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SCOTT SIMON, host:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. Im Scott Simon.

A self-professed science geek is making an explosion on the U.S. Billboard charts.

(Soundbite of song, "Down")

Mr. JAY SEAN (Singer): (Singing) Baby, are you down, down, down, down, down? Down, down, even if the sky is falling down...

SIMON: That's "Down" by the British R&B star Jay Sean. Jay Sean is the best-selling British male artist in the United States since Sir Elton John. He recently won all four Asian Music Awards for which he was nominated. He even performed at a Sweet 16 party for the daughter of the ruler of Dubai. (Soundbite of song, "Down")

Mr. SEAN: (Singing) So come on and fly with me, as we make our great escape, escape, escape, escape...

SIMON: "All or Nothing" is the name of Jay Sean's U.S. debut album. So far, it sure seems to be all.

Jay Sean joins us now from our studios in New York.

Thanks so much for being with us.

Mr. SEAN: How are you, sir?

SIMON: Im just fine, thanks.

Mr. SEAN: Good.

SIMON: Very good to meet you. And you weren't born with that name, were you?

Mr. SEAN: No. No. No. No, thats my stage name. Artists seem to do that sometimes. They kind of like want to put on a different persona, as it were, a bigger, larger persona when you get on stage. So that was the name I chose.

SIMON: Kamaljit Singh Jhooti?

Mr. SEAN: Very good.

SIMON: That was your name at birth.

Mr. SEAN: That's right.

SIMON: Your grandparents moved from Delhi to London around...

Mr. SEAN: They did.

SIMON: ...40 years ago.

Mr. SEAN: Mm-hmm.

SIMON: What was it like for them in London?

Mr. SEAN: You know, it's funny, I asked my granddad the other day, I said to him - I said, do you ever miss India? And he said, No. I said why. He goes, Because what you can earn in a month is your year's salary in India sometimes. You know?

So it was hard for them in the beginning. My granddad couldn't get employed because of the fact that he had a different name, one that the English people couldn't pronounce. So they decided to call him whatever they want to call him. I'll call you Bob.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. SEAN: You know, and it's interesting. That's what they had to go through.

SIMON: What music do you remember hearing that first put the kind of spark of music into you?

Mr. SEAN: I remember, I was very, very young. I must have been may be seven or eight years old. My older cousins at the time were listening to people like Michael Jackson, of course, and Stevie Wonder, and Lionel Richie - the "Back to Front" album.

I remember listening to that over and over again, when I was only about 11 years old. And so, therefore, from that age, I managed to develop a love for music, for soul music. And that's really what got me into it.

SIMON: You were once in a group called the Rishi Rich Project?

Mr. SEAN: That's right. Rishi Rich here being a producer in England. And he actually was the one who sort of discovered me, who discovered that I could sing and we decided to put together a few demos. And we had a couple of songs together as a group, and off that I managed to get my solo record deal.

SIMON: We've got some music...

Mr. SEAN: Oh, okay.

SIMON: ...from the Rishi Rich Project.

Mr. SEAN: Wow, okay.

SIMON: Let's listen to a little bit of "Dance with You."

(Soundbite of song, "Dance with You")

RISHI RICH PROJECT (Music Group): (Singing) Girl you got exactly what I need. I ain't going to lie, with you is where I wanna be. All up in the club, the finest girl I see. I know that you want me to come over to you and talk. I'm just trying keep it real with you. Are you feeling me the way I'm feeling you? Either call your crew I'm going to call my crew, cause Jay and Rishi Rich and Juggy D are coming through. Kurri soni, te akh mastani, tu giddha de rani, ne gala soon ja...

SIMON: Am I wrong to think this is what would have happened if Michael Jackson had walked down Brick Lane in London?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. SEAN: Yeah, probably quite similar.

SIMON: Brick Lane, we should explain, lots of subcontinent families and businesses up and down Brick Lane in London.

You were a medical student?

Mr. SEAN: Yes, sir. I was - two and a half years.

SIMON: And where were you a medical student?

Mr. SEAN: Queen Mary and Westfield University in London.

SIMON: And I'm just trying to imagine the reaction that your parents might have had when you told them you were dropping out of medical school to become a musician.

Mr. SEAN: They were okay, actually. Because the thing is, you know, I kept them informed and then kept them in touch with everything that was happening, the progress that was happening in my music. But I did tell them. I said, hey, listen, if I get a record deal, you know, I'm going to go with my heart. And they were like, Look, son, you do what makes you happy. You've got to live the rest of your life. They were very supportive.

SIMON: There is something of a theatrical tradition of gifted British performers dropping out of medical school. I'm thinking of Sir Jonathan Miller, of course, did it.

Mr. SEAN: Hmm.

SIMON: Great opera composer and comedian, for that matter. Mark Down, the great puppeteer.

Were you going to medical school because you were supposed to, or what?

Mr. SEAN: No. Not at all. I mean to this day, I'm still fascinated by science. I love watching programs about Discovery Channel and just reading New Scientist, and all that kind of stuff. I'm just fascinated by it. You know? It's another hobby of mine. It's a passion of mine. And it was something I wanted to do. And it - I really definitely wanted to impact people. I wanted to save people's lives. I wanted to do something good in this world.

SIMON: And what does music do?

Mr. SEAN: I can still touch people's lives. People that I've talked to at my shows who have said, Your song literally saved me. Like, I was in a relationship and I was, you know, I was crying every night. I went through depression, but your album helped me get through it.

When I realized that you can actually impact people's lives like that through music, that's an incredible thing.

SIMON: Well, let's listen to a little bit of another one of your songs.

Mr. SEAN: Sure.

SIMON: Let's listen to "Ride It."

(Soundbite of song, "Ride It")

Mr. SEAN: (Singing) It's been about a month and 20 days and we're going round and round just playing silly games. Now you're saying, slow it down, not right now. Then you wink at me and walk away. Let it be, let it be, let it be known. Hold on, don't go touching and teasing me, telling me no. But this time I need to feel you. Ride it.

SIMON: I gather this is the song that you recorded in the UK. It's now on your U.S. debut album.

Mr. SEAN: That's right.

SIMON: And I've also been told that you've recorded this in Hindi.

Mr. SEAN: I have. Yeah, for the Indian album I recorded a version of this where I put some Hindi words in there. That's right.

SIMON: Could we hear a little Hindi?

Mr. SEAN: Well, you want me to speak it? Yeah.

SIMON: Well, sing it actually. But...

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: ...I mean I can say namaste(ph) but we wanted to hear a little.

Mr. SEAN: Oh, very good.

SIMON: Yeah.

Mr. SEAN: God, I can't even remember the full words now. It was something like ride it (Foreign language spoken). Ride it (Foreign language spoken). Ride it (Foreign language spoken). So there you go.

SIMON: That's very beautiful.

Mr. SEAN: Thank you. Thank you.

SIMON: I was struck by something you told a British newspaper. You said, quote, "We're not all shopkeepers."

Mr. SEAN: I said(ph) cab drivers.

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: Cab drivers or(ph) doctors too. Is it valuable to shake up people's stereotypes when they see you?

Mr. SEAN: There's only certain sectors of society which still perhaps don't understand or know enough about other people's cultures, so when I'm face-to-face with somebody who perhaps hasn't met somebody who's Indian, the only way that they know anything about Indian people is what they see perhaps around them every time they catch a cab or if they go into a Dunkin' Donuts. And those kind of stereotypes do exist. So then when they talk to me, they're like, oh, you don't speak in that accent that the people speak in the Dunkin' Donuts. And I'm like, no, I don't. How come? Well, because I was born in England.

SIMON: Youre as British as any Mountbatten.

Mr. SEAN: Yeah.

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: I mean even more, as I remind myself of the history of that family.

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: So I guess you're not going back to medical school any time soon.

Mr. SEAN: I dont think so.

SIMON: I'm sure they held the slot open for you.

Mr. SEAN: Yeah.

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: But you really do feel you're doing something that - to drag this word into it - that has at least a bit of a healing effect with people too.

Mr. SEAN: I think so. And one thing I love about the position that I'm in, as I said, that not only is the opportunity to do things through charity that can help, there's also, as I said, that thing that we've just touched on, you know, you're educating people and that's not meant in a derogatory manner or a patronizing manner or a patronizing manner, but there is so much to learn from people who are from different communities, different cultures, and I just think that's a beautiful thing, you know?

SIMON: Well, very nice talking to you.

Mr. SEAN: Thank you. You too.

(Soundbite of "Love Like This")

Mr. SEAN: (Singing) Lately, I've been thinking about how you changed me. I'm not even playing around but I say that, that ain't me...

SIMON: Jay Sean joined us from our studios in New York. His new album, first here in the United States, is "All or Nothing." It's out now and you can hear more music by Jay Sean at .

(Soundbite of "Love Like This")

Mr. SEAN: (Singing) And even though we have our highs and lows, girl if there's one thing I know and I will love you eternally, for eternity.

 

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