Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere (born 23 April 1980), known professionally as Jacob Taio Cruz ( ), is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Cruz was discovered in the mid-2000s by American record producer

Tricky Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. Stewart, a five-time Grammy Award recipient, began producing music in 1992 and has contributed to unit s ...

, joining the latter's record company RedZone Entertainment as in-house talent. After several years in songwriting, he released his R&B-styled debut single " I Just Wanna Know" in 2006. A modest hit and his first UK singles chart entry, its success led him to sign with

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

and

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

' UK branch. The labels released his debut studio album, '' Departure'' (2008), which he solely wrote, arranged and produced. It received gold certification by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI) and earned critical praise, as well as a nomination at the 2009 Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBO). Cruz adopted an EDM- pop sound for his subsequent releases. His second album, '' Rokstarr'' (2009), was met with further commercial success, entering 13 international music charts and peaking within the top ten of the ''Billboard'' 200. Despite mixed critical response, it was preceded by the single " Break Your Heart", which peaked atop both the UK singles chart and ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and spawned the single "

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

", which peaked at atop the former chart and peaked at number two on the latter. Two further singles, " Dirty Picture" (with

Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. Her first major success came in 2009 when she was featured on rapper Flo Rida's number-one single, "Right Round". Kesha's music and ima ...

) and " Higher" (featuring

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

or Travie McCoy), peaked within the UK chart's top ten. Cruz performed the song " Telling the World" as the lead single for the 2011 animated film '' Rio''s

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

. His third studio album, ''

TY.O ''TY.O'' is the third studio album by British record producer and singer Taio Cruz which features special guest appearances from Flo Rida, Pitbull (rapper), Pitbull, David Guetta and Ludacris. Taking a more electronic music sound than his previ ...

'' (2011), moderately entered several international charts, but failed to enter the UK Albums or the ''Billboard'' 200; it contained the UK hits "

Hangover A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol (beverage), alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than ...

" (featuring

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), known professionally as Flo Rida ( ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 debut and breakout single "Low (Flo Rida song), Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the ...

) and " There She Goes" (featuring Pitbull). He has since released several non-album singles, and co-wrote several hit songs including

Tinchy Stryder Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), better known by his stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo studio albums, '' Star in the Hood'' (2007 ...

's " Never Leave You" (2009),

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

's " I'm Into You" (2011),

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

's " Without You", " Wish U Were Here" by Cody Simpson (both 2012), and " Kiss Me" by Olly Murs (2014).

Biography

Early life and career

Cruz was born as Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere on 23 April 1980 in London to a Nigerian Yoruba lawyer father and a Brazilian mother who had a hairdressing business. He was raised in

Kensal Rise Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent, and also to the south, ...

.Billboard, vol. 122, issue 13, 3 April, 2010, p. 24 He was educated at fee-paying independent schools, attending Bilton Grange preparatory school in Warwickshire and Battle Abbey School in

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, before relocating to London where he went to Stanmore College. Cruz's songwriting career began as part of

's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment and achieved notability in 2005 when he was awarded a Brit Award for co-writing

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Ido ...

's 2004 single, " Your Game".Taio Cruz Biography
, ''

''. Retrieved 2010-15-10. Cruz is the founder and chief executive of Rockstar Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single " I Just Wanna Know". The single charted at #29 in the UK singles charts. It won him some admirers including

's Darcus Beese and Monte Lipman, who, according to manager Binns, "both believed 'I Just Wanna Know' fitted the format on both sides of the Atlantic". In 2006, Cruz signed a split single deal with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

companies,

and the UK branch of

2007–08: ''Departure''

In September 2007, Cruz released his second single " Moving On", 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. 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 Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

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 An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...

" which was recorded by

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

and ended up topping charts around the world.

2009–2011: ''Rokstarr'', international breakthrough and ''The Rokstarr Collection''

Cruz was featured on

's breakout single " Take Me Back" which peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. According to Cruz's official

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

blog, as of 1 January 2009, Rokstarr Music London changed its name to Rokstarr Entertainment Division, abbreviated to R.E.D Inc. During 2009, he worked on his follow-up album entitled ''Rokstarr''. It was released on 12 October through R.E.D Inc./Island Records and is 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. In the US it went directly from number 53 to number one, breaking the record for the largest leap of a début single. At the 2010 Brit Awards, "Break Your Heart" was nominated for Best British Single."The BRITs 2010: British Single"
. Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2012 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 United States on their label. 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. The single reached the top spot in the United States for one week on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', it was stated that Cruz was "clever" to have hooked up with US rapper

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

on his breakthrough hit. In order to introduce Cruz into the U.S. market, David Massey had suggested that the single feature an American rapper with chart credibility. The album spawned two other UK singles, " No Other One", and the top-ten hit " Dirty Picture" featuring American

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

singer

. The album's fourth single (second in the United States) titled "

" debuted at 26 and peaked at number two on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. At the 2011 Brit Awards, "Dynamite" was nominated for Best British Single, and at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards the song won three Billboard Awards, including Top Hot 100 Song."The BRITs 2011: British Single"
. Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2012
. Yahoo. Retrieved 11 July 2012 ''Rokstarr'' was followed by the compilation album '' The Rokstarr Collection'' which includes songs both from ''Departure'' and the international version of ''Rokstarr''. Cruz later released four versions of his single " Higher"—one featuring

, one featuring Travie McCoy, one featuring both, and one with just himself. Cruz has also been featured on the soundtrack of American reality TV series ''

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

''.

2011–12: ''TY.O''

In March 2011, Cruz premiered an all-new song called " Telling the World", which was written by Cruz and Alan Kasirye for the ''Rio'' soundtrack. The track was not featured on any of Cruz's prior studio albums. On 23 May 2011, Cruz received his first Billboard Award in the United States. He announced onstage that his third album, entitled ''Black and Leather'', would be released in the fourth quarter of 2011. In June 2011, Cruz released a collaborative single, " Little Bad Girl", with French DJ

and American rapper

. The song was a worldwide smash, topping singles charts across the world."David Guetta teams with Taio Cruz, Ludacris for 'Little Bad Girl' video"
, ''Digital Spy''. Retrieved 19 July 2011. During July and August 2011, a series of unreleased songs, recorded during the album sessions, were leaked to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. in an interview, Cruz promised a "fun" and "energetic" album, and claimed that due to the leak, none of the tracks posted on YouTube would be included on the album. Cruz claimed, "It's a shame really, because one person has spoilt it for all the fans. They could have had an album packed with 17, 18 tracks, and now, they're only getting eleven because of one stupid act of tomfoolery." During the interview, Cruz also claimed that the title of the album had been changed to ''Troublemaker'', after one of the tracks included on the album. On 4 October 2011, the single "

" was officially released in Germany and the US, and it was rumoured that a solo version of the song, that features on the physical release, would be included as a bonus track on the album. However, these rumours were later quashed. Around October 2011, the album was made available for pre-order, and in turn, the album's final title, ''TY.O'', was revealed. Cruz announced, via his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account, that he made the decision to phonetically name the album ''TY.O'' in hopes that it would help people pronounce his name correctly. The album was first released in Germany on 2 December 2011. Originally slated for release in the US on 17 May 2012 it was rescheduled to 31 December 2012 to coincide with the UK release, along with new tracks, including the U.S. single "

Fast Car "Fast Car" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, released on April 6, 1988, by Elektra Records, as the lead single from her 1988 self-titled debut studio album. Chapman's appearance at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthd ...

". Cruz was scheduled to co-headline Pitbull's

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n leg of Planet Pit World Tour in August 2012. On 12 August, Cruz performed at the closing ceremony of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. The performance at London's

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

saw Cruz sing his own song "Dynamite", and also perform "Written in the Stars" alongside Jessie J and Tinie Tempah.

2013–present: ''#Black'', ''Roses Collection'', and business ventures

In early 2013, Cruz recorded vocals over the song "

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

" by electronic artist

Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...

and titled the remake "Touch the Sky". In August 2013, Taio Cruz announced on his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and

account that he would be releasing a new app. It is called Kewe and is a social media app for Android and iOS, where people can interact and keep up with what Taio Cruz is doing. It was launched on 18 August 2013. On 24 November 2013, Cruz announced his fourth studio album, ''#Black'' via his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, Facebook, and Twitter pages. On 21 June 2014, Cruz released a new track titled " Don't You Dare" produced by Dr. Luke for his upcoming ''#Black'' album. On 27 April 2015, Cruz released his first single in two years. " Do What You Like", produced by Taio and the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning production team, The Monsters & The Strangerz, was fully released on 24 July 2015 through a joint venture between the multinational Cruz owned venture capital company, Tourean and Kobalt Music Group. The "Do What You Like" full release features remixes by Bel Air, Billy Da Kid, KREAM and Zoo Station. "Do What You Like" is the first single from Cruz's ''Roses Collection''. According to his biography, Cruz will henceforth release collections of singles; rejecting the outdated album format. Cruz called this particular collection Roses, "because every rose is unique". Roses will consist of around ten tracks, each with its own lifecycle. On 4 December 2015, Tujamo re-released his song " Booty Bounce", featuring vocals from Cruz. On 10 November 2017, Cruz released his first song in two years, titled "Row the Body", via Warner Bros. Records. The single features rapper

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Moroccan Arabic, Arabic: IPA pronunciation, æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to New York ...

. On 6 September 2019, Cruz released "Time For You", which features Wonder Stereo.

Writing and production

Cruz has written songs on albums by Cheryl, JLS,

The Saturdays The Saturdays are an English-Irish girl group based in London, England. The group formed during the summer of 2007 and has been on hiatus since 2014. The lineup consists of Frankie Bridge, Una Healy, Rochelle Humes, Mollie King, and Vanessa Whi ...

, The Wanted and

. Cruz wrote and featured on

's hit single " Take Me Back". Pop rock band

McFly McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...

recorded " Shine a Light" which not only features, but was also penned and produced by Cruz for their fifth studio album. Cruz also penned

's 2011 single " I'm Into You", featuring

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

. He also contributed significantly to

's fifth album '' Nothing but the Beat'', penning two of his hit singles " Without You", featuring Usher and " Little Bad Girl", featuring Cruz and

. He also wrote "Mechanics of the Heart" for Cheryl's album '' A Million Lights''.

Other ventures

RXTR/Rokstarr brand

On 1 September 2009, Cruz launched the brand Rokstarr, a fashion and accessories brand which had a focus on sunglasses. Speaking in October to R&B writer Pete Lewis, Cruz promoted his brand: "There's a load of US celebrities that are all rocking the sunglasses already—

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

.... Then in the UK we have

, 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." Meanwhile, speaking again to Lewis in April 2010, Cruz gave his brand more free publicity: "We're currently looking to expand the brand and possibly go into things like watches. I've also got a new

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

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." In 2012 the brand was renamed to RXTR, a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

for Riots and Twelve Rebels. The new name came along with new products, watches, which were immediately stocked at Selfridges on

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

in London. As of 2015, the RXTR website redirects to Cruz's artist website.

Philanthropy

Cruz filmed a public service announcement with Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.

Discography

* '' Departure'' (2008) * '' Rokstarr'' (2009) * ''

'' (2011)

Writer discography

* Nitin Sawhney, "Rainfall" * Tinchy Stryder, " Never Leave You" * Tinchy Stryder, " Take Me Back" (with Stryder) * Tinchy Stryder, " Second Chance" (with Stryder) * McFly, " Shine a Light" * Nightcrawlers, " Cryin' Over You" (with Nightcrawlers) * David Guetta, " Little Bad Girl" (with Guetta &

) * David Guetta, " Without You" (featuring Usher) * Jennifer Lopez, " I'm Into You" (featuring

) * Will Young, " Your Game" (Credited as Tayo Onile-Ere) * The Wanted, " Made" * Cheryl Cole, " Stand Up" * Cheryl Cole, " Mechanics of the Heart" * Cody Simpson, " Wish U Were Here" * Keshia Chanté, " Set U Free" * Nick Jonas, " I Want You" * Olly Murs, " Kiss Me"

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

*
Taio Cruz
on justRHYMES.com * Lewis, Pete
Taio Cruz interview
at BluesandSoul.com, February 2008 *

Taio Cruz Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere (born 23 April 1980), known professionally as Jacob Taio Cruz ( ), is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Cruz was discovered in the mid-2000s by American record producer Tricky Stewart, joinin ...

at Billboard.com
Kewe app

Taio Cruz
on

MusicBrainz MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB, Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Taio 1980 births Living people 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century English singer-songwriters Black British male rappers Brit Award winners British dance-pop musicians English contemporary R&B singers English male pop singers English male rappers English male singer-songwriters English people of Brazilian descent English people of Nigerian descent English people of Yoruba descent English record producers Island Records artists Mercury Records artists People educated at Bilton Grange People from Horsham Rappers from the London Borough of Brent Republic Records artists Singers from the London Borough of Brent Third British Invasion artists Universal Music Group artists Warner Records artists Yoruba musicians