Taio Cruz music videos

Taio Cruz (born Jacob Taio Cruz on 23 April 1980) is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, occasional rapper, and entrepreneur. In 2008, he released his debut album Departure, which Cruz wrote, arranged and produced himself. It achieved initial success in the UK and earned him a MOBO Award nomination. In June 2010, Cruz released his follow-up album Rokstarr, which includes the number one singles "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite". In November 2010, Cruz collaborated with Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy on his single "Higher". Additionally, Cruz penned and recorded the song "Telling the World" as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2011 animated film Rio.

Cruz was born in London, to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother.
He attended Christ's Hospital, a boarding school in West Sussex.

Cruz began writing songs when he was 12. His songwriting career began at age 19 as part of Tricky Stewart's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment.[4] Cruz achieved notability in 2005 when he was awarded a BRIT Award for co-writing Will Young's 2004 single, "Your Game".[5]

Cruz is the founder and chief executive of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single "I Just Wanna Know". The single attracted significant attention from radio, and also from music industry insiders, who were already well aware of the artist's potential; manager Jamie Binns, who began representing Cruz at this time, later told HitQuarters: "He was a guy that everyone had earmarked to do damage in the future."[6] Although the single received a reasonable amount of radio airplay, it did not perform as well as expected in either territory.[6] However, rather than lose faith in Cruz, the labels were eager to negotiate an album deal, as by this time they had listened to his other songs and were ever more convinced by his capability.[6]

Cruz's admirers included Island Records's Darcus Beese and Universal Republic's Monte Lipman, whom, according to Binns: "Both believed 'I Just Wanna Know' fitted the format on both sides of the Atlantic."[6] In 2006, Cruz signed a split single deal with Universal Music Group companies, Republic Records and the UK branch of Island Records.
[edit] Departure (2006–2008)

Taio 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.[7][8] 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 was eventually recorded by Rihanna and ended up topping charts around the world.[4]
[edit] Rokstarr and International breakthrough (2009)

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.[citation needed]

During 2009, he worked on his follow-up album which was originally titled T.W.O. (This Way Out) but later changed to Rokstarr.[9] 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.[7] The success of the song attracted the attention of David Massey and Daniel Werner from Mercury/Island Def Jam who were excited and aggressive about releasing "Break Your Heart" in the US on their label.[6] According to Cruz's manager Jamie Binns, the relationship with Monte Lipman at Universal Republic had "gone a bit quiet" by this point and as Taio wanted to be with the label that was most enthusiastic about his music, a move from Universal Republic to Mercury/Island Def Jam was engineered.[6]

The single reached the top spot in the US for one week on the Billboard charts.[10] 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".[11] In order to introduce Cruz into the US market, David Massey had suggested that the single feature an American rapper with chart credibility.[6] 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 26 [10] and despite peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Dynamite" peaked at number 1 on US top 40 earning Cruz his second US number 1 record.
[edit] The Rokstarr Collection

Rokstarr was followed by the compilation album The Rokstarr Collection which includes songs both from Departure and the international version of Rokstarr.[12] Cruz later released three versions of his single "Higher" - one featuring Kylie Minogue, one featuring Travie McCoy and with just himself.

Cruz has also been featured on the soundtrack of American reality TV series Jersey Shore.[13]

Cruz is the main featured artist on David Guetta's 2011 single 'Little Bad Girl' which also features US rapper Ludacris.
[edit] Upcoming Third Album

On 13 January 2011, Cruz used social networking website Twitter to tells fans that his upcoming third album would be titled Black and Leather.[citation needed] Three days later, Cruz tweeted ""My new album is gonna give my fans orgasms and slap the shit out of my haters!"[citation needed] In June 2011, a music video for the song "Trouble Maker" was put into production, directed by Martin Weisz.[14] It is expected to be unveiled in July 2011 as the lead single from Black and Leather.[citation needed]
[edit] Other ventures
[edit] Writing and producing

Cruz has written songs on albums by Cheryl Cole, JLS, The Saturdays, The Wanted and David Guetta. Cruz wrote and featured on Tinchy Stryder's hit single "Take Me Back". Boyband McFly recorded "Shine a Light" which not only features, but was also was penned and produced by Cruz for their fifth studio album.[15] 2011 will see him writing for Justin Bieber's next album.[16] Jennifer Lopez's 2011 single "I'm Into You", featuring Lil Wayne, is also penned by Cruz. On 13 April 2011, Cruz confirmed that he had written and contributed vocals to a Guetta track called "Little Bad Girl" which is the second single from Guetta's fifth album, Nothing But the Beat.
[edit] 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]

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]
[edit] Discography
Main article: Taio Cruz discography

Departure (2008)
Rokstarr (2009)
Black and Leather (2011)

[edit] Awards and nominations
This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)
Year Award Category Work Result
2004 BRIT Awards Best British Song (as a writer) Your Game Won
2008 MOBO Awards Best UK Male Nominated
2010 American Music Awards Breakthrough Artist Nominated
2010 BRIT Awards Best British Song Break Your Heart Nominated
2010 iTunes Best Album & Song Best Song Dynamite Nominated
2010 Ascap Vanguard Award Recognition of Album Departure Won
2011 BRIT Awards Best British Song Dynamite Nominated
2011 Virgin Media Awards[19] Best Male Nominated
2011 Best Collaboration Dirty Picture Nominated
2011 Best Video Nominated
2011 Billboard Awards Top New Artist Nominated
2011 Top Hot 100 Song Dynamite Won
2011 Top Digital Song Won
2011 Top Radio Song Nominated
2011 Top Streaming Song Nominated
2011 Top Pop Song Won

Videos: Taio Cruz

Break Your Heart

Dirty Picture

Dynamite

Hangover

Higher

Higher (2nd version)

I Just Wanna Know

Moving On

No Other One

She's Like A Star

Telling the World


	# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
	Videos: Taio Cruz Break Your Heart Dirty Picture Dynamite Hangover Higher Higher (2nd version) I Just Wanna Know Moving On No Other One She's Like A Star Telling the World Taio Cruz (born Jacob Taio Cruz on 23 April 1980) is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, occasional rapper, and entrepreneur. In 2008, he released his debut album Departure, which Cruz wrote, arranged and produced himself. It achieved initial success in the UK and earned him a MOBO Award nomination. In June 2010, Cruz released his follow-up album Rokstarr, which includes the number one singles "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite". In November 2010, Cruz collaborated with Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy on his single "Higher". Additionally, Cruz penned and recorded the song "Telling the World" as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2011 animated film Rio. Cruz was born in London, to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother. He attended Christ's Hospital, a boarding school in West Sussex. Cruz began writing songs when he was 12. His songwriting career began at age 19 as part of Tricky Stewart's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment.[4] Cruz achieved notability in 2005 when he was awarded a BRIT Award for co-writing Will Young's 2004 single, "Your Game".[5] Cruz is the founder and chief executive of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single "I Just Wanna Know". The single attracted significant attention from radio, and also from music industry insiders, who were already well aware of the artist's potential; manager Jamie Binns, who began representing Cruz at this time, later told HitQuarters: "He was a guy that everyone had earmarked to do damage in the future."[6] Although the single received a reasonable amount of radio airplay, it did not perform as well as expected in either territory.[6] However, rather than lose faith in Cruz, the labels were eager to negotiate an album deal, as by this time they had listened to his other songs and were ever more convinced by his capability.[6] Cruz's admirers included Island Records's Darcus Beese and Universal Republic's Monte Lipman, whom, according to Binns: "Both believed 'I Just Wanna Know' fitted the format on both sides of the Atlantic."[6] In 2006, Cruz signed a split single deal with Universal Music Group companies, Republic Records and the UK branch of Island Records. [edit] Departure (2006–2008) Taio 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.[7][8] 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 was eventually recorded by Rihanna and ended up topping charts around the world.[4] [edit] Rokstarr and International breakthrough (2009) 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.[citation needed] During 2009, he worked on his follow-up album which was originally titled T.W.O. (This Way Out) but later changed to Rokstarr.[9] 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.[7] The success of the song attracted the attention of David Massey and Daniel Werner from Mercury/Island Def Jam who were excited and aggressive about releasing "Break Your Heart" in the US on their label.[6] According to Cruz's manager Jamie Binns, the relationship with Monte Lipman at Universal Republic had "gone a bit quiet" by this point and as Taio wanted to be with the label that was most enthusiastic about his music, a move from Universal Republic to Mercury/Island Def Jam was engineered.[6] The single reached the top spot in the US for one week on the Billboard charts.[10] 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".[11] In order to introduce Cruz into the US market, David Massey had suggested that the single feature an American rapper with chart credibility.[6] 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 26 [10] and despite peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Dynamite" peaked at number 1 on US top 40 earning Cruz his second US number 1 record. [edit] The Rokstarr Collection Rokstarr was followed by the compilation album The Rokstarr Collection which includes songs both from Departure and the international version of Rokstarr.[12] Cruz later released three versions of his single "Higher" - one featuring Kylie Minogue, one featuring Travie McCoy and with just himself. Cruz has also been featured on the soundtrack of American reality TV series Jersey Shore.[13] Cruz is the main featured artist on David Guetta's 2011 single 'Little Bad Girl' which also features US rapper Ludacris. [edit] Upcoming Third Album On 13 January 2011, Cruz used social networking website Twitter to tells fans that his upcoming third album would be titled Black and Leather.[citation needed] Three days later, Cruz tweeted ""My new album is gonna give my fans orgasms and slap the shit out of my haters!"[citation needed] In June 2011, a music video for the song "Trouble Maker" was put into production, directed by Martin Weisz.[14] It is expected to be unveiled in July 2011 as the lead single from Black and Leather.[citation needed] [edit] Other ventures [edit] Writing and producing Cruz has written songs on albums by Cheryl Cole, JLS, The Saturdays, The Wanted and David Guetta. Cruz wrote and featured on Tinchy Stryder's hit single "Take Me Back". Boyband McFly recorded "Shine a Light" which not only features, but was also was penned and produced by Cruz for their fifth studio album.[15] 2011 will see him writing for Justin Bieber's next album.[16] Jennifer Lopez's 2011 single "I'm Into You", featuring Lil Wayne, is also penned by Cruz. On 13 April 2011, Cruz confirmed that he had written and contributed vocals to a Guetta track called "Little Bad Girl" which is the second single from Guetta's fifth album, Nothing But the Beat. [edit] 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] 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] [edit] Discography Main article: Taio Cruz discography Departure (2008) Rokstarr (2009) Black and Leather (2011) [edit] Awards and nominations This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011) Year Award Category Work Result 2004 BRIT Awards Best British Song (as a writer) Your Game Won 2008 MOBO Awards Best UK Male Nominated 2010 American Music Awards Breakthrough Artist Nominated 2010 BRIT Awards Best British Song Break Your Heart Nominated 2010 iTunes Best Album & Song Best Song Dynamite Nominated 2010 Ascap Vanguard Award Recognition of Album Departure Won 2011 BRIT Awards Best British Song Dynamite Nominated 2011 Virgin Media Awards[19] Best Male Nominated 2011 Best Collaboration Dirty Picture Nominated 2011 Best Video Nominated 2011 Billboard Awards Top New Artist Nominated 2011 Top Hot 100 Song Dynamite Won 2011 Top Digital Song Won 2011 Top Radio Song Nominated 2011 Top Streaming Song Nominated 2011 Top Pop Song Won
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