Jay Sean
I was born and raised in Southall; we had two houses which we made into one big one because there were 12 of us living there: me and my bro, my parents, my grandparents, and my dad's brother's family.Collection: Dad
I believe that if you work hard and you never get to enjoy it then what's the point. You can't take any of this with you, the money or nothing. The only thing you can take is experiences, memories and good times, so I like to get amongst it as much as I can.
Stereotypes are so played out.
When you look at Beyonce, every interview she does is just perfect delivery, perfect execution, and the thing is, she has honed that skill down.
My blood is Indian. I don't need tablas in my music to prove that.
The most important thing is to make quality music that will last.
There are so many egos in this game - maybe we all need to come down a notch.
My granddad doesn't care if he falls down when he's singing, he's just having a laugh.
I'd say I am a nice cross of R&B and Pop.
I like to write songs that people can identify with and sing along to.
I grew up on R&B and soul, so that backbone is always there.
I've been fortunate to work with artists that are at the top of their respective genres. That allowed me to learn from them and their success.
I really enjoyed studying.
I used to dance around, I used to sing a lot, I remember, and beat box.
I used to re-create the beats that I heard.
There was a time when I had spiky hair and I was doing Indian-influenced R&B fusion songs.
When a hit's a hit, you can't hold it down.
I'm so proud of my heritage, and I know who my fans are.
Much like Jennifer Lopez or Ricky Martin who might have started with a hardcore Latin fan-base, I'll always remember what my foundation was.
The minute you forget who your fan-base is, that's the minute everything falls out from under you.
I am a pop and R&B singer. I'm not necessarily an Indian singer or musician. I sing in English, and the music I do blends hip hop, pop, R&B, and soul.
For people that don't know and haven't seen a Bollywood film, you need to go and see one. They give you everything in one. They give you your comedy, your fear, your horror, your thriller, your rom-com. It's everything in one.
Bollywood is just amazing.
I started writing rhymes in fact when I was 11 or 12 years old. I was actually into hip hop before anything else.
I remember when Kriss Kross came out! I was round about the same age, or maybe a couple of years younger.
I buy lots of my software over the net from the States.
What I've found is that a lot of people in the media industry tend to use Macs because they're so good for graphics and music.
A lot of my writing is done on the road so I can take the music on my iPod, work out a melody then record it into Cubase.
I get so frustrated when it takes longer than a couple of seconds to load a page - I couldn't live without the Internet now.
It used to be OK to have two or three songs out a year - and those are your singles. Now, they don't want that. They're like, 'OK, I heard that. Next!'
I've been very blessed to work with some of the biggest in the game.
So when I wrote 'Down' - when I sang the melody, I sung the word 'Down' for no reason. I don't know why. That's how I came up with the medley. I was like, 'I don't know why I said down, but we got to write a song around it.'
It's such a weird process, songwriting, because you just have to feel it. There's no right or wrong melody or lyric.
Deep down inside, I'm a science geek.
I've always been fascinated by the body and the mind.
I'm a really hardworking person.
I think, honestly, hard work is the only way that you'll get anywhere and this is not an easy job. People think it's easy to be a singer or to be an artist. It's crazy hours and you need a lot of energy and some spirit inside you to do that.
I'm open to all opportunities.
I feel blessed to travel the world and land in a place where, when I sing my songs, they sing along with every word.
I'm one of not even a handful of British Asian popstars who are maninstream. Of course I was always tagged as British Asian singer Jay Sean as opposed to pop R'n'B singer Jay Sean.
Ride It' did it for me. Not only did the Asian community love it, but the black community and the white community got to hear about it. The song became such a big hit for me and got me noticed by the CEOs of Cash Money in America.
England really is at the forefront of being a melting pot of all cultures.
There used to be times when you didn't see Indians on television or if you did it was the corner shop guy in 'EastEnders,' but now they're not as stereotypical and we've managed to fit in and blend really well. England does a great job of doing that.
I had the most incredible experience of my life being signed to Cash Money.
I feel I have a lot to share, I have stories for years, and I've been through everything, there's nothing you can throw at me that I haven't been through.
I was studying to be a doctor like every good Indian boy, and doing music on the side as a hobby. Then I started to get a little serious and record companies started giving me offers!
Managing yourself, writing and performing your own music can teach you a lot.
Music is a language that should have no barriers.
While I write for myself, I also write for other artists too.
I'm a fan of collaborating.