R&B singer-songwriter Taio Cruz (it’s pronounced “Tie-Oh”) has already made a name for himself back home in the UK, where the sweet-voiced 26-year-old scored a number one record last year with the club-ready “Break Your Heart.” (He’s also penned hits for Brit-centric acts like Tinchy Stryder, Cheryl Cole, and Sugababes.) Now, “Heart” is racing up the US singles charts, putting Cruz on track for transatlantic pop stardom. EW caught up with him this week to find out more about his upcoming album (due in the states this summer), his influences, and his new video with Ke$ha.

EW: You’re shooting a video with Ke$ha, right?
TC: It’s the second single off my new album Rokstarr. It’s called “Dirty Picture.”

EW: How did you two hook up?
TC: I had heard of Ke$ha ages ago, before she put out “Tik Tok.” And I wanted to do some work with Dr. Luke, who produced her album. I loved her voice. It’s got this awesome kind of yodel-y effect to it. I’d produced and written this “Dirty Picture” song, so I just thought, let’s put a female on it. She loved the song, and now she’s kind of blowing up and becoming a humongous superstar. So I offered to come down for the video.

EW: What can you tell us about it?
TC: The concept for the video is bascially, we’re gonna have the coolest, most underground scene ever, like being invited to this party that only the coolest most trendy can be invited to. And we’re just going to have a raunchy dirty party where people take pictures of themselves in corners doing naughty things and sending them to each other all over the place. And she’s in a bathroom being filmed. It’s kind of fashiony in that it’s a bit dirty, but very slick the way it’s filmed.

EW: Anything else?
TC: It’s got a few twists that I don’t want to say yet. It’s going to be good though.

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