Jason Derulo's first album since 2015, Nu King, just got released Friday, but it's already been certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 units. How did that happen? Previously released songs.
There are 27 tracks on Nu King, but many of them are the singles that Jason has steadily been releasing for the past nine years that didn't have a home at the time, including "Take You Dancing"; the Nicki Minaj-featuring "Swalla"; the Adam Levine collab "Lifestyle"; the Meghan Trainor duet "Hands On Me"; and the Tesher collab "Jalebi Baby." All those songs have been streamed and downloaded enough to earn the equivalent of a Gold certification.
The album also includes Jason's current single, the Michael Bublé collaboration "Spicy Margarita," and a bunch of new songs, some of which were directly inspired by his personal life over the past few years.
"Nu King is the culmination of my career so far. It's been nine years since my last full-length, and a lot has happened. I never stopped making music though. A lot of those songs didn't have a proper home, so I made a place for them," Jason says of the album.
"The newer songs are just a piece of my life at the moment," he adds. "Combining everything, the entire album has a cinematic feel ... this is a crowning moment I’m really proud of. 2023 was a preparation year; 2024 is a year of celebrating all of the hard work I’ve put in and what I’ve built.”
A Dance with Shadows, a 20-minute film featuring four of the new songs, written and co-directed by Jason, will be released soon. He'll kick off his Nu King World Tour on February 22.