As Taio Cruz rides "Higher" on the success of his latest single with Travie McCoy and Kylie Minogue -- the track recently topped Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs chart -- the hitmaker, who calls himself "just a boy from London," shows no signs of slowing down.
Video: "Higher," Taio Cruz feat. Travie McCoy
Cruz, who most recently penned the title track for the "Rio" soundtrack, "Telling the World," is set to roll out his third album "hopefully by the end of the year," he tells Billboard.com. He has hopes for a new single to drop "in the middle of summer," and he'll also perform at the Billboard Music Awards on May 22.
Before all that, though, the "Dynamite" singer/songwriter will keep himself busy with "trying to write as many tracks as [he] can for other people." The Cruz-penned "I'm Into You" is Jennifer Lopez's next single, featuring Lil Wayne. (Cruz's own demo version of the song leaked recently, of which he says pragmatically, "You can't be mad about the leaks anymore.")
Cruz will get more face time with J.Lo, whom he says he's spoken with only a handful of times (as is the case with many of his collaborators, Cruz reveals), when he appears on the "American Idol" finale May 25. And he's excited to premiere a new song, titled "Positive," during his "Idol" performance. The song will be the culmination of Coca Cola's "Perfect Harmony" songwriting contest for Cruz's fans, who are now submitting lyrics to the work-in-progress track and can vote for their favorites on the"American Idol" website.
"I would imagine the audience has a very good sense of what's hot and what's not in music, so among the hundreds of thousands of submissions for 'Positive,' the best ones should rise to the top and be voted on," Cruz says of the fan submissions.
Video: "Telling the World" from the "Rio" Soundtrack, Taio Cruz
In addition to the hefty helping currently on his plate, Cruz hopes the future holds even more collaborations with artists from across all genres, including more unlikely pairings such as rockers like Kings of Leon. But the ultimate collab, Cruz jokes, would be a smattering of Lady Gaga,Jason Mraz and Damien Rice -- all on the same track.
"That collaboration would be the most interesting thing you'd ever heard," Cruz says with a laugh. "We would put freestylers on the drums, Lady Gaga doing her wacky Gaga thing, a Jason Mraz guitar intro. I'd throw a few 'ay-ohs' in there. Just so long as it's catchy -- that's my number one priority whenever I write a song."
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