Jay Sean, a British singer and songwriter known for his chart-topping R&B, rap, and hip-hop hits, performed at Bucknell on Friday, Nov. 15. His career includes global success and a historic milestone as the first South Asian solo artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 with his hit single “Down,” featuring Lil Wayne.

What’s been the most memorable moment in your career so far, whether it’s performing live, a fan interaction, or a collaboration?

Oh wow, so many things, huh? So many wonderful opportunities, wonderful experiences. I think sometimes the live aspect is the one that sticks out the most because you’re taking songs that you might have written with, say, two or three people, but then you’re having 20,000, 30,000, 100,000 people sing those very words back to you. It just amplifies everything and nothing can quite top that feeling of performing these songs live.

I think one of the most memorable performances would have to be Madison Square Garden, the first time I ever played the venue. For any artist in this world, that’s our holy grail, really. That’s the one that everyone around the world knows. It was just a surreal moment. And you know – being a South Asian kid coming from a small town in London to stepping on that stage where the greats have performed and having 20,000 New Yorkers sing back the words? It’s just pretty outstanding.

You’ve worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. What’s been the most valuable lesson that you’ve learned from some of these collaborations?

Yeah, that’s a good question, because some of them have been artists that started up around the same time as me and some have been artists who have been around longer than me. I like to have conversations with those artists and pick their brains because they’ve been in the game longer than me, so what can I learn from them?

I remember talking to Mary J. Blige and Boyz II Men. Boyz II Men were the reason I started singing in the first place, you know? And it’s funny—some of them were just like, “Hey, be smart with your money. Invest it.” I love that kind of advice. Because with some other people—that won’t be what they tell you.

Mary J. Blige told me something really fun. We did a music video together for a song called “Each Tear”—and she was like, “Are you singing or just lip-syncing?” I said, “I’m lip-syncing because this is a music video.” She was like, “No, honey, you better sing! We need to see your face! We need to see the emotion in your face.” And I remember thinking that was a really, really cool piece of advice.

Are there any up-and-coming artists that you’re excited about or excited to collaborate with, maybe?

I’m excited about my own artists because I have my own record label!

That’s one of my questions! I’m really excited to ask about that, actually.

Yeah! So I don’t know what your question was going to be on that, but really, you know, the artists that I’m excited about, I now have the privilege of being able to sign them myself and help direct their careers in some way or another, building their careers with them. That’s the most important thing, right?

I’ve got to give a shoutout to Veja, who is my first signing. She’s actually from New Jersey. She’s an Indian girl, South Indian and she’s just unbelievably talented. She can sing better than anyone I know. It’s just effortless. It’s actually quite annoying how good she is! We have a couple of other international signings as well, so it’s very exciting!

So, what does success look like for you now compared to when you first started in music?

You know, success for me has always been a personal thing. It’s never been based on the chart position or how many views I got on a video or anything. It’s about what I put out into the world, and am I proud of it. I try not to put anything out into this world that I can’t stand behind. So, sometimes, I will take a break from music for a while. I’d rather not give anything than give something I’m not proud of just for the sake of providing content or providing music.

So for me, everything I put out is very personal and it means the world to me. It’s a representation of me as an artist and as a human being, right? Success for me really is about pushing myself to my limits but always wanting to love and enjoy it.

And the ultimate success for me would be to see other people be able to benefit off of my own personal success. Which is why I did the label and why I have a TV production company now. It’s like, how can I help the most people with this platform that I have? And that would be a great measure of success for me.

So you grew up in a South Asian household in London. How did your upbringing shape your journey as an artist?

Yeah! So, I grew up listening to a lot of R&B and hip-hop. That was my first love, right? R&B and hip-hop was my first love ever since I was about 11 years old. And I started rapping first before I was singing, which is why a lot of my style actually has—you know, if you hear, for example, “Dance With You,” which is my first-ever song, In the second verse. It’s basically me rapping but with melody.

So I was shaped a lot by hip-hop and R&B. But also being, you know, Indian, I grew up in a household where we’d be watching Bollywood movies together. And some of those beautiful, you know, songs from those movies and the emotional melodies and stuff—that kind of stuff sticks with me. And I think that’s also been present in my music, especially when I do the Hindi versions of songs. There’s so much emotion in that.

And being Punjabi, of course – I’ve got to have the Punjabi influence. So both my earlier songs and my latest songs are a blend of all those influences. It’s a bit of Hindi, it’s a bit of Punjabi, it’s a bit of R&B, it’s a bit of hip-hop, it’s a bit of pop—it’s all of it in one. And that is what embodies me as a human being and as an artist.

What kind of legacy do you hope to leave behind in the music industry?

So, one thing that is very, very important to me before I finally peace out of this industry is what I leave behind. And what I mean by that is not my own personal, you know, discography of my own personal journey. It’s about what I did while I was here and how I benefited others through my journey. That means a lot to me.

It’s my personal goal because, for the longest time, I felt like I was just one of the only South Asian mainstream music stars. There was nobody around me. There was no infrastructure. There was no scene. There were pockets—there was the Bhangra scene, there was a Bollywood scene—but the mainstream music industry? Where you were just a brown person who wanted to sing? Whether it’s rock music, hip-hop, dance—whatever it was—there just wasn’t enough of us.

For the longest time, I haven’t seen enough of us in music. So I decided that when I’m at that point in my life where I’m able to go into more of an executive role, have my own label and be able to sign artists, then I’m going to do that. And it has taken me this amount of time to be able to get to that point where I have all of the means to now help others.

So, if you were like, “I really just want to sing, but nobody understands that. They keep focusing on the wrong things,” I understand that because I’ve been through it. You know, I’ve got my foot in the door and I’ve had it in the door for 20 years. But now, it’s time to knock that door down and let our people come through and let it be a scene for real and a movement for real.

So many of us grew up listening to your music—Now that we’re all grown up, what’s something you’d like to say to all of us who grew up listening to your music and are still here supporting you today?

Live in the moment. Please, for goodness sake. I have so many conversations with 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds—many of whom are my cousins—who are just so ridden by anxiety because they’ve got so many big, lofty goals that they forget to live in the moment.

You actually don’t have to deal with the stress and burdens of real, real grown-up life just yet. You’re never going to get your 20s back. And the 20s is the time to make mistakes, go on adventures, be brave, be fearless and have fun. Don’t forget to have fun. Your 20s are all about you. It’s brilliant to have big dreams, and you must have them, but don’t forget to have fun during that process.

Trust me, you’ve got time. And it’s not your guys’ fault—you don’t know yet what lies ahead. Because you just said, “Now that we’re all grown up.” But to me, you’re not all grown up yet. With all due respect, you guys still have so much fun ahead of you!