Jay Sean: For the first time, I’m writing an album, here in India

Among the select music artistes who truly know how to make collaborative pieces find their way to the top of music charts Jay Sean says his mantra has been rather simple ldquoI tell a collaborator you do you I will work around that If an artiste is skilled at creating Afro beats Irsquom not going to walk in and say letrsquos do a dance numberrdquo he says Evidently then his upcoming album his first in a long time would interest music aficionados ldquoItrsquos all collaborationsrdquo shares the singer whose latest release was the Juggy D and Rishi Rich offering Meri ban jaIn this interview he shares how his life has come full circle with this latest endeavour Edited excerpts from the interviewCan you tell us about your new track with Juggy DJuggy had sent this to me a while ago and asked me if I would do a verse for it And I said of course When he told me Rishi Rich was the producer that sealed the deal For fans who consumed Dance with you and Eyes on you this song is a nod to that era Rishi Juggy and I have chemistry When we began our careers we were young and excited to make music We had our whole lives ahead of us and couldnrsquot believe that we had the opportunity to play together in studios and go on tours I wasnrsquot going alone I was with two of my best friends So even if itrsquos been a while when we return to the studio the chemistry is right thereFor Indians who are born and brought up in England there are some things that are common mdash you will have your dadima watching Bollywood your parents making rotis and you yourself will listen to RnB All those influences were real and thatrsquos what the three of us brought to the studio Our music spoke to every Indian kid who grew up in England They said lsquoThese guys are putting our life story in a songrsquoYoursquove found success in both your commercial English numbers and your Hindi fusion songs Were you ever divided when it came to deciphering which audience you must targetI donrsquot think about which market my song will target I just make it When I made Down I didnrsquot need an Indian sample on it Thatrsquos how I lead my music You can create some songs with that mindset though Stolen for instance was that The original version was a ballad but when Rishi and I heard it we felt it would sound good with that tune Churaliya hai tumne So there will be a song for the Indian market and another which will cater to the rest of the globe and then there will be songs that will do bothYoursquove spoken about how you lacked a credible voice critiquing your work when you began What are the benchmarks you set for yourself that set you up for success in the absence of thatI complete 20 years of writing and performing music in 2024 It has been a beautiful journey Sounds change and the climate changes But I am the most excited Irsquove been in a long time right now Irsquoll tell you why When I started making music 20 years ago some of the producers Irsquom working with now werenrsquot even born I worked with a guy who is 20 years old When I started working it was all about watching Bollywood consuming RnB and fusing the genres For young producers that is happening right now A 20yearold kid has consumed songs by Travis Scott and Drake and also listens to bhangra and Bollywood So what they are making in the studio is what I encountered 20 years ago And thatrsquos what my new album is aboutIs that what brings you hereI am doing something Irsquove never done before I am writing an album here in India Itrsquos my first album release in a few years and will have an east meets west vibe It will have me singing in Punjabi over an RnB track or will include an Indian production with me singing in English So it is fusion It is an album of collaborations Each song will have a different artiste some of them are household names others are upcoming musicians One among them is Ali Sethi we have been wanting to work with each other It took me an hour to write the song because it flowed so well