Earlier than Hanumankind began making waves on the Billboard Scorching 100 along with his Kalmi-assisted “Massive Dawgs” (No. 23), Jay Sean was making historical past for South Asian artists on Billboard’s marquee singles chart.
In 2009, Jay Sean (born Kamaljit Singh Jhooti) topped the Scorching 100 with “Down,” his Lil Wayne-assisted debut single. The achievement helped Sean change into the very first South Asian artist to prime the Scorching 100 and helped kick off a fruitful pop profession that features Scorching 100 hits like “Do You Keep in mind” (No. 10, with Sean Paul and Lil Jon), “2012” (No. 31, with Nicki Minaj) and “Hit the Lights” (No. 18, with Lil Wayne).
15 years later, Jay Sean is again with a brand new album and an thrilling new enterprise that he detailed for Billboard workers author Kyle Denis on the most recent version of Billboard Information.
“To begin with, I’m South Asian. Lots of people nonetheless don’t know that. After I got here right here from England, folks had been talking to me in Spanish lots as a result of they thought I used to be Puerto Rican or Dominican — I had the shaved head then,” Sean quips. “[They didn’t realize I was] South Asian, and the first-ever South Asian in historical past to have had a No. 1 Billboard document.”
The genre-melding singer continues, “After I was developing and telling folks I wished to do music, they had been like ‘Are you silly? Go searching you bro, do you see anybody such as you onstage with Justin Timberlake and Usher? There’s no brown dude.’ So, I took it upon myself to create a platform for brown folks. We’re the most important demographic [on] planet Earth, why aren’t we taking the scene over? That’s why I arrange 3AM, so I can present that construction for us.”
Co-founded by Sean, The Heavy Group’s Jeremy Skaller and Vary Media’s Jared Cotter, 3AM Leisure goals to help artists from the South Asian diaspora as they work to interrupt by means of international music markets. The document label will function beneath Virginia Media, with massive releases from each Sean and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan already obtainable.
Over the summer time (June 28), the actress dropped “Footwear… Extra Footwear,” a campy novelty observe produced by New York DJ Ellis Miah. Proceeds for the track had been donated to 2 LGBTQIA+ charities: Not A Section and the Trevor Undertaking.
Sean has already launched two singles beneath 3AM previewing his forthcoming new album. “Heartless,” which options Punjabi hitmaker Ikky, is a guitar-inflected entice&B banger, whereas the Jai Dhir-featuring “Piche Piche” effortlessly blends Punjabi, Hindi and English right into a smoldering R&B groove. The latter observe additionally contains a workforce of A-listers behind the scenes; it was co-written by two-time Grammy-nominated R&B maestro Eric Bellinger and co-produced by Sean Prepare dinner, one of many minds behind Shaboozey‘s historic smash “A Bar Tune (Tipsy).” Each “Heartless” and “Piche Piche” will seem on Final Name, Sean’s forthcoming new album, which is due in 2025.
“After I did songs like ‘Piche Piche’ and ‘Heartless,’ it was very straightforward for me to try this as a result of I stay and breathe that,” he explains. “I converse Punjabi, I can sing in Punjabi, I can even rap and sing in English, it’s all very pure to me. To work with Eric TKTK — who’s clearly such an OG within the recreation — I’ve bought a lot respect and love for him. It was simply nice to work with an R&B legend like that. And Sean Prepare dinner is my boy. The entire album is principally me and Sean.”
Though he’s placing out a significant mission of his personal subsequent yr, Sean stays targeted on uplifting and highlighting rising South Asian artists and ensuring that the door he cracked ajar with “Down” stays open.
“I hope that I can look again and say all of the years that I dreamt of this taking place have lastly come true,” he muses.
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