Yes, it’s true: Jay Sean’s Lil Wayne-assisted R & B track “Down” will be your No. 1 single beginning tomorrow, evicting the Black Eyed Peas from their 26-week run at the top of the Hot 100 and answering the question plaguing many will.i.am-weary chart-watchers for so, so long. The question, of course, is this: Can you hum a few bars of the British crooner’s debut single? Sure, it may be the most-played-song on radio, but that doesn’t necessarily mean “widespread recognition” in 2009′s crazy pop-music marketplace. A video of the track, and a few fun facts about the singer with which you can impress your friends at parties, after the jump!
I love that the beat of the track kind of screams “This Song Is By A British Singer.” A few other things to note about Jay Sean:
• His real name is Kamaljit Singh Jhooti.
• He is 28 years old, and started writing rhymes when he was 11.
• He has two studio albums and a live record out already in the U.K.
• His third album, All Or Nothing, will serve as his U.S. debut when it comes out on Lil Wayne’s Cash Money Records in late November.
• Yes, it’s going to have a Drake cameo.
• Also, songs “about tough relationships,” according to Billboard.
• He’ll be sharing a bill with the surviving members of TLC at Justin Timberlake’s Shriners benefit concert next week.
• There are claims that people “jokingly” refer to him as “the South Asian Ne-Yo.” While a Google search doesn’t quite bear that out, it did unearth a clip of him singing “So Sick”:
Jay Sean Sends Peas Packing From Hot 100 Penthouse [Billboard]
Jay Sean [Official site]
Jay Sean Feat Lil Wayne – Down / NEW [Dailymotion]
More Friday, but basically: I wasn’t wrong about his sales — they are a little weak (his downloads are actually down 5% from the prior week). As you suggest above, it’s all about airplay. A good reminder that even in the iTunes era, radio still matters.
At last, a song I can listen to instead of Chris Brown’s “Forever,” since I hate Chris Brown’s guts now. Even though this is obvs not as good (oh well).
Our national nightmare is over…for now, anyway.
That song is alllll over the radio in my market, and damned catchy too (hum-able even). I expected him to be another Chris Brown type, sans anger issues, so I’m pleased that the guy is actually over the age of 25.
He’s also got impeccable taste in Sugababes. He’s good friends with Keisha and they co-wrote and recorded a song together which he’s said he is hoping will be released by the end of the year.
and he is soooooo much more pleasing to look at than Fergie. Seriously, I’m crushing!
How many weeks does he get until “Meet Me Halfway” bursts zombie-like from the earth and pulls him out of the top spot? Are we gonna start a pool on this?
And yes, I agree that he is definitely More Than Satisfactory To Look At.
@dyfl: I don’t think it can get the huge sales that “Gotta Feeling” did. On the other hand, I actually really like* “Meet me Halfway” and wouldn’t mind hearing it on the radio or at a club. But something else is going to evict “Down” before the Peas get another crack at the top. I’m thinking Britney (“3″ is tops at itunes so she could debut at 1 with a huge sales week), “Watcha Say” (if sales/airplay continue to increase as “Down” falls), or something GaGaish.
*and by really like, I mean that Fergie’s chorus is amazing. The will.i.am or whoever they are verses are god-awful.
@chachwitablog: Agreed with all of the above, except…
I’m thinking Britney (”3″ is tops at itunes so she could debut at 1 with a huge sales week)
You’re getting foiled by the usual Billboard Hot 100 data lag: “3″ will likely debut on the chart released tomorrow thanks entirely to airplay from the completed tracking week (i.e., through this past Sunday). Her possible blockbuster sales won’t be reflected until the chart released a week after tomorrow, when it could vault to No. 1 or thereabouts. But it likely won’t debut at No. 1.
britney will be #1 next week, mark my words
My co-worker was watching this video at his desk and just from the music alone I thought it was really pop for the US and then he started laughing and saying the video was “too cheesy” and I suddenly knew that it was British. I definitely approve (so cute).
And Britney was my pick for topping BEP so she must be next.
This is the old man in me, but this sounds like everything else. The Chris Brown comparison is apt, because this sounds like just about any his songs. And not nearly as catchy. Downright boring actually. Unseated the Black Eyed Peas you say? Meet the new boss…
@Chris Molanphy: Ah, I wasn’t sure if she would have enough (any) airplay to make it on the chart at all this week, hence my thought that she might actually debut at 1 rather than just zoom to 1 (or close) next week, the way Womanizer did. Remember, Womanizer only started at 97 (or 96?), so it seems possible that “3″ won’t even dent the Hot 100 at all this week. But then again I haven’t been listening to radio at all so I have no idea.
@cassidy: I sort of agree, except “Down” really only sounds like one Chris Brown song (the only one anyone remembers and/or cares about). And Jay Sean is so much cuter than Chris Brown! And less likely to choke Rihanna.
@chachwitablog: “3″ has topped the 9 p.m. chart at Z100 in NY this week. I’m not sure if that particular chart is being syndicated nationwide with all the Clear Channel cutbacks…
@Maura: oooh, so maybe she could even debut higher than “Womanizer” this week. Also seems like a trip to the top is going to be more likely if her airplay grows and her sales stay #1.
@chachwitablog: Actually, maybe I was wrong about Britney: the full chart’s out, and “3″ doesn’t make an airplay-only debut. So basically, next week she will crash onto the chart all at once, with whatever radio and sales points she’s racking up right now. Since the iTunes era started (early ’05), the only No. 1 debuts on the Hot 100 have been American Idol coronation songs, but maybe Britney can overcome that trend.
@Chris Molanphy: oooh, interesting. Well I think it is safe to consider the 96-1 or 97-1 jumps as “almost debuts” at 1. They certainly don’t represent a slow (or even fast) climb to the top, as they were basically instantaneous.
@Chris Molanphy @chachwitablog: “3″ is No. 14 on the Hot 100 Bubbling Under chart this week.
That means it is essentially no. 114 on the hot 100, right?
keep bubblin, brit-brit!
Oh well, so much for this song setting the record of 100-1 once and for all…