Jason Derulo’s ‘Everything Is 4’ Album: Review Revue

Bianca Gracie | June 2, 2015 11:28 am
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Ever since Jason Derulo made his mark back in 2009 with “Whatcha Say” (a song that influenced our weekly comments feature), he has steadily gained more respect in the music industry. Fast forward to 2015, and his fourth album — naturally titled Everything Is 4 — shows a more mature side to the R&B/Pop crooner.

In our review, we stated: “Everything Is 4 sounds new for Jason; the problem is it also sounds like everything else. But when you’re a talent like Derulo, even when you don’t always sound like yourself, you still sound damn good.”

But how do other music industry critics feel about Jason Derulo’s new album? Read what they had to say down below!

:: The Boston Globe claims Derulo “glides across genres”: “He’s not an R&B singer straining for pop acceptance, not a pop singer toughening up with hip-hop-inflected songs. Hell, he’s not much of a singer at all — capable and flexible, but not robust. He has a voice — sometimes tissue-thin, almost always digitally boosted — that seems designed to be sublimated into his surroundings. He is tofu. And yet ‘Everything Is 4’ is his second strong album in a row — not as sui generis and unlikely as last year’s “Talk Dirty,” which teemed with persistent quirk and relentless dance floor assaults, but odd in new ways. Here, Mr. Derulo is a shameless collaborator, a gleeful regurgitator of styles, and one of the most surprisingly savvy decision makers in pop.”

:: Our friends at SPIN gave it an 8 out of 10: Everything Is 4 makes a compelling case for whittled-down songwriting discipline as its own reward, and the admittedly not-deep host isn’t without his charms, like being unable to conceal his horny grin by opening “Get Ugly” with the un-P.C. “Oh my, oh my, oh my god / This girl straight and this girl not.”

:: Clash Music was a little more harsh: “However, on ‘Everything Is 4’, Derulo has stripped away all of those oddities to focus purely on the music and, in the process, has lost much of what sets him apart from the pack. Tracks such as ‘Want To Want Me’ and ‘Get Ugly’ are slick, professional examples of pop-tinged R&B in 2015, but they don’t stay with you and, truthfully, there could be any one of a number of singers behind them. At this stage of his career, Derulo is established enough that he can afford to take risks, so it’s extra disheartening to find him chasing the pack rather than leading it, and conforming to bland homogeneity as a result.”

:: While Slant Magazine had this to say: “Everything Is 4 recalibrates a bit, updating Derulo’s sound to current trends with 11 precision-tooled three-minute-and-change pop songs. But it also shuffles in nuggets of pop’s past, revealing an artist with both a finger on the zeitgeist and an appreciation of his forbearers. This was already clear from the album’s lead single, ‘Want to Want Me,’ which embraces the ballistics-grade ’80s synth-pop of Taylor Swift’s 1989.”

:: Newsday stated: “He was a star who was trying a little too hard. On his fourth album ‘Everything Is 4’ (Warner Bros.), though, Derulo has hit his stride, easing back on all the sexy talk while still piling on the pop hooks.”

:: Rolling Stone shared this thought: “Jason Derulo jumps into every track with equal enthusiasm, his reassuring voice adapting easily to each new setting and providing continuity across the LP.”

:: Lastly, AllMusic wrapped up with this: “No one’s looking to Derulo for advanced stylistic hybrids or deep thoughts. When ‘Everything Is 4’ avoids those creative impulses, as it tends to do, it’s easily Derulo’s most pleasing work.”

Did you enjoy Jason Derulo’s Everything Is 4? Sound off in the comments below!

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