King Charles urged to ‘get up and dance’ at Jay Sean charity gala performance
Singer Jay Sean has expressed hope that the King will “get up and dance” during his set at the British Asian Trust Gala this Tuesday.
The 45-year-old artist, known for his hit in 2009 Down He is scheduled to perform on behalf of the monarch at the annual fundraiser alongside US rapper Lil Wayne.
This performance comes after Sean became the first South Asian artist to earn a Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after selling more than 10 million copies of his 2009 track.
Sean added that he wasn’t nervous about the upcoming show and that the invite was a “beautiful reminder” of the impact his career has had on people.
He said: “King Charles will testify.
“I hope she gets up and dances a little.
“Obviously the Gala is a very prestigious event celebrating all the contributions of British Asians in this country.
“It’s nice to be recognized for these achievements and to be able to celebrate it tomorrow, I think it will be great.”
Sean said it was a full-circle moment for him to tell his family after leaving medicine to pursue his music career and see him make them “so proud”.
“It’s one of those things where you go, ‘see, mom, leaving medicine wasn’t such a bad idea.’
“Having such a long lifespan and being able to span over two decades, with so many options of artists to choose from, whenever you get selected for something like this, there’s always a moment where you have to remind yourself and say ‘this is not an easy feat.’
“It’s a nice reminder of how you’ve spent your career and the impact you’ve had on people.”
Sean said the tracklist will feature “just bangers” and a mix of music, including a song in which he will sing in Punjabi and English.
He said: “Music has this incredible ability to take you back in time, because we all remember where we were when we first heard that song, we remember who we were dating, what we were studying and where we were, who our friend group was, what we used to do, and I think there’s a kind of magic in performing those songs.
“I love seeing people’s reactions, where you can see it brings them back to a beautiful moment.”
Speaking about the premiere and what else needs to happen for British Asians to have access to the same opportunities as other communities, the singer said it was all about re-education.
“There are still stereotypes about what we do, what kind of work we do, what we contribute to this society, and often the arts are overlooked.
“I think the arts are an area where we’ve spent a really long time understanding people’s understanding of ‘hey, we can be funny too, we can be comedians, we can be actors, we can make music.’
“We can do all this because we are not that different.
“I think reeducating that and looking at the arts a little bit more allows people to discover how much talent there really is out there.”
Sean has four songs that became top 10 singles in the UK: Fell, Stolen, 2012 (Not the End) And All Eyes on You.
