Jay Sean

Jay Sean got his start singing Bhangra fusion in the UK’s Asian Underground movement in the early 2000s, but his evolution as a solo artist would turn him into a model of pop’s borderlessness, spanning old-school R&B, fluorescent-hued EDM, silky dancehall, and more.

Along the way, he’s had cameos in Bollywood films and racked up collabs around the globe.

Born Kamaljit Singh Jhooti in London’s Hounslow neighborhood in 1981, Sean scored his first hit alongside producer Rishi Rich with 2003’s “Dance With You (Nachna Tere Naal).” He quickly signed to Virgin, dropped out of medical school, and released 2004’s Me Against Myself, whose acoustic guitars and skeletal beats were reminiscent of Craig David, another artist (and future collaborator) who had come to R&B from the underground club scene.