Soundtrack Of My Life: Jay Sean

Tony Orlando and Dawn – ‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree’

“I distinctly remember my mum and dad singing this song on road trips when I was a kid. Me and my brother would try and sing along from the back of the car, even though we didn’t know the words, so it’s quite a nice childhood memory.”

“Back in the day, you could walk into HMV and listen to an album in-store. I remember being about nine and putting those headphones on so I could listen to this Lionel Richie album. It’s not the kind of thing you’d think a nine-year-old would gravitate to, but something in his songs really spoke to me. And I’m not lying when I say that I think it really shaped my songwriting. Because even though he’s a soul singer, there’s a lot of country in his melodies. People say I have, too.”

“When I was growing up, R&B and hip-hop became my love, so anything from [those genres in] the mid-’90s reminds me of listening to cassettes in the car with my mates. We’d press record when a song we liked came on the radio, because that was the only way to make a mixtape. ‘Just The Way’ stands out because me and my best friend would rinse it over and over again. He’s still my best mate today, so it’s a song we always go back to.”

“Because I fell in love with hip-hop, me and my mates would go and see any big US acts who came over to England. We saw Wu-Tang Clan , Junior M.A.F.I.A., Biggie , so many amazing ones. But I distinctly remember seeing The Roots because they brought out Rahzel, who did some beatboxing, and it absolutely fascinated me. I was like, ‘This is insane!’ And it inspired me to learn how to beatbox, which I incorporate into my shows now.”

“When my friends are like, ‘Let’s go karaoke, bro,’ it’s the last thing I want to do because I sing for a living. So, I usually do something completely different from my own stuff like a rap song. But one time I was touring in Bumblefuck, America and we went to this dive bar after the show. It wasn’t even a karaoke bar, but the DJ was like, ‘Yo bro, come up and do one of your songs.’ This sounds like a made-up story but I swear this random guy came up to me afterwards and said: ‘Stick to your day job.’ I just died laughing because obviously I must have sounded horrible. I’m not someone who can drink and sing.”

“Lyrically, it’s gorgeous and right on the money. He’s basically saying that our time on earth is fleeting, so we should try to live our life right and impact people positively. My brother and I were obsessed with the [1983 coming-of-age] movie The Outsiders when we were kids, and this song was on the soundtrack, so we’d listen to it over and over again.”

“After a couple of glasses of wine, there are a number of songs that could make me cry. But if you were to play this song at any time of day – it doesn’t matter what mood I’m in – it immediately puts me into a melancholic state. It’s just a gorgeous song and so honestly sung. He lets his voice break and go out of tune or whatever because it’s just raw emotion. His repetition of the melody gets me every time.”