Artist: Jason DeRülo
Album: Jason DeRülo
Release Date: 3.2.2010

Jason DeRülo is no different from your garden variety modern-day pop star, and his self-titled debut album bears qualities no different from any other modern pop debut: decent vocals, repetitive hooks and so-so dance numbers. So with an unoriginal formula, it’s even worse that he has an unoriginal sound. The harmonies and vocal styling throughout DeRülo’s album are extremely reminiscent of Usher’s 8701 era. Though the album isn’t unbearable, there’s nothing memorable or noteworthy and DeRülo strikes me as nothing more than the next forgettable pop act.

I didn’t understand the hype behind his lead single Whatcha Say (which rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart) but contrarily, I was drawn in by overall sound of its followup In My Head. The record seems to be a rising pop smash. Just as underwhelming as the aforementioned lead single is Ridin’ Solo, despite its clever infusion of The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony; quite frankly it’s a great sample but is wasted beneath below-average vocals and content. Love Hangover is a highlight despite its adherence to this modern pop sound while Fallen strays from that path and the end result is slightly impressive. Fallen is a song that straddles the line between mainstream pop and urban R&B sounds. With such a strong pop feel on the overall project, the ballad Blind seemed almost obligatory, though it’s not even that great of a ballad; the song never really climaxes and borrows a bit of Ne-yo’s styling. The remainder of the album is mostly lackluster, marred by moments of excessive auto tune and unimpressive beats.

I feel like lately we get the old “bait-and-switch” with music from pop acts today: we get a #1 hit single and are mis-led to believe that the entire album will be just as good, if not better (hello Ke$ha…). Derülo’s album is at its best on the up-tempo tracks like Love Hangover and In My Head but still fails to provide any music that I’d keep in rotation. I’d like to say he has potential, but this album seems very “cookie-cutter” in its overall presentation and left me with nothing to look forward to. It’s all just slightly south of mediocre. In short, I’ve heard better, much better…

Sound-Savvy rates Jason DeRülo with 2 out of 5 platinum headphones.