Interview
North West London, Harlesden, in
T
Ta
a
ioC
i
ruz
fact.’ We laugh at his attempt to
accentuate the mention of
o
Harlesden into ‘street talk’. ‘I
wouldn’t say I have one sole
inspiration; my musical taste
has developed through age and
After being given permission by the record
lifestyle. When I was younger I
grew up listening to a lot of
label to give him grief for missing my earlier classical music, and was
calls, just two minutes into our conversation,
introduced to chord structure
and various instruments. As I grew
Taio’s down-to-earth personality, and cheeky
older, going to school I listened
humour make it easy to forget my earlier
to a lot of pop, the classics like
Michael Jackson, Madonna, Kylie,
intentions and I remind myself that this is a
and then heading into high school
guy who has been named by Dallas Austin as
I got more into hip hop and rnb,
artists like Boyz II Men and then
the ‘the new Babyface’ and I’m keen to find
later on Jay Z. I’m really into Kane,
as well as I also like to listen to
out more. Having written for massive artists Coldplay. On a personal level, it’s
such as, Mya, Usher, Britney and Will Young,
not just music artists that inspire
me. I’m inspired by people that
Taio’s debut single I Just Wanna Know has
work hard and achieve their
received major airplay and has quickly
goals in a diverse range of fields
– people like Steve Jobs [the
turned this half-Brazilian, half-Nigerian
co-founder and CEO of Apple].’
singer into an overnight household name.
Taio Cruz, shows all the signs
of achieving his goals, with the
Balancing a transatlantic r
C
ecord station for rock. I try to listen to global release of both his debut
deal, along with completing his everything from rnb to electro and album and new single, as well as
debut album, Departure, Taio I that’s reflected in my music.’ a gig at London’s Bush Hall, and
explains that it has been a busy supporting rnb legends Boyz II
few years, but he’s remaining cool Continuing the conversation on Men on their UK tour, I’m sure this
under pressure. ‘I always try and his diverse musical tastes and talented 23-year-old will have no
remain very calm. I do what I do, influences he states: ‘I feel I had problems taking it all in his stride.
and I don’t ever try to complicate a well-r
rounded upbringing. I went
u
z
it. As an individual, I push myself to public school, but I also lived in taiocruzmusic.co.uk
to achieve, but I never allow
myself to feel pressured. As Kanye
West says, ‘When you try hard,
you die hard’. Me personally, I do
me, I don’t overcomplicate things.’
It’s this laidback persona that is
reflected in Taio’s debut album
Departure. With a balance of
smooth tracks and upbeat
anthems, such as his new single,
Come on Girl, the album can
easily be described as classic,
soulful; and notably, British. After
spending a considerable time
in the States recently, was this
a deliberate effort to distinguish
himself from the pack as ‘not
another American reproduction’?
‘Being born and raised in the UK,
I have a natural British sound
which is apparent in my music. My
music is reflective of my musical
influences, which are very diverse.
I listen to all types of music. A lot
of what I took from the States was
their expertise in producing a pro-
fessional and polished sound to
anya Barwell
their music, that, and the quality in
their production. What I find about
America is that musically it’s a lot
more segregated – for instance
ds by V ds by Sharleen Banton
there are radio station that only
or or
W W
play rnb and then a separate
15
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