CONCORD WORLD MUSIC STAGE
Sunday @ 9:00pm
"The day we stop belly-laughing, being stupid and having fun in the studio is the day I don't want to do this anymore."
29-year-old pop/R&B singer Jay Sean is sitting in a Manhattan studio in Times Square, putting the finishing touches on Freeze Time, his sophomore album for Cash Money Records and fourth international studio album. "If I, or one of my writing partners, is in a bad mood," he says, "Then it's obvious we're not writing anything that day. Period."
Recently, there hasn't been much cause for bad moods— Multi-platinum albums around the world; Only male artist in the past 10 years to have two simultaneous Top 10 tracks; Numerous awards and monstrous singles, including the platinum-selling, Top 10 hit "Do You Remember"; And, of course, "Down," the Lil Wayne-assisted song off 2009's All or Nothing that became a worldwide hit. The track was embraced by hip-hop, pop and R&B fans in equal measure and made Jay Sean both the first UK urban act and first artist of South Asian descent to reach number one on the Hot 100 (as well as racking up nearly 70 million views on YouTube.)
Growing up in London, Jay was obsessed with hip-hop before discovering R&B artists like Brian McKnight, Joe and Jodeci (he can still out-beatbox you upon demand). "I used to listen to Boys II Men religiously and try to copy the way they used to sing,” admits Jay Sean. “I'm a very studious person. When I love something, I want to learn everything there is about it."
Jay Sean, already known from Australia to Algeria and Russia to Rio, is asked about the importance of success in America. The answer, per his style, is humorous, immediate and direct: “America is like the Holy Grail for many artists, including myself, and I realize I have a lot more work to do, but I'm a big dreamer and I love new challenges. It's what drives me. If the next step after America was the moon, I can guarantee you I'd be on the first rocket there."
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