Jason Derulo

Whatcha Say introduced Derulo to a wide audience in 2009. The contrast between the treated, suspended vocal sample and the more direct lead singing gives the record its shape. It is a small example of what many later singles do on a larger scale: set up a texture the listener can recognise immediately, then build a clear pop melody around it. In My Head brought a more forceful electronic pulse, while the next phase of the catalogue pushed further towards dance-pop.

The singing often works as a rhythmic part. Short phrases settle into the beat, then open into a higher or more sustained line. That flexibility helps explain why the voice fits such different productions without disappearing into them. The songs are designed for movement, but the strongest ones still have a melodic centre when the beat drops away.

Talk Dirty in 2013 made a striking instrumental figure the focus of the arrangement. Want to Want Me, released in 2015, moved towards a lighter, higher-register pop sound. Later records including Take You Dancing and Savage Love show how readily the singles format can accommodate another shift in rhythmic language. The most useful way to hear this catalogue is through those contrasts. There is no need to pretend that every song is doing the same thing. Some depend on atmosphere, some on vocal lift and some on the physical insistence of a loop. Together they offer a clear account of how commercial pop production changed after the 2000s, with a recognisable performer moving through those changes.