Thursday, 24 September 2009

UK R 'n' B artist finds Stateside success

Jay Sean finds fame in US with six weeks in Billboard top ten
British singer Jay Sean has become the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history after taking up residence in the Billboard top ten.

The 28-year-old has been in the top ten of the US charts for six weeks with his single Down, which features rap megastar Lil Wayne, and can now celebrate far greater success across the Atlantic than in his native land.

Born in Southall, west London, Jay Sean had two top ten singles in 2004 but left Virgin Records after feeling the label was keen to change his sound.

He later scored five top 20 singles in the UK and two Mobo nominations after releasing his album My Own Way through his own label Jayded and 2Point9 Records in 2007 and 2008 but has now found the biggest fame of his career after signing with US hip-hopn label Cash Money Records.

His single Down is yet to be released in the UK but after Lil Wayne provided a 30-second rap for the song, it has become a summer smash in the US, selling over one million copies and spending three weeks at number two in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

'I'm very blessed that it got off to a flying start and it's been doing crazy things over the last couple of months,' Sean told BBC News.

'I want to do my best to represent the UK in America and let people really understand that it doesn't matter if we're from a little place called Hounslow.

'As long as you work hard and strive to do you best and make good music, and of course with a bit of luck, it is possible.'

He added his sudden rise to fame in the US had taken the media by surprise.

'All the journalists and radio people have been saying, dude, where did you come from?' he explained.

'It's just different for them. I talk funny. They say, dude, we wouldn't expect you, a little Brit, to be signed to Cash Money. They love the fact that we're from two different worlds, and I love that as well.' ADNFCR-708-ID-19375423-ADNFCR

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