Jay Sean

Jay Sean has been the king of successful reinvention since his 2004 debut in the UK. He is credited by many as pushing, what was then, just an “Asian underground” scene into the forefront of British musical culture, becoming the undisputed peoples' champion along the way with Beatles like hysteria everywhere he went.  Jay's combination of R&B/Indian flavored songs and a rabid fan base, quickly landed him a major recording deal with Virgin. From there, Jay continued to have commercial and grassroots success, with several top 10 singles in the UK and a touring career that took him to almost every country in the world.  Always one to stand behind his creative process, Jay Sean parted ways with Virgin when they started pushing him in directions he wasn't interested in going. Jay then flexed his entrepreneurial muscles and started his own record label, “Jayded Records.” He went on to release one of the most successful independent Urban albums the UK has ever seen. “My Own Way” spawned the global hit “Ride it”, which charted heavily all over the world and catapulted the album to #1 on the UK Urban album charts.  Jay says about this time in his career: “I could have called it quits after Virgin, or I could have compromised, but I decided to own my own destiny and make the music I loved.” “My Own way” did so well that it caught the ear of Slim and Baby from Cash Money Records. At that time, CMR was primarily a rap label but after meeting Jay and seeing the astounding independent and international sales successes, they offered him a spot on their roster. Jay quickly established himself in America with a string of hits, including Cash Money's and Republic Records 1st ever Billboard #1 single, “Down” featuring Lil Wayne. With that single, Jay Sean took Cash Money mainstream more then they had ever been before. Jay's next 4 singles did even more cross-over work for himself and Cash Money, with “Do You Remember”, “2012” “Hit the Lights” and “I Made It” (with Kevin Rudolf) all clocking in the Billboard top 40. Jay became one of the UK's best selling Urban artists in history, with well over 14 Million singles sold during this period. He was the first British, Urban artist to have a Billboard #1 in America and the only such artist, at that time, to have two simultaneous singles in the top 10.  Jay quickly expanded his global reach on a huge collaboration with Latin super stars, Chino Y Nacho. Their single “Bebe Bonita” became a hit all over Latin and North America and landed Jay Sean yet another Billboard #1 which, to date, makes him the only British artist in history to have a Spanish language #1 Billboard single.  Jay Says about this time in his career: “All the chart success and single sales were fantastic, I am forever thankful, but somewhere along the way, I stopped loving the music I was making. I needed to return to what I loved about music. R&B has always been my core and first love.” Jay's next musical release was the single “Mars” featuring Rick Ross. This marked a decided shift in Jay's musical sound, as he indeed went back to his R&B roots. The song performed well at radio going to #23 on the Rhythmic charts and was critically acclaimed.  During this time Jay began working on his second mix tape “The Mistress II.” The first  installment of which was downloaded over 400,000 times and led Jay on another world tour called “The Money and The Mistress.” “Tears in the Ocean” is the first offering from the new Mistress mix tape, and again shows Jay's true passion and ability to fuse R&B with ethnic sounds that, at once, remind the listener of his roots and showcase a newer edgier side of his lyrical personality. The chorus lyrics “I dropped a tear in the ocean, and when they find it that's when I will stop loving you” is poignant, and illustrates Jay's desire to push himself, to reinvent himself and continue to move towards what he finds most important and of musical value.