Jay Sean

Jay Sean

Artist

Kamaljit Singh Jhooti (born March 26, 1981), known popularly as Jay Sean, is an English-Indian singer and songwriter first known as a pioneer of Bhangra infused R&B alongside the Rishi Rich Project before eventually entering the American market with an electro-pop R&B sound.

Originally from Hounslow, London, Sean grew up in neighboring Southall to a family of Punjabi Sikh descent. He first began pursuing music during his childhood as a rapper under the name MC Nicky J along with a cousin as the duo Compulsive Disorder. After completing his primary education, he went on to study medicine at Barts. During this time, he revamped himself as Jay Sean, derived from the first letter of his surname and Shaan (ਸ਼ਾਨ), a name his grandmother would call him that means “glory” or “pride” in Punjabi. When a song by him, Rishi Rich and Juggy D as the Rishi Rich Project titled “Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)” became a hit in the Asian Underground scene, he signed a deal with Virgin Records for £1m in 2003 and dropped out of Barts.

His debut album Me Against Myself arrived in the fall of 2004 and became his most successful to date, receiving praise for its experimental blend of multiple genres, particularly Bhangra infused R&B, and contained the hit singles “Eyes On You,” “Stolen” and the aforementioned “Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal).” He would leave Virgin Records in 2006 when their R&B market faded to start his own label Jayded Records and release 2008’s My Own Way, an effort with a straight adult contemporary sound that divided critics but performed well. Its first two singles “Ride It” and “Maybe” were the highest charting, with the popularity of “Ride It” even earning him attention from across the pond in the United States.

While backstage at the MOBO Awards on October 15, 2008, Sean announced he had signed to American label Cash Money Records, and his music began moving in a more electro-pop direction the following year, starting with “Tonight” from the deluxe release of My Own Way. His third album All or Nothing, despite the success of its singles “Down” and “Do You Remember” (the former being his first to top the Billboard Hot 100 and the latter charting in the top 10 alongside it), failed to achieve a similar outcome. After the release of 2013’s Neon, which became his lowest-charting album and all but one of its singles (“So High”) failed to reach a significant place on the US charts, Sean left Cash Money to go in a different artistic direction with his career.

Sean’s many accolades include being the first male artist of British-Asian origin to sign with an American label, the first urban UK act to top the Billboard Hot 100, a nominee and recipient of awards from various ceremonies, selling over eighteen million records worldwide, and considered by the BBC in 2009 as “the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history.” Outside of his music career, he made a cameo appearance in the 2005 Indian comedy film Kyaa Kool Hain Hum, appeared in an episode of Sesame Street in 2011, has been involved with various charitable causes, and is married to model and fellow singer Thara, with whom he has two kids: Ayva and Aaryan.