Jason Derulo: Tattoos – review

Last year, Jason Derulo fractured his neck, an event that inspired this album's title ("Life-altering experiences are like tattoos stuck to you for life," he explains), but has otherwise had little effect on his musical worldview. As on his two previous records, the R&B crooner hasn't quite figured out what to do about his innate romanticism: Tattoos is a battle between the lover in him and the priapic Lothario. Spoiler alert: the lover prevails. Despite a bit of graphic rhyming from 2 Chainz on Talk Dirty – a song that insists "booty" is an international language – Derulo can't help going for the smooch. On Marry Me, he scales such heights of passion that his falsetto nearly bursts through the ceiling. Then there's the duet Vertigo, a balladic cocktail of tweeness and hormones made even stickier by the whoops of girlfriend Jordin Sparks. Nonetheless, Derulo's clubby hooks are infernally catchy, and he adds a touch of freshness with buoyant forays into rock and salsa.