Pop singer-turned-TikTok personality Jason Derulo is launching a music career comeback on the charts that’s equal parts clever, messy and forward-thinking.
The singer is currently surging on music streaming platforms alongside co-lead artist and producer Jawsh 685 with their new collaboration, “Savage Love” (Laxed – Siren Beat), a smooth dancehall tune that dominated TikTok in a major way before Derulo‘s remix. Created by 17-year-old New Zealand artist Joshua Stylah (Jawsh 685), the song originally existed as a bare instrumental on the platform where it spawned over 48 MILLION videos from users (and counting). The TikTok “sound,” which incorporates elements of reggaeton and dancehall, more specifically inspired “Culture Dance” challenges that saw users celebrating their heritage.
Derulo stands as one of the most followed celebrities on the platform with over 25 MILLION followers. Spotting an opportunity to seize on a viral moment, Derulo recorded an unofficial “remix” on TikTok in May with him singing over the instrumental. The move was quickly met with backlash when Derulo failed to credit the 17-year-old producer or even ask for permission to use the song, a huge no-no for anyone’s TikTok career karma. The Polynesian communities were particularly enraged, Variety reports, with many describing Derulo‘s actions as those of a culture vulture.
@jasonderuloHad to repost this @itsjonathanle @justmaiko♬ Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat) – Jawsh 685 & Jason Derulo
Being the savvy TikTok’er he is, though, Derulo made the smart move of making amends with producer Jawsh 685 as quickly as possible. The pair appeared to have patched things up when they released Derulo‘s remix as an official collaboration titled “Savage Love” (Laxed – Siren Beat) on Tuesday, June 9th. Jawsh 685, who is credited as a co-lead artist, producer and co-writer on the track, was signed by Columbia Records shortly before Derulo‘s remix hit streaming platforms.
Derulo and Jawsh‘s treaty looks to be paying off big time as “Savage Love” ranks at #8 on Global Spotify (2.72M) and #28 on US Spotify (458k) simultaneously. The track also sits inside the Top 20 on the US iTunes singles chart at #17.
As indicated by its global Spotify streams, “Savage Love” is already seeing major success outside of the US. The UK Official Charts predicts the collaboration could rank as high as #4 (up 18 spots from #22) on the Official Singles Chart this Friday, June 26th, which would mark Derulo‘s first Top 5 hit in the region since 2017. His last #1 in the UK, “Want To Want Me,” was in 2015.
Derulo could pull off a pretty impressive feat if he mirrors this success in the US. Despite being somewhat of a trailblazer on the world’s fastest-growing social network, Derulo has been pretty quiet over the past fews years in terms of music. He’s yet to follow up on his 2015 album, ‘Everything Is 4’, while his last Hot 100 entry, “Swalla” (peak #29) was almost three years ago. Two of his latest music-related projects – the ‘Cats’ soundtrack and ‘2Sides (Side 1)’ EP – also didn’t do much to raise his profile in the music scene.
Jason Derulo in ‘Cats’ (2019)
The new “Savage Love” remix has been used in over 2 MILLION TikTok videos to date. On Spotify, the track is currently Derulo‘s most popular song in his discography with 19.8 MILLION streams. Jawsh 685‘s original instrumental, “Laxed – Siren Beat,” is also available on Spotify with over 21 MILLION streams.
Expect “Savage Love” to continue rising on the charts over the next few weeks. Following the success of Doja Cat‘s “Say So” and Megan Thee Stallion‘s “Savage,” Derulo‘s “Savage Love” could very well be the next TikTok hit thanks to the singer’s social media prowess. Stream the track below and check out more of Derulo‘s posts on TikTok here.
