Jay Sean | |
|---|---|
 Sean in 2011 | |
| Born | Kamaljit Singh Jhooti (1981-03-26)26 March 1981 (age 44) London, England |
| Other names | MC Nicky J |
| Education | Latymer Upper School |
| Alma mater | Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Queen Mary University of London |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Full list |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | The Rishi Rich Project |
| Website | jaysean |
Musical artist | |
Kamaljit Singh Jhooti[1][2] (born 26 March 1981),[3] known professionally asJay Sean, is a British singer and songwriter. He debuted in the UK'sAsian Underground scene as a member of theRishi Rich Project with "Dance with You", which reached No. 12 on theUK Singles Chart in 2003. This led to him being signed toVirgin Records and having two UK top 10 hits as a solo artist in 2004: "Eyes on You" at No. 6 and "Stolen" at No. 4. They were included in his critically acclaimed debut albumMe Against Myself which,[4] though only moderately successful in the UK, sold more than two million copies across Asia and remains his most successful album to date.[5][6][7] Alongside the Rishi Rich Project, Sean was a pioneer ofBhangra-R&Bfusion, which his debut album helped popularize among the worldwideSouth Asian diaspora.[8]
He eventually left Virgin in 2006 and founded his own independent label, Jayded Records. After a gap of nearly four years, he returned in 2008 with "Ride It", which reached No. 11 in the UK and topped the charts in several Eastern European countries, including Romania where it was one of thebest-selling singles of the year. It was followed by hits such as "Maybe", which reached No. 7 on theJapan Hot 100,[9] and "Tonight". They were included in his second album,My Own Way, which became his most successful album on theUK Albums Chart, reachingNo. 6, and topped theUK R&B Chart. At around this time, he began increasingly incorporatingelectropop sounds into hisR&B music.[10]
From 2009 up to 2014, he was signed toCash Money Records. In 2009, his American debut single "Down" (featuringLil Wayne) topped theBillboard Hot 100, making him the first solo artist ofSouth Asian origin and first UK urban act to top the Hot 100.[11] It was the seventh-best selling song of 2009, having sold more than three million copies in the United States that year,[12][13][14][15] eventually reaching six million sales in the United States,[16] making him the most successful British/European male urban artist in US chart history at the time.[17][18] As of 2011, it is the fifth best selling song by a British artist in the digital era.[19] Its success was matched with his followed-up hit, "Do You Remember" (featuringLil Jon andSean Paul), which has sold more than a million copies in the US,[20] and entered the top ten on the Hot 100,[21] making him the first male act sinceChingy in 2003 to "simultaneously appear in the Hot 100 top 10 with his first two charting singles."[22] They were included in his American-debut albumAll or Nothing, which debuted at No. 37 on the USBillboard 200 and reached No. 11 on the JapanOricon Albums Chart.[23] Sean has also been a featured artist on several hits including "What Happened to Us" by Australian singerJessica Mauboy, which charted within the top 20 on theARIA singles chart and certified platinum by theAustralian Recording Industry Association.[24] Sean was ranked No. 35 inBillboard's Hot 100 Artists of 2009.[25]
Jay Sean was born as Kamaljit Singh Jhooti on 26 March 1981 inHounslow,West London into anIndianPunjabiSikh family to parents Sharan Singh Jhooti and Bindi Kaur Jhooti.[6][3][26] He was raised inSouthall,West London[27] and displayed musical talent at an early age. At age 11, he and his cousin Pritpal Rupra formed a hip hop duo named "Compulsive Disorder". His stage name at the time wasMC "Nicky J", with the "J" being derived from the first letter of his last name "Jhooti".[28] He eventually came to be known by the nickname "Jay" among his friends.[2]
He was a student atLatymer Upper School and left the school in 1997.[29][30] He finished hisGCSEs as a "straight-A student" and then completed hisA Levels with an A grade inBiology and B grades inMathematics andChemistry.[30] He later enrolled inBarts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry atQueen Mary University of London, to studyMedicine before he dropped out in 2003 to pursue a singing career. For his music career, he chose the stage name Jay Sean; "Jay" being his nickname, while "Sean" is derived from "Shaan"—a nickname he was called at home by his grandmother—which means "shining star" or "pride" in thePunjabi language.[2][31][32]
After Sean's track "One Minute" fell into the hands of producerRishi Rich,[33][34] theRishi Rich Project was formed (consisting of Rich, Sean andJuggy D) in 2003. Their first taste of UK chart success was theAsian underground song, "Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)", which became a Top 20 hit, peaking at #12.[35] This led to Sean signing a £1m deal withVirgin Records, under their labelRelentless Records.[34] His second single, "Eyes on You", was his first solo effort and became a Top 10 hit, peaking at #6.[36] His third single, "Stolen", peaked at #4,[37] withBollywood actressBipasha Basu making an appearance in the video. His debut album,Me Against Myself, was released in 2004 and received much critical praise and acclaim.[4][38][39] Sean was referred to as an "Asian sensation" and was praised for hisexperimental, creativefusion ofcontemporary R&B,British hip hop andIndian music.[40][41] The title track in particular was considered innovative, featuring twoalter egos of himself, one an R&B singer and the other a rapper, clashing in arap battle.[40]
Despite initially failing to reach the top 20 on theUK Albums Chart (where it peaked at #29), the album gradually managed to sell 100,000 copies in the UK[42] and went on to become a substantial hit in India, selling over two million copies there.[5][6][7] He made a brief appearance in the 2005 Bollywood filmKyaa Kool Hai Hum, providing the song "Dil Mera (My Heart)" to the soundtrack, based on "One Night" from his own debut album.[43] Beyond India, the album sold over 300,000 copies across other parts of the world,[44] including Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia,[26][45] and Hong Kong.[46] His performance of tracks fromMe Against Myself onMTV Asia (alongside the Rishi Rich Project) had a television audience as large as 165 million viewers.[4][45] It helped establish Sean as a major recognised artist across Asia and among the worldwideDesi diaspora, and remains his most successful album to date. With his debut album, Sean was influential in popularisingIndian-R&Bfusion sounds in Asian underground andIndian pop music.[8] He recorded a 16 track album which was scrapped because Virgin felt the market had changed to where it was all about Pop music.[47] In February 2006, after several delays of his second album, he leftVirgin Records.[48]
After parting ways withVirgin Records, Sean continued to work on his second album, which was initially named after the title track "Deal With It", but the song ended up being given toCorbin Bleu. Sean's background vocals remain on Bleu's version of the track. The song "Deal With It" earned Sean aBMI Songwriter Award[49] and later inspired the 2009 single "Juliette" by South Korean bandShinee.[50][51]
Sean returned in late 2007 with the new single "Ride It", which was the first single from his second albumMy Own Way. It was to be the first album released as a joint-venture between his own label Jayded and2Point9 Records. The video for "Ride It", released in early 2008, featured Sean with a new style after being out of the limelight for nearly three and a half years.My Own Way debuted at No. 6 in the officialUK Albums Chart and generated two more UK top 20 singles, "Ride It" and "Maybe". On the back of this Sean received twoMOBO Award nominations, for Best UK Male (alongsideDizzee Rascal,Taio Cruz,Wiley andSway) and Best R'n'B/Soul (alongsideUsher,Estelle,Ne-Yo andChris Brown). "Ride It" was successful in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia,[52] Turkey and Romania, where it became one of the threebest-selling singles of the year.[53] The song was remixed by KosovanDJ Regard in 2019 and became a viral hit on theTikTok app.[54] "Maybe" was his most successful single in Japan, where it reached No. 7 on theJapan Hot 100 Singles.[9] AMandarin Chinese cover version of "Maybe" byCoco Lee has been released in China. Sean sang aHindi version of the albumMy Own Way for release in India. The album sold more than 350,000 copies across the world.[44][55]
Touch Magazine in the UK described him as "the UK's answer to Ne-Yo," while The Independent called him "...an urban legend in the making." In August 2008, Sean co-hosted London radio stationChoice FM's Breakfast show a week in which he only performed previously unheard tracks, including a song whose title was left to the listeners to decide. The unknown track was later confirmed to be called "Tonight" and is included inMy Own Way: Deluxe Edition. Sean was confirmed for the third series ofCelebrity Scissorhands in October 2008 but he withdrew before the show was aired for unclear reasons.[56]
On 15 October 2008 during theMOBO Awards, Sean announced that he had signed with theAmerican hip-hop oriented record labelCash Money Records distributed viaUniversal Republic Records[57] making him the first maleBritish Asian singer to sign with an American label.[58] His American-debut single was "Down" featuring American rapper and label mateLil Wayne. It topped theBillboard Hot 100, replacingThe Black Eyed Peas. This made him the first British artist to top the Hot 100 sinceFreddie Mercury ofQueen in 1980, and the first solo artist of Asian descent to do so.[59] "Down" has sold more than six million copies in the United States,[60] and three million digital copies in the US,[13][14] making the song the best-selling single by a British/European male artist in North America sinceElton John's "Candle in the Wind" in 1997.[18][42][61] In addition, "Down" has received a largeairplay of two billion listener impressions on radio worldwide.[62][63] As of November 2011, "Down" has sold 4.1 million copies in the US, which is currently the fifth best-selling song by a British artist in the digital era.[19] In November 2009, Sean's next single from his album, "Do You Remember", was released and featured Jamaican dancehall superstarSean Paul plus US Southern crunk rapperLil Jon.[64] It entered the Hot 100 top ten on the week of 9 January 2009,[21] breaking "a three-week streak of no titles moving into the top 10" since December 2009.[22] Like its predecessor, it has sold more than a million copies in the United States.[20]
At the 2009UK Asian Music Awards (AMA), Sean won three awards, including "Best Male", "Best Urban Act" and "Best Album", the latter for his second album,My Own Way. He met withRishi Rich,Juggy D andH-Dhami during the ceremony.[65] After the award, he was in America for the first time since signing with Cash Money, he announced through an interview with MTV IGGY that he was recording five new songs for his album, then titledMy Own Way (U.S. edition), one of which was his American-debut single withLil Wayne, later titled "Down". Sean discussed a collaboration withAkon at the 2009 Grammy Awards, in addition to recording a song withNadine Coyle[66] and told viewers that the album will be released in third quarter of 2009.[67] The album title was later changed toAll or Nothing, and featured brand new songs and some of the songs fromMy Own Way. Despite success with two singles from the album, the album itself only debuted at No. 37 on the USBillboard 200. It was his lowest-charting entry on theUK Albums Chart, debuting there at #62. Despite this, it has become his highest-charting album in Japan, reaching No. 11 on theOricon Albums Chart.[23]
Sean was featured on a song called "Written on Her" alongsideBirdman for the CEO's project, released on 23 June 2009 on iTunes.[68] Sean has featured onSkepta's single "Lush" released on 10 June 2009 on iTunes.[69] On 2 February 2010,Kevin Rudolf's single "I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)", featured Sean alongside Birdman and Lil Wayne, was released.[70] In early December 2009, it was confirmed that he has collaborated withJustin Timberlake andEsmée Denters on a song, "Love Dealer".[71][72] There have been talks of collaborations with other American artists such asAshley Tisdale,Taylor Swift,[73]Nicole Scherzinger,[74]Rihanna,[75]Usher,[76] andJay-Z &Beyoncé.[77]
Sean was in early September 2009 nominated for the30 Under 30 award.[78] At the 2009UK Urban Music Awards, he won the Best Collaboration award for "Down" alongside Lil Wayne.[79] In early December 2009, he was ranked No. 35 inBillboard's Hot 100 Artists of the year.[25] On 11 December 2009, he became the firstSouth Asian origin artist sinceFreddie Mercury to perform atMadison Square Garden, as part of theJingle Ball concert, alongside beatboxerMC Zani.[80] Sean's performance "had the entire crowd – parents and children, teens and twenty-somethings – dancing."[81]
Sean began working on his fourth album and second withCash Money Records,Freeze Time in July 2010.[82] At the time, he stated that he had completed roughly 75 percent of the album and that guests included Lil Wayne,Pitbull,Nicki Minaj andMary J. Blige.[83] Three singles, "2012 (It Ain't the End)", "Hit The Lights" and "Like This, Like That" were released in support of the album. Sean also co-headlined withJoe Jonas on theJoe Jonas & Jay Sean Tour withJoJo as the opening act.[84] Sean released a mixtape titledThe Mistress in September 2011, spawning a single and a music video for "Where Do We Go".
Freeze Time was scrapped due to legal issues in 2011[85] and Sean began working on a new, be more R&B influenced album altogether.[86] The first official single from the album was announced to be "I'm All Yours", which features American and Latin artistPitbull. Officially released in May 2012, the song peaked at a disappointing #85 on theBillboard Hot 100.[87] The song's best performance was in Australia where it peaked at 13 and was certified as Gold.[88] The second single of the album "So High", produced byDJAfrojack, was released in October 2012. Later in the same month, both singles were included in anEP, titledSo High, with "Sex 101" featuring Cash Money rapperTyga (originally included inThe Mistress) and an exclusive bonus track "Patience".[89]
In February 2013, Sean announced he would be changing the title of the album fromWorth It all toNeon, and his long delayed fourth studio album was released in July 2013. Both of the album singles, "Where You Are" and "Mars" featuring American rapperRick Ross, failed to break into theBillboard Hot 100.[90]
In January 2014, Sean released the lead song "Take That Off" from his second mixtapeThe Mistress II.[91] Alongside releasing the first single in October 2014, "Tears in the Ocean" which received acclaimed reviews from audiences, Sean leftCash Money Records, citing that he wanted to go in a different direction artistically.[92] On 14 November 2014, music website Djbooth premiered the second single "All I Want".[93]The Mistress II was released on 18 November[94] with a video for "All I Want" premiered hours later.[95] A video for the third single "Jameson" was released on 23 December, and it was announced that anEP ofThe Mistress II featuring the original and acoustic remixed versions of each of the third singles from the mixtape would be released on 26 December.[96]
In 2015, Sean reunited with fellow UK artistsRishi Rich andJuggy D, restart the Rishi Rich project, together, they released the single: "Freak".
On 5 February 2016, Sean released his first 'official' single since his departure from Cash Money Records, titleMake My Love Go, the single featuringSean Paul who also featured in Sean's 2010 singleDo You Remember, the single marked Sean's first appearance on charts since the 2012 singleI'm All Yours. Sean also collaborated with various well-known DJs:DJ Antoine,Hardwell,DJ Prostyle,Alex Gaudino, as well as artistsChristian Rich,Stafford Brothers andSeeb. The single "Thinking About You" with Hardwell received favourable and positive reviews from critics and audiences.
In 2017, Sean released the singles "Do You Love Me" and "What You Want" featuringDavido. He followed these in 2018 with the singles "Emergency" and "Say Something".
In February 2018, Sean check for the final draft ofThe Mistress III.
Towards the end of 2018, Sean released four songs: "Need To Know", "Now Or Later", "Say Something" and "Why Why How Why".
In 2020, Sean collaborated with Indian pop singerGuru Randhawa and released the single "Surma Surma". Also, along withRishi Rich, Sean released a single "Nakhre", also titled as "Eyes on You 2" which reached No.1 on BBC Asian Chart.[97][98][99]
He began 3AM Entertainment to help promote the next generation of South Asian artists.[100]
Sean has worked withBBC Blast doing Q&A's on tour events in an effort to "give something back".[101] He has supported theAga Khan Foundation (AKF) in the charity event Partnership Walk and Run by performing inRegent's Park in 2004 and 2009.[102] During this time, he also visited different UK schools to inspire and encourage schoolchildren to get involved in music; at one school, he met a youngZayn Malik and encouraged him to sing on stage for the first time.[103]
In 2009, Sean performed inJustin Timberlake's charity concert to raise funds for theShriners Hospital for Children, alongside artists such as MC Zani,Taylor Swift andAlicia Keys. It became one of the highest-earning charity events of the year, raising more than $9 million.[104]
In 2012, Sean became a part of Child Hunger Ends Here campaign along with artistsOwl City andJewel.[105] For this purpose he recorded a song named "Here's Hope"[106] which was available from the Child Hunger Ends Here website. He also appeared in aPETA ad campaign, encouraging potential pet owners to adopt from shelters rather than buy from stores.[107]
Sean married singerThara in August 2009.[108] Their daughter, Ayva Loveen Kaur Jhooti, was born on 13 December 2013. They had a son named Aaryan on 15 August 2018.[109]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
