Jay Sean Conquers America - Snap, Crackle and Pop
Jay Sean Conquers America
Posted Wed 23 Sep 2009 12:34PM BST by Dave Rumour in Snap, Crackle and Pop
http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/snapcrackleandpop__1/snapcrackleandpop-476622868-1253705366_thumb.jpg?ymWq57BDWq6LgYJAAsk the likes of Oasis or Arctic Monkeys just how easy it is to crack America and they are sure to let you know with a shrug. In fact, in recent years the US has been much better at selling their guitar acts back to us, with The Strokes, White Stripes and Kings Of Leon all making their names in Blighty long before they got anywhere near taking on those massive 50 states. But this is not the case in the world of what marketers call “urban”, where Leona Lewis, Estelle and MIA have all made waves on the other side of the pond.
You can add to that list Jay Sean, who has become the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history. The R&B star has just notched up six weeks on the Billboard Top 10 with “Down”, his best-selling smash with Lil Wayne, which has now shifted a million copies, locking down the number two position for the past three weeks. Now signed to Cash Money in America, the same label as Wayne, it’s all a far cry from Jay’s Hounslow roots as he looks to live up the hype of being “the UK’s answer to Ne-Yo”.“If you have some good music, you can make it anywhere”, he says of this stunning achievement.
Jay is now looking to go one better and really make history by displacing Black Eyed Peas at the chart summit, a position they have occupied for months with two different tracks. “I know their sales are decreasing and their airplay is falling. It’s probably going to be on its way down. Hopefully we can clinch that Number One spot”, chirped Jay, now a bona fide star in the USA. “All the journalists and radio people have been saying, dude, where did you come from? 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”, he explained. “Down” is released in the UK next month and no prizes for guessing where it’s headed…