Terror attacks have become more cowardly: Singer Jay Sean

Jay Sean, a British singer of Indian heritage, feels people are living in a "sick world" where terror attacks have become more and more cowardly.

Following the attack in Manchester at American singer Ariana Grande's concert venue on May 22, London was struck by terror earlier this month.

"I've been thinking about how we can control this. The terror attacks have become more and more cowardly. Earlier, it used to be like a network of people getting together and planning an attack. Now, it's something as cowardly as 'I get in my car and I run over people.' It's sad," Sean, who was born as Kamaljit Singh Jhooti in London, told IANS over phone from New York.

 

He believes that from the beginning of time, there have been the good and the bad, and horrible people. And now because of social media, people are getting to hear a lot more about such acts.

"There are so many copycats now. You see people who want to do that because someone else did it... 'I am going to be that too because I had a bad day as my girlfriend broke up with me.' There was a case in America where a guy broke up with a girl, and he randomly shot people on the streets and then posted it live on social media. It's a sick world we live in."

"At Ariana's concert, these kids went out to have a good time and the cowards outside decided to ruin that," he added about the Manchester attack that left 22 people, including children, dead and over 100 injured.

Grande, later, decided to host a benefit concert in Manchester to help the families of victims. Does he plan to do something similar for people in London?

"I wrote a song to highlight this problem. But it's so difficult for a pop star. We are not politicians. If we give our political views, we are at the risk of offending our die-hard fans. Some would say, 'I don't want this.' And suddenly, you create an internal war among your fan base.

"I don't want that. I want people to get together in a good way through my music. That's why I don't bring heavy stuff into my music," said the winner of Asian Music Award.

Well, one can see the not-so-heavy stuff in his latest single "Do you love me", which even has a reference to the popular franchise "Star Wars".

"The song is kind of based on a true story. Me and my friend in Los Angeles... we are in a studio and it's 2 a.m. All the bosses have gone. There is nothing else to do. Everybody is drunk. My friend is in the corner and sending voice notes to this girl, and I am laughing.

"That inspired the lyrics," said the singer, who has given hits like "Dance with you", "Eyes on you" and "Stolen".

The video is more fun.

"It's about social media. Everybody has gone a bit mad and self-obsessed. 'What do you think of me, my hair or outfit?' 'Is this matching?' We count the number of likes and read comments on social media. It is unhealthy. It (social media) used to be fun and silly.

"I have a very love-and-hate relationship with social media," said Sean, whose track "Down" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2009, making him the first solo artiste of South Asian origin to top the Hot 100.

(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)

--IANS

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