Jay Sean: Building a Legacy, One ‘Body’ at a Time

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Jay Sean is entering another chapter. Following a career that has taken him from London to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, with global hits including ‘Down’ and ‘Ride It’, the British-Indian artist is moving forward with new music while looking towards the legacy he aims to leave behind.

His latest single, ‘Body’, marks a shift in sound, blending Afro-dance and Afro-house influences with the R&B melodies that have long defined him. “I wanted something global sounding because I have a global fanbase and I want to reach people from all corners of the Earth,” Sean explains.

With a focus on getting listeners up and onto the dancefloor, Jay Sean turned towards making an up-tempo track. He found the Afro genre to be the perfect means to do so. As a big fan of Afro music, Sean wanted to incorporate its “rhythm, the feeling, the warmth and the groove” while retaining the melodic identity of a Jay Sean record. “Topline-wise and melodies, I wanted to give that signature Jay Sean kind of melodic vibe,” he says. “I think it came out really nice, tying them all together in a way that feels authentic and feels good.” 

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That authenticity is important to Sean, whose career has never been confined to one sound. From the Punjabi, hip-hop and R&B fusion of his early work to the Middle Eastern influences heard on ‘Ride It’, he has continually moved between genres. “I’ve been very lucky enough to hop around genres, so I feel like it’s a little bit difficult now to put me in a box,” he says.

For Sean, the genre itself is secondary to whether a song feels genuine. “The song is first and foremost, as long as it sounds genuine and it comes from the heart,” he explains. “Fans know when you are trying to force something, and I never force my music.”

That instinct to avoid being boxed in is also central to how Sean approaches his work with emerging artists. Through his label, he is developing artists including Veyah and London-based Akeira Jade.

Veyah, a South Asian artist born and raised in America, was discovered by Sean on TikTok, singing in her kitchen. After four years of developing her, he describes her as “a beast of a vocalist” with a versatility that refuses easy categorisation. “She’s incredible and so versatile. Again, can’t put her in a box; she’s just a girl that loves to sing, and that’s it.”

Akeira Jade similarly caught his attention for her individuality. “She’s phenomenal and again super alternative genre, can’t put her in a box,” Sean says, adding that she produces and writes her own material.

For Sean, helping artists like these find their own paths is now an important part of his legacy. “When I was a kid, I was just in love with Hip-hop and R&B, but I was an Indian kid that grew up in England,” he recalls.

Growing up in London, Sean found himself surrounded by different cultures and communities, with music acting as a bridge between them. His own experience of being an Indian artist drawn to genres he wasn’t expected to make would later shape his ambitions for the next generation.

“If everything that I’ve done can lead up to a point where the next Indian or South Asian kid, who loves any type of genre of music, just wants to make it and put it out to the world, can have a chance without being labelled, put into a box, or stopped and blocked because of the colour of their skin or nationality — that, to me, is the good work on my behalf, and I would like to do that for the next generations of my people.”

That same sense of purpose is informing an upcoming documentary about his career. Approached by filmmakers who described his story as “truly a one of one”, Sean says the idea made him reflect on what his journey could mean to someone else.

“I didn’t need a puff piece,” he says. “That’s not what I wanted it to be.” Instead, he hopes the documentary can inspire someone who has been told their background is a barrier to their ambitions. “If there is a kid somewhere with big lavish dreams but has been told they can’t do it because they’re from this background or that race, but then they can see my story and perhaps be inspired in any small way to dream a little bit bigger and say, ‘Look mum and dad, well he did it, maybe I can,’” he says.

The documentary will tell his story through seven or eight signature songs from his catalogue, reimagined with new collaborators and used as timestamps throughout his career.

Beyond the documentary, Sean is also preparing his podcast, Everything Changes, which he describes as a deeper exploration of identity and the person behind the public image. “Being on this side of it, I kind of know what questions to ask because I’m asking the questions I wish I was asked,” he says.

As for his own music, Sean has no intention of slowing down. Rather than spending years preparing a single album, he wants the freedom to release music whenever inspiration strikes. “If I feel like making a song and I want it to be like this, and next week I want to put it out, I’m putting it out,” he says. The common thread is energy — and a touch of nostalgia.

“There’s a lot of energy in me that I need to put out in the world, and it’s feel-good energy,” Sean says. “There’s a lot of nostalgic elements in the new songs that make you feel like you’re in 2010 without it being old and dated.”

For Jay Sean, then, this next chapter is about more than revisiting the past. It is about continuing to make music on his own terms while creating space for artists who, like him, simply want the opportunity to be heard without being defined by where they come from.