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Warner Records celebrated one of its own on Thursday night (Nov. 21), presenting Jason Derulo with a plaque commemorating 190 million overall sales worldwide. The event at the Argyle in Los Angeles came on the heels of his latest release, the EP “2 Sides” (Side 1)” and also marked other milestones.
Variety caught up with Derulo who said, “We’re actually celebrating two things. We’re celebrating 200 million sold, that milestone which is crazy. We’re celebrating 10 years in the industry, which is also f–ing crazy. And we’re celebrating the new music for ‘Two Sides.’”
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Another impressive metric: Derulo’s song have accrued over 18 billion streams overall. “That’s an insane number,” he said. “It’s unfathomable almost. It all started with a dream, man, and I’ve never looked back since. Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses, and that’s what tonight is about.”
In looking back at his decade-long career, Derulo points to “the craft” as a highlight.” “I love what I do,” he said. “I love making music. I love the creative process. I love performing. Performing is such a lost art in 2019 but to me, it’s still such a must. I come from a different school and I just … thrive on it.”
Derulo will make his big screen debut later this year in “Cats” alongside Jennifer Hudson, Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Francesca Hayward, and more. What brought him to the musical adaptation? “For a long time, I was looking for what the first movie was going to be because I get [scripts] sent to me all the time,” Derulo explained. “It’s constantly reading through bull–t. I wanted my first role to be a legacy role to set the precedent on what’s to come.”
When asked what we can expect in his movie future, Derulo replied: “I think I’ll do more action stuff after this.” He’s certainly ready physically. Just earlier in the day, Derulo posted a photo to his five million Instagram followers of himself in briefs showing off his chiseled abs. “Stopped the internet one time,” he said with a laugh. “I work hard on the body. Work hard on martial arts and boxing, so that’s the next step: the goal to do [more action movies].”
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