Growing up in London, UK, Jay Sean was exposed to the melting pot of music that is present in the UK capital, initially finding an interest in rap and grimmest failed to break into the scene. Turning to R&B, Sean found greater success, singing to the label 2Point9 in 2003.
With his label mates, producer Rishi Rich and Juggy D, Sean recorded his debut single later that year. “Dance With You (Nachna Tere Naal)” became a huge success in the UK, peaking at number 12 in the Singles Chart. This breakout success prompted a major label deal with Virgin Records, with Sean dropping out from his studies to become a doctor as a result. His debut album, “Me Against Myself” arrived in 2004, reaching number 30 in the charts, alongside two top ten singles. The album also became a huge hit in India, going multi-platinum, helping to secure Sean a role in the Bollywood film “Kya Kool Hain Hum” (2005).
Leaving Virgin Records, Sean returned to 2Point9 for his second effort, “My Own Way” in 2008, which bettered the success of his debut, reaching number six on the UK albums chart. Alongside the album’s success, Sean also gained two Top 20 hits in the UK, as well as in Poland, Portugal, Romania and Bulgaria.
Desiring to break into the American market, Sean changed his sound and signed with the Cash Money label, releasing the single “Down,” alongside Lil Wayne. “All or Nothing” was released that year, followed by a Nicki Minaj collaboration on the single “2012 (It Ain’t The End).”His second release on Cash Money came after a year’s delay in 2013, titled “Neon,” which included guest spots from Rick Ross, Ace Hood and Busta Rhymes.
English performer Kamalkit Singh Jhooti, better known as Jay Sean, almost single handedly popularized Bhangra-R&B fusion. Once he dominated the Asian charts, he took the UK charts as well as the US charts by storm following the release of his “All Or Nothing” album. This gave him the opportunity to travel the world to perform for his millions of fans. Not surprisingly, Jay Sean is a great performer. His show sets blend together pre-recorded tracks with live instrumentation to give it a different, broader sound. His vocals are just as you hear them on his album leaving no evidence of major voice editing when he was recording his album. Highly energetic and extremely engaging throughout the entire show, he really gives the audience exactly what they are expecting and more. A complete flirt, he clearly picks out specific people in the audience and makes it so that he is serenading them. Throughout the hour-long set, he performed a majority of the songs from his “All Or Nothing” album, including all his hits like “Down,” “Ride It” and “Do You Remember.” He comes across as really humble for the opportunities that he’s been given and for the love and support that his fans give him.
Iyaz was surprisingly really good live. I wasn’t exactly a fan when I went to see him live, thinking that his songs were just so standard pop, and his voice a bit nasally. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the production and edit of his songs are what caused this, because the guy can sing very well.
His performance was a joint show with Charice since they were both riding the high of “Pyramid.” It was already known that Charice, due to her large youtube following, had a powerful voice, so when he came and started the song, he blew everyone away. His voice is actually pleasant sounding. He was also very engaging with the audience, being the one to get the crowd to clap in rhythm to the song. After the song finished out he also spoke to the crowd, addressing them as the city that they were playing in. He kept thanking them for their presence, asking how much they were loving Charice, and the show as a whole as a way of goading them to send more energy to the stage. In addition to “Pyramid” he also performed his single “Replay,” which was leaps and bounds better than the version I had heard so many times on the radio.