Jay Sean is back, fresh from scooping two awards at the UK Asian Music Awards 2008, with new single ‘Maybe’ to follow his smash hit ‘Ride It’. Maire Bonheim spoke to the rising star from Hounslow about YouTube, twilight in Kenya and getting chatted up by Bananarama. Before he got pulled over by the police that is!

Congratulations on the Asian Music Awards. Were you surprised?

Thank you very much. I didn’t expect to win and I didn’t go there with any expectations - I just went down to enjoy the evening and it was very nice. Let’s be honest, to get an award for doing your job and for doing something that you love is a beautiful thing and I think that’s what I liked more than anything – the fact that people appreciated my work.

Were you expecting Ride It to be so popular?

I don’t ever have expectations. I can say that honestly because I like to be pleasantly surprised. If it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work and at least that way I won’t get upset by expecting it to be huge. But if it does become huge it’s always a wonderful surprise. Ride It was showing signs of being a very big record, especially on YouTube where it had a million hits before the video was even made, and now it’s up to 2.5 million hits and it’s obviously peoples’ favourite.

Do you think the new single will top it?

I actually think it could to be honest! It hasn’t even hit radio yet and it’s 2 months from the release date and it’s already amongst the top 30 most played videos in England at the moment and its had 150,000 hits on YouTube in a week and a half. It’s showing really positive signs, so let’s see.

What’s your favourite track on the album?

Probably Stay, which is the 3rd single.

What’s been the best ever performance you’ve done to date?

I don’t know about that, that’s so difficult. One of them was performing alongside Neo in Japan, because I’m a big fan of Neo and to be on the same stage as him was amazing and especially in Japan. The other was probably when I was in Kenya. There were 20,000 people gathered in a park at nightime and there were floodlights and the moon and the night sky. It was very twilighty, in beautiful surroundings – it was really bizarre and really nice.

You’ve had a great reception around the world. What’s that like?

What can I say, to be able to go around the world is probably the best part of my job. I love travelling, I love seeing the world, I love seeing different places, I love meeting different people and cultures. To me it’s been the most rewarding experience ever.

Is it true you were going to be a doctor before you got a record deal?

Yes, I did 2 years of medicine and then I got my record deal.

Which one song do you wish you had written?

I Will Always Love You probably. Haha. No I lie. Probably Jingle Bells because that would set my whole family up for 10 generations. No, if I was to be honest it would be So Sick [by Neo]. It was a turnaround point in RnB - that’s how important I think that song was. I feel like it came at a point when RnB was losing its melody and sentiment and becoming too club orientated. It was losing it for me. And then I think So Sick brought melody back into the game. That song was phenomenal.

Have you ever been star struck?

Yeah, when I met Eva Mendes [of 2 Fast 2 Furious and Hitch] I was like a little mumbling idiot. I ended up going, H-h-h-hello, I think you’re really pretty! It was a really stupid moment.

Who’s your celebrity crush?

Eva Mendes, Jessica Alba, Eva Longoria. I like Latina women a lot. And also of course there are some very beautiful Indian girls like Aishwarya Rai [of Bride & Prejudice]. She’s a stunning girl.

Have you ever tried to chat a celebrity up then?

Yeah, numerous times. I tried it on with Natalie Imbruglia once. I told her how I’d fancied her since she was Beth in Neighbours. It didn’t work.

Ever been chatted up by another celebrity?

A few times but probably the funniest was when I got chatted up by Bananarama. They said they were really into young Indian boys!

Which other celebrity would you least like to be stuck on a desert island with?

I think it would have to be someone whose personality I’m on a vibe with.

[Sirens]

I’m sorry I’m gonna have to get off the phone I think the police have just caught me. Ok I’m gonna have to go.

[Beep, beep, beep].

Maybe is out on 14th April and the album My Own Way is releasing on 28th April.

To watch Jay Sean’s new video Maybe, Click Here. To watch footage from Jay’s Ride It tour, Click Here. Visit www.jaysean.com