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Languages Taio Cruz (pronounced / taɪ.oʊ ˈkruːz / TYE -oh KREWZ;[1] (born Adet ayo Ayowale Onile-
Taio Cruz
‫اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿ ﺔ‬ Ere on 23 April 1983 in the London Borough of Brent , England) [2] is an English singer,

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‫اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿ ﺔ‬ Ere on 23 April 1983 in the London Borough of Brent , England) is an English singer,
Dansk songwriter and music producer.[3] In 2008 he released his debut album Departure. Written,
Deutsch arranged and produced by himself, it achieved initial success in the UK and earned him a
Españo l MOBO Award nomination. In October 2009, he released his follow up album Rokstarr , which
Français includes his UK and U.S. #1 single "Break Your Heart ".
한국어
Co nt e nt s [hide]
Italiano
1 Music career
‫ע ברית‬
1.1 Early life and career beginnings
Nederlands
1.2 Departure (20 0 6 –20 0 8 )
日本語
1.3 Ro kstarr and internatio nal breakthro ugh (20 0 9 –present)
No rsk (bo kmål)
1.4 Writing and pro ducing
Po lski
2 Other ventures
Po rtuguês
2.1 Ro kstarr brand
Simple English
3 Disco graphy
Suo mi
4 References
Svenska
5 External links B ackg ro und inf o rmat io n

B irt h name Adetayo Ayowale Onile-

Türkçe
Ere
Music career
B o rn 23 April 1982 (age 28)

O rig in London Borough of Brent ,

Early life and career beginnings
England
Cruz was born in the London Borough of Brent , to a Nigerian father and a Braz ilian mother.[3]
G e nre s R&B, electropop
His song writing career began at age of 18 as part of Tricky Stewart's writing collective,
O ccup at io ns Producer, singer-
RedZone Entertainment.[4] He achieved notability at the age of 21 when he was awarded a
songwriter, musician, multi-
BRIT Award for co- writing Will Young's 2004 single, "Your Game". [2] He is the founder and
instrumentalist
C.E.O. of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single "I Just Wanna
Ye ars act ive 2000–present
Know". Also in 2006, he signed a joint deal with Universal Music Group companies, Republic
Records and the UK branch of Island Records. Lab e ls Rokstarr Entertainment
Division, Island, Republic,
Mercury (US)
Departure (2006–2008)
We b sit e taiocruz music.co.uk
Cruz released his second single "Moving On" in September 2007 which made the top 30 in
the UK. In March 2008 his next single, "Come On Girl," featuring Luciana, peaked at No. 5 on
the UK charts. The related album Departure appeared on 17 March and peaked at No. 17. [5][6] This was followed by the single "I Can
Be," which reached No. 18 in May. On 18 August, " She's Like a Star" was released, which was a remix of the previous single and featured
American rapper Busta Rhymes and girl- group Sugababes. The remix later appeared on the Sugababes studio album Catfights &
Spotlights, which peaked at No. 20. It was later revealed that Cruz narrowly missed out on the chance to record the song " Umbrella" which

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was eventually recorded by Rihanna and ended up topping charts around the world.[4]

Rokstarr and international breakthrough (2009–present)

Cruz was featured on Tinchy Stryder's breakout single " Take Me Back" which peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart . According to
Cruz 's official MySpace blog, as of 1 January 2009, Rokstarr Music London officially changed its name to Rokstarr Entertainment Division
and abbreviated to R.E.D Inc. Cruz also modified his US deal by leaving Republic Records, instead opting for a signing with Island Def
Jam Music Group's Mercury Records.
During 2009 he worked on his follow up album originally titled T.W.O. (This Way Out) but later changed to Rokstarr .[7] It was released on
12 October through R.E.D Inc/Island Records and is entirely written and produced by Cruz , with co- writes and co- productions
predominantly with UK producer Fraser T Smith. The album's lead single "Break Your Heart " was released on 14 September and
reached number one in the UK, where it stayed for three weeks.[5] The single spent six weeks in the top- ten. It also reached the top spot
in the US for one week on the Billboard charts.[8] In an interview for The Guardian it was stated that "Cruz was clever to have hooked up
with a US rapper Ludacris on his breakthrough hit".[9] The album spawned two other UK singles, " No Other One ", and the top- ten hit " Dirty
Picture" featuring American electropop singer Kesha. The album's fourth single (second in the US) titled "Dynamite" debuted at number
four [8] and peaked at number one on the US Top 40, earning Cruz his second successive US #1
The original Rokstarr Album was followed by the compilation album The Rokstarr Collection which includes songs both from Departure and
the international version of Rokstarr .[10]
During this time period, he has also been featured on the soundtrack of the hit show Jersey Shore.

Writing and producing

Cruz has worked on Tinchy Stryder's album. He wrote a song on Cheryl Cole's album 3 Words . He has also contributed to JLS's self- titled
album[11] as well as featuring on The Jersey Shore soundtrack.[12][13] He also writes and produces all his own work including his hit No. 1,
"Break Your Heart". He has written one of the songs on the upcoming debut album of new British boyband, The Wanted.[14] British
girlgroup The Saturdays have also been working with Cruz on several songs for their third studio album [15] as have McFly who recorded
the song "Shine a Light" that was penned by Cruz for their upcoming fifth album.[16] He is also writing Justin Bieber's new album, due for a
2011 release date.[citation needed]

Other ventures

Rokstarr brand
On 1 September 2009, Cruz launched the brand Rokstarr; the fashion and accessories brand has a focus on sunglasses. Musicians such
as Kanye West, Shontelle, Keri Hilson and Kelly Rowland have been seen wearing them. Speaking in October to R&B writer Pete Lewis,
Cruz stated: "There's a load of US celebrities that are all rocking the sunglasses already – Kid Cudi, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West...
Then in the UK we have The Saturdays, JLS, Daniel Merriweather – who've all been twittering and writing on their blogs how much they
love them. So yeah, it's definitely my new album 'Rokstarr' and the fashion brand that are my two main focuses at the moment." [17]

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Meanwhile, speaking again to Lewis in April 2010, Cruz revealed: "We're currently looking to expand the brand and possibly go into
things like watches. I've also got a new subsidiary of Rokstarr called 'Rok By Rokstarr'. And we've just started doing things like jeans and
T- shirts, and stuff that more of the fans of Taio Cruz can buy. Because with Rokstarr in itself being so expensive, a lot of the kids out
there who want to buy Rokstarr things can't. So we're bringing in stuff that's a little bit more High Street and more affordable." [18]

Discography
Main article: Taio Cruz discography
Departure (2008)
Rokstarr (2009)

References
1. ^ [1] Ascap.co m. Retrieved 20 0 9 -21-12.
ab
2. ^ Taio Cruz - Artists - Island Reco rds: Bio graphy Island Records Retrieved 20 10 -15-10
3. ^ a b Birchmeier, Jaso n. "Taio Cruz > Bio graphy" . Allmusic (Ro vi Co rpo ratio n). Retrieved 24 July 20 10 .
4. ^ a b McCo rmick, Neil (27-0 3-20 0 8 ). "Taio Cruz The Public Scho o l So ul Sensatio n" . Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 30 -0 7-20 10 .
5. ^ a b "UK Charts > Taio Cruz" . Official Charts Co mpany. Retrieved 6 May 20 10 .
6 . ^ Jo nes, Alan (25 March 20 0 8 ). "No w That's What I Call Music! still has it" . Music Week (United Business Media). Retrieved 28 July 20 10 .
7. ^ "Amazo n:New Release – UK Fo rthco ming Albums" . AMAZON . Retrieved 16 September 20 0 9 .
8 . ^ a b "Taio Cruz > Charts & Awards > Billbo ard Singles" . Allmusic. Macro visio n. Retrieved 21-0 4-20 10 .
9 . ^ Adesio ye, Lo la (0 1-0 4-20 10 ). "Jay Sean and Taio Cruz Interview" . Guardian Media Gro up. Retrieved 30 -0 7-20 10 .
10 . ^ "Taio Cruz – The Ro kstarr Co llectio n" . play.co m. Retrieved 30 -0 7-20 10 .
11. ^ ": Taio Cruz :... News" . Taio cruzmusic.co .uk. Retrieved 26 August 20 0 9 .[ dead link ]
12. ^ Kaufman, Gil (28 -0 7-20 10 ). "Eminem Edges Out Rick Ro ss To Ho ld Billbo ard #1 Fo r Fifth Week" . MTV . MTV Netwo rks (Viaco m). Retrieved
30 -0 7-20 10 .
13. ^ "Taio Cruz > Credits" . Allmusic (Ro vi Co rpo ratio n) . Retrieved 28 July 20 10 .
14. ^ "'The Wanted' number o ne new bo y band" . BBC Radio 1. British Bro adcasting Co rpo ratio n. 29 -0 7-20 10 . Retrieved 30 -0 7-20 10 .
15. ^ Nicho lso n, Barry (25-0 7-20 10 ). "Saturdays ready to be Britain's No 1 gro up" . News of the World . Retrieved 30 -0 7-20 10 .
16 . ^ "McFly – Shine A Light: shit o r hit?" . 20 -0 7-20 10 . Retrieved 30 -0 7-20 10 .
17. ^ "Ro kstarr In The Making – Pete Lewis Interviews Taio Cruz" . Blues & So ul. 2 Octo ber 20 0 9 . Retrieved 2 Octo ber 20 0 9 .
18 . ^ Taio Cruz interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & So ul' May 20 10

External links
Official website
Taio Cruz on Myspace
Taio Cruz at Last.fm

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 Taio Cruz on justRHYMES.com
Taio Cruz 'Blues & Soul' interview by Pete Lewis February 2008
Taio Cruz at Billboard.com

v • d • e Taio Cruz [hide]

Discography

St ud io alb ums Departure (2008) · Rokstarr (2009)

C o mp ilat io ns The Rokstarr Collection

" I Just Wanna Know " · " Moving On" · " Come On Girl" · " I Can Be" · " She's Like a Star " · " Break Your Heart " · " No Other One " ·
Sing le s
" Dirty Picture" · " Dynamite" · " Higher "

Fe at ure d sing le s " Take Me Back" · " Second Chance" · " Shine a Light"

R e lat e d art icle s Island Records

Categories: Christ's Hospital Old Blues | 2010s singers | 2000s singers | English rhythm and blues singers | English pop singers | English
male singers | Black British musicians | Musicians from London | English people of Nigerian descent | British people of Braz ilian
descent | 1982 births | Living people

This page was last modified on 30 November 2010 at 00:16.

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