I wasn't strong enough for the shot put. So the only thing that I could do was something that was for the mind. They put me in the long distance. so in the long distance um i didn't start off amazing um but every day running you know i was overweight and that those pounds started to shed off you know and i was looking at all of these fit kids every single day and i was just like man i need to fit in so i started to eat salads every day for lunch wow um and i realized that i loved the salad bar because you could pack as much salad on your plate as you possibly could.

27:36And, you know, we didn't have very much money. So I could have all of this food, even though it was salad, I could fill myself up. And then the pounds just started to shed off. And I just started to be slim. And then people started to look at me different. And my whole vibe changed. I remember when I was maybe around 17, I played a sport in the UK called rugby. And I was a big rugby player and I injured my knee, did my ASL ligament. So it was actually a desire. My blueprint was to play rugby. That's why when it got taken away from me. And my mom said to me, and I used to eat a lot to like keep on the weight because I wanted to keep on the weight.

28:17And my mom, I came home once and she said, you look a bit stocky. Like you're stocky. She said, yeah, my mom's saying this. She said, you look stocky. And I was like, I don't look stocky. I don't look stocky. She says, you do. You're not, you know, you're not the same amount. You look a little bit stocky. I'm just your mom. I'm being honest. And I went, ah, whatever. I went on holiday. And you know, there's just those cameras that used to have to go and get the film developed when I got the film developed and it came back and I was looking through the photos and I came across a photo of me topless on the beach.

28:47And I saw my body suddenly and realized that I had become a bit stocky. And the only way I can describe it, it was like immediate shame and it was the first time in my life that I had suddenly gone what and I became deeply insecure about my body my image and I couldn't couldn't get out my mind and then so so how did you deal with that like what what was the next step for you did you feel like you had to make a change like what was the yeah I had to I I from everything like I um I if I was if I was going to get like I'd get everything reduced fat I would be so conscious of everything that I ate but it was so secret to me I didn't tell anyone it was like and it's so funny that as guys I don't think we open up that much about like weight issues and image issues yeah because you have to try to you have to try to uh wear it as the as if you like it you know like I like when When people would talk about my weight, I'd be like, oh, yeah, but I look good.

29:53You see me. And when you have insecurities, you tend to try to wear it with a smile so that people don't know that you're insecure about it. And sometimes that's the toughest part. And it's hard. And then also, when it's secret, it's in your mind a lot. It's tough, right? because you just don't want to talk about it. And mine kind of led to, I suppose, anxiety and just like self-critical of myself. That negative thing in my mind started to creep in a little bit at that age. But you were younger, which would have been hard. And then also, as you said, how you used to counter it is that you used to eat salads and used to sort of monitor yourself.

30:38But that's, you know, from 12 years old or whatever, that's a young age to start doing it from. Super young age. And my issue, my biggest issue is I come from a Haitian family. So it was not like my mom was making salads. You know what I'm saying? It was not like that was like an option. It was like rice and chicken and fried pork and like fried plantains. You know what I'm saying? Like that's what we were raised on. And I got a lot of big boned people in my family. You know what I'm saying? So like when I'm trying to make a change and I'm like dieting or like trying to make healthier options, people are like, what the hell are you doing?

31:20Like, that's what like you got to eat. You got to eat. Like if you want to be healthy, you have to eat, you know. So it was like almost encouraging, encouraging the bad choices. so it can be a little tough depending on which household you're in because you kind of need the proper information you need the proper support a lot of times but yeah, thankfully I chose my own path because I was just thinking because your obsession with stuff I can see it in your work the way that you are, you're talking about running track and shooting the hoops That would become an obsession Yeah, because I remember seeing B2K on TV Them boys had abs Yeah, I remember B2K Yeah, them boys had abs I don't know what B2K is What is that?

32:14You don't know what B2K is? Looking around at the team Wow Do you know who Omarion is? I know who the Backstreet Boys are Wow, I'm shocked Can you sing a little song? What is like a Um,

32:36Yeah, you know that song? No.

32:41Yo, I need that clip right now. For sure, I'm posting that. That's the greatest shit I've ever seen. Man. But so you were seeing these people all - I'm so sorry though, Mariam, but I have to post that. That is actually hilarious.

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34:36You have this obsession, as we said before, where it's music or whatever. You keep going, you're going, you're going. And that kind of nearly did stop because you broke your spine. Mm-hmm. Can you talk me through what happened? Yeah, I was preparing for my tour.

35:00And... 2013? I can't believe there's so many years that have passed that I'm trying to figure out like, 10 scores years ago.

35:16It's crazy. Time flies, man. It's been 15 years since I released my first song. Crazy What the fuck Yeah but it's not even that 15 years Not that long It's long but What? If you're like I've been knowing this guy For 15 years You sound like an old Motherfucker You ain't know nobody For 15 years And you're not old Yeah it's true It's actually true It's actually true So yeah So I was preparing For my tour man And I was Working on these back tucks for stamina. That's what this trainer was telling me. So we're doing back-to-backs. Back-to-back-to-backs. We would stop for a while, take a break, and we would do back, like 20 back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

36:10Yeah. And I slipped on one and I bailed. and you're never supposed to bail. Even if you slip, you're supposed to just keep going. I bailed, fell on my head, and I heard a crack. And I was just like, oh, shit. Like, is this it? Like, fuck. Like, I felt like a heat, like a huge, like, heat in my neck. And I was just thinking in my head, like, damn. Um, like what just happened? Did my life just end? Like what, like, where am I? Um, then all of them, all the people just come rushing to me and, um, they're like, uh, don't move, don't move. Uh, five minutes pass and I'm kind of like, I want to, I'm going to stand up.

37:12You know, I want to get up and you're never supposed to get up after. a neck injury. You're supposed to like allow an ambulance to come pick you up. But I, I, I wanted to, to, to stand up. I didn't, I mean, I didn't know those facts. My mom was in the car. That's how long ago it was. My mom was dropping me to, dropping me to rehearsals. And I'm holding my neck like this, just innately, like, you know, it just feels, this feels like more secure safe. And I'm like, it's like, ma, I hurt myself a little bit inside. Uh, let's just go to the hospital just to double check. And I'm in excruciating pain, but I don't want to let her know, you know, how bad my pain is.

37:59Um, so I'm sitting in the passenger side and every single bump that she's going on is like hell on earth. Like I've never felt so many bumps in my life. It's just like, when was this road made? It's like, so get to the hospital, man. And, you know, we have x-rays or whatnot. And the doctor comes and says, you have a hangman's break, you know, which is the same break that happens when you get hung. And this could have been way worse. And you're going to be down for seven months and kiss your tour goodbye. so I had to cancel the entire tour and then I didn't know what to make of the rest of my time that seven months I didn't know what the rest of my life was going to look like I didn't know whether I could take that kind of time off this was pretty early in my career this was after my second album so my second album had two singles on there Don't Wanna Go Home and It Girl which were which were nice nice hits you know but they weren't like the biggest songs in the world you know um so like i didn't know what the next vibe was going to be like for me i was like was this it like did i did i max out and um during that time the seven months that i had uh i created a routine for myself.

39:34And for me not to get down on myself, I felt like the routine would be what I focused my time on and my energy on, as opposed to being down on myself, like, you know, like, fuck, like life is over. So I would wake up in the morning. I would go and walk on the treadmill

39:59for 40 minutes. And then I would get home. And then when I got home, I would literally spend at least

40:12nine to 12 hours in the studio. And after the nine to 12 hours in the studio, I would have my meal and then I would go to bed and then I would start all over again, every single day, the same routine, every single day. And that's when I made my most successful album, which had six platinum songs on it. They always say that when a door shuts, there's always a window, you just got to find it. 100%. And I believe that wholeheartedly. Because every time when I'm on my worst downturn is when the biggest catalyst happens. but you have to be willing to rely on the plan. If you can create a plan and a routine for yourself and you rely just on that, that's enough.

41:05If you set a blueprint for yourself and you're like, this is what's going to get me there and then just stick to it, it works every fucking time. It's so important for people to hear that. you know that um i suppose like even coming from someone like you that people look up to and see so much success with that you've had those moments of you know moments of like is this it is this going to end and actually you just got to mentally put you into a place where you just go i've just got to do this that resilience that you've had since a kid that got you through it for sure Definitely. Definitely. And when I wrote my book is when I realized all of these things, right?

41:49Because sometimes people do things by mistake and it just kind of happens, right? And you get lucky. and uh i believe that things a lot of things in my life happened out of luck and i became uh i did all these things i don't know why i did them it's not like i had like a handbook to tell me to do these things i just happened to do it and it and it uh and i got lucky that i that i did it the way that i did so in writing that book i had to figure out what the fuck that i i did to become successful not only at uh my music industry my music business but also uh in my actual business and also in uh social media it's like what like what are all of the the common commonalities uh in in the successes of my life and i had to find those things so i really like it was 15 principles right yeah so i had to like really dive in deep and figure out what those things were what do you think it is what do you think the main thing is to success um i mean there's not one thing sure i get um but if someone's if someone's listening now and they just they're they're going right i i i want to i want to make my life different i want to make my life a success and they're going to they're listening to you right now and they maybe they're down and out or whatever and they're going okay i need something what are one of those principles one of those things you say this is what you should do right now?

43:12Well, one of them is definitely about change, right? If you're not making the changes in your life, you're not going to see any changes happen, right? Like, it really comes down to what you put in. So for instance, I own this company called Rumble boxing right and I think it's the most incredible workout that I could possibly get like top notch like I'll walk out and I feel like I look different when I walk out I guess like that deep and um I brought people there before and it was like oh well it wasn't that hard it's all in what you put into it so if I'm punching the bag with everything that I have and you're kind of punching the bag you know and you're kind of like walking through it you're not going to get the same amount of workout that I'm getting, you know?

44:09So it's all in what you put into it. It all comes down to the hours and then the intensity of those hours. And every single time that I have gone dark, so to speak, and worked on whatever that specific goal was, I've been able to achieve that goal because I was literally spending all of my time and all of my energy doing it. And still to this day, when I'm making music, when I'm doing these things, I feel like I have to compete against the young me. Who's that new person that's coming out that's hungry, that doesn't have much, that's trying to make it out of something? that's what you have to think about like who's the next best thing and that's who you always have to compete against because you know once you make it it's not like you stay there success is rented you can never own it you know so as soon as that rent is due you got to make sure you pay up you know that's great advice when you do go to those dark times how dark has it got for you um

45:34i mean it hasn't gotten like you know like that the darkest my darkest time was definitely when i when i uh broke my neck that was the for sure the darkest um but i have i've had other dark times where I was trying to get off this record label for a very long time.

45:57And they just wouldn't let me go. And finally, I was just like, either you let me go or I'm going to tell the entire world that you guys are keeping me against my will. And we came to some sort of deal and I paid some money to get out of the deal or whatever. So after that, I was like, okay, I'm going to go out here and the world is going to be my oyster. I'm going to be able to sign with any label. Everybody's going to be begging for me. This is going to be incredible. As soon as I get released, it's crickets. It's like, oh, no, this is too expensive for us. Oh, you know, this is not really for us right now.

46:41I was just like, wait, what? What do you mean? I'm Jason Derulo. I sold 250 million, but what you talking about? The most humbling experience, right? But then I go into that mode again. It's just like, holy shit, okay. I'm going to lock in on a plan and a routine. So I got lost in a routine again. So that's when the pandemic hit. So it was film six TikToks a day. Wow. and make at least three songs a day. Get out of here. And one of those songs was Take You Dancing. Another song was Savage Love. Another song was Konyo. And in that time period, I became one of the most streamed artists again as an independent artist.

47:38That made you feel good. Yeah, it made me feel great. But sometimes it just takes being knocked down and kicked in the ass to be like, you can actually do this. You can do it yourself, you know? And having those humbling moments is important, right? I think so. I really do. Savage Love was amazing. Thank you, brother. Oh, man.

48:04I think that made everyone smile throughout the pandemic. Oh, incredible. Yeah, I built that whole new business. the social media business became like a whole business, man. And it's one of the most lucrative things that I've ever done in my life still to this day. Really? Yeah, it's crazy.

48:31I'm in that process at the moment of thinking about having kids. Yeah? Yeah, dude. Oh, that's a beautiful thing, man. But I'm scared about it. How old are you? 22. Do you want my stage age or my real age? Both Okay, stage age 22 Real age 36 So I'm 36 Yep, you gotta choose I know, right? Choose one It's scary though, I think I don't know if you've had this But I'm a bit of a control freak Like you spoke about being a vulgar You like to control everything And having a kid Feels like the one thing in life that I just can't control. I can't control their health always. I can't control, you know, the birth.

49:21I can't control so many things. And for me, that is so scary. Did you have that? Don't you think the most beautiful part of life is not being able to control everything? You know, like no matter what we do, like we're going to eventually pass, right? I think that makes everything so much more beautiful. And I think in having children, right, I mean, there's no certainties. And the only certainty that there is is that you'll never love anything else more than your seeds. and you think that you understand love now you think that you understand affection you think that you understand um appreciating things uh but when you have kids you truly understand it's like a it's like a total flip happens you know i'm saying and um you hear these kinds of things right and like you're like yeah yeah yeah you're supposed to say that it's cliche but no it's the it's the truth.

50:24And I feel like I've been able to relive my childhood, uh, in a way that I didn't know was possible. You know, all those things that you used to love and that you used to, uh, uh, appreciate as a kid and that you kind of lost as an adult, all of that shit comes back again. And it's even better the second time. Cause it's like, Oh shit, I remember when that, you know? so like reliving your childhood also my relationship with my parents is even better you know cause the love that I have for my son I'm like oh shit now I understand mom I'm so sorry I didn't call you cause I couldn't imagine that you know that same thing happening to me with my son you know what I'm saying so like it's brought me closer to my parents and uh it's completely rocked my world man I get chills even talking about it really?

51:17yeah So what the fuck are you doing?

51:22When I mentioned your eyes lit up. Ah, thanks, man. Yeah, it's just a real thing. It's crazy, isn't it? Yeah, man. That I think what happens in, I don't know, you know, you've experienced like crazy fame and success. Like to the max, you know, and worldwide. And that has to, without a doubt, I think. When you're that driven and those kind of things, it has to come from an element of selfishness, right? You have to focus on what you want to do and you have to drive and you have to go for it, right? And sometimes I've sort of experienced in my own life is that you forget about things along the way and you just focus on your end goal, your North Star, whatever that is.

52:01When you have a kid, does that all change? It all changes because they don't understand everything. I feel like my family gives me a pass. It's just like, oh, it's Jason being Jason. Like, I'll forget birthdays and shit like that, you know, which is horrible. But, like, they understand that it just slips my mind. And I don't think I have the average mind because it— What do you mean? Give me an example. I'm just so asphyxiated with my craft, my work, that everything else just kind of falls at the wayside. um and to a fault i think you know um relationships suffer uh other things in my life suffer like not being able to fix a car you know i'm saying so if me and you we get stuck you better know how to fix the car because i the shit that i didn't learn growing up you know um and i don't know Like when you have a kid, like you don't get those kinds of passes.

53:13Like the worst thing in the world would be my son saying, oh, you forgot this. You know, like I try my best, my damnedest to try to be there as much as possible so that he never has that void. what were your parents like what were you like as a kid when you're growing up um my parents well my mom uh she worked uh she worked really really hard so i learned hard work from my mom so she went to law school and had a job at the same time and uh in the same time trying to come home and cook dinner for us um uh and you know in in watching my mom do what she did. I just learned the meaning of hard work and what it took, you know.

54:09My dad was an entrepreneur, had a business that he put everything into, you know. And I think that also took a toll on us, you know, as a family because he wasn't around all the time. So I'm constantly like remembering those times as well, You know, as an adult who's kind of in the same kind of situation where, like, I have all of these aspirations and all of these goals and I want to do right for my family, right? I support a lot of people, a lot of my family, but also, you know, a lot of families that work with me, right? So I support, like, hundreds of people. Wow. You know? Thousands, actually.

54:55Are you serious? Thousands of people. Yeah, for sure. for sure with all the businesses and all everything that I have for sure a thousand but so there's a lot of people counting on me right um but the one person that matters the most is uh is my son so I you know I'm constantly thinking about those things you know and reminding my childhood what happened again I said before we said I went to I always say this but I went to boarding school at eight and that definitely gave me um like this fear of abandonment right and so this like insecurity within me that people are going to leave and so when I went into relationships you're going to leave like so I became a little bit like scared of those things when you're when your parents show you hard work and they're working hard but maybe not around as much what do you think that did to you as an individual um I mean I just felt like there was a little something missing.

55:49You know, my mom was my mom was there though. You know, she was as there as one could be. But I understand my dad. It's not like I don't understand because I I live a very similar kind of, I have very similar aspirations as he did. But my situation happened a little different, you know, because I was able to, to, to make things like really, really exploded a different kind of way. But in looking at the ideals, I mean, it's the same exact thing. You know, when you're chasing something, sometimes you can be so lost that you don't even notice the time. Like I'll be in the studio, bro. And like, I don't notice that 18, hours has passed.

56:48Like I just wouldn't, I just wouldn't know. And the only way that I know is like when I look at everybody else and then they're just like, like my engineer, like literally can't keep his eyes open. And I'm like, yo. And he's like, um, so that's when I'm like, damn, okay. I can only go two more hours.

57:15The worker that you have is crazy People literally have to take turns So like if I have like Some management with me Or something like that Like people have to like switch off Because I'm like always on You know Have you always been like that? Yeah I've always been like that Since I was a kid

57:35Seriously from an entrepreneur and just from someone who understands how tough business is, it doesn't matter what position you're in. It's insanely impressive what you've built, what you're doing, and where you're going. And I think a lot of people can learn a huge amount from you. Seriously, man. And I really appreciate it. I know how busy your time is. And I know how many directions you're pulled in. So I appreciate you doing this. We'd like to end our conversation with eight questions very quickly. Are you ready for this? Yeah, for sure. If you could collaborate with anyone, dead or alive who would it be well definitely uh michael jackson yeah um but alive i've really always really wanted to work with sia i think you're about to yeah so i she was just like somebody that um is timeless and and has created a sound like nobody else you know and and she's always been somebody that you know i've wanted to work with and yes thankfully i have a have a song with her now that's coming out in January.

58:36Are you excited? Is it super, super excited? I mean, it's a snippet is out on social media now, but I'm so excited for it to finally actually come out in January, man. Is it going to be huge? I think, I mean, I like it. I don't like to say things are going to be, because I don't have a crystal ball, but because the people have been wrong before.

59:01Okay, here we go. What's a saying or phrase that always makes you smile or cheers you up? A phrase that makes me smile or cheers me up. Me and my son, we have a little something. Whenever something great happens or he does something great or I do something great, I'll say to him, that's my dog. And then he'll say, that's my dog. And vice versa. Like when I'm coming off stage, he'll be like, that's my dog. And I'll be like, that's my dog. So that's like Probably the best phrase Like for sure, for sure Best compliment anyone's ever given you?

59:46Damn This is because you're too hard on yourself I think Yeah, I don't I don't know the best compliment

1:00:00when someone says a compliment to you what hits the heart it really hits his home when somebody uh tells me that they have been affected to my music in in one way or another like within their lives so people will say like riding solo, like help me through my breakup or I got engaged to marry me or I asked my girlfriend to be mine using It Girl, you know, or I used to get dressed to talk dirty every single day when people input my songs into their lives and into a time period. I think that's the greatest compliment because it makes me a small part of people's lives and I think there's no greater feeling than that.

1:00:54What scares you most about yourself? That I don't have an off button. It really scares me because I watch people around me that I think are very hardworking and I think that they're lazy. And that fucking scares me because it's so hard for me to like understand why they won't work more. I'm talking about everybody, you included. But yeah, I don't have an off button. So yeah, that scares me. And I only know that because I watch other people. I know what you mean. When was the last time you cried?

1:01:40The last time I cried was two trips ago, leaving my son. I knew I was going to be leaving for a couple of weeks, and I wasn't going to see him for a while. And that hit me pretty hard. What's something you can't let go of? Something that I can't let go of? I can't let go of I actually really like having a cocktail so like even when I'm on a diet and shit I have to like input the macros of the alcohol that I'm gonna drink because I'm not gonna like not have a drink I feel like I'm an adult man and I have to have something in life you know what I'm saying I'm not just going to not eat good food and not drink that's crazy so what are we here for?

1:02:33just like be miserable look good and be miserable that's a great idea what's your cocktail? my my one of the moment so I'll tell you one that I actually like and the one that I actually drink okay so the one that I actually like is muddled orange where you beat the orange's ass you know you gotta like and then you put tequila in it so it's like ice muddled orange and tequila mmm and then that's the one I really like And then the one that I like but don't love is the Diet Coke tequila. What is that? Diet Coke and tequila. It's just straight up Diet Coke and tequila? Yeah. People are always like, what is that?

1:03:14It's like, it's no sugar. It's just Diet Coke and tequila. Yeah. I like it. You never tried it? No, I'm going to though. Yes, it's not bad. What turns you off? A liar. I can't stand a liar, especially if the person is close to me. I give all the opportunities in the world. And if someone either lies or steals from me, there's no turning back. What turns you on? Turns me on is a woman that can cook or is even willing to cook. They don't even necessarily have to be talented at it. I'm just like, for some reason, I'm just really attracted to that. It's your love language. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful.

1:04:04A lot of people think that's weird. No. Look, I think there's, weirdly enough, with my wife, Sophie, if I come back, this is no one I'm not trying to go with, like, I swear to God, if I come back and she's cooked me something, which she did the other day, which is called a shepherd's pie. It's like a UK dish. I don't know if you have a spot You've had it? Yeah We did that for you the other day And I was like I love you Oh man I don't know why It's the act of service Of doing something That like you weren't expected It's just amazing For sure For sure What do you like most about yourself?

1:04:45The thing that I like the most about myself Is that I am A really positive person So I'm always a A glass full kind of guy So in every situation, I'm trying to figure out what the good is in it. Even if it looks bleak, I'm just like, oh, okay, but at least da-da-da-da. And I think that's a great personality trait. Okay, last one. The favorite lyric you've ever written?

1:05:15But your booty don't need explaining.

1:05:24Jason, thank you so much for coming. Great company.

1:05:35You did ask him if he likes it and he doesn't. Jason Derulo. He did not like that, did he? I know, but I still think it's fantastic. I love that. What a great vibe, man. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. You guys are getting on really well. Yeah, he's great. I think you could, if you were in town, I think you could pop by. Talk about LA. I don't know where he lives. Yeah, if you're in town. If you're in town. You can pop by. Any old town. Any old town would do. He was amazing and just what a story. He was incredible. Yeah. I loved it. What a drive. I know. Hey, listen, as I said at the beginning of the show, we want to do our bonus episodes.

1:06:10And I'm going to repeat it here again. We want to know what you think about doing a bonus episode, listeners' questions, listeners' messages. Jemima and I are talking about different things about the industry, whatever it may be, life, everything. let us know what you think send us an email at greatcompanypodcast or slide into our DMs at greatcompany on Instagram we'd love to know what you think and if you haven't subscribed to the show already or checked us out on YouTube do it please do okay alright that's it I'll see you next week Jemima well I'll see you as we walk out the room and today and tomorrow no I close my eyes until next week you do I don't want to I will see you next week and we also have some amazing guests lined up I was just about to say incredible incredible guests so get ready for that Okay, we'll see you next week for another episode.

1:06:51Have great company. Bye. Bye.

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