Jay Sean: I just keep going with the flow

Despite being a very busy boy he shuffled a few things around and found time for us.

Sandwiched between back-to-back gigs in Oman and Abu Dhabi, Brit-boy R&B star Jay Sean says one thing he'll never do is lose sight of who he is and the things he believes.

"I've been taking my mum to more and more shows and it's funny because sometimes she'll nudge me and be like ‘Is all this for you?' and I go ‘Yes, mum, it is' and she's like ‘Really?' and I'll say ‘Yes, mum'," said an animated Sean rolling his eyes.

"But I love that mum and dad are like that," he added. "They are so proud of me but they haven't let it get to their heads, cos if it gets to my parents then I'm screwed," he said with a laugh.

I'll be honest, until I met Sean I wasn't sure of his sincerity, having read a few "I'm-just-a-lad-at-heart" interviews in various titles. Even more honesty: I wasn't sure the boy could sing.

He can. As for sincerity, if it's not genuine then he'll make a damn fine actor, which is convenient as the movie world is what he'd like to crack next.

Having just moved to LA for that very reason, Sean says the casting process for "projects I can't reveal just yet" is already under way.

"I'm super excited about it," he said. "I did acting before I sang so in school I was part of the drama society and I'd write plays and script shows... and all this good stuff. Then I kinda put this on the back burner so I could keep singing. I mean even in music videos were basically acting. Some of us are very good at it, some of us learn. but I've always enjoyed it."

Heart and soul

Enjoyment is something which comes pretty naturally to Sean. Every track of his live experience is delivered with heart and soul. Performing two concerts this weekend, the first at Beats on the Beach followed by a more intimate affair at Flash Forum, Yas Island, Sean believes every word coming from his London lad's mouth.

"My personality is that I like to have fun. I like to enjoy myself," he told tabloid!. "I feel like when you're an artist you stand for more than just singing a few songs. People are into you for a reason you know, so I always want my fans to know that. If my fans are paying good money to come and see me I want them to have such a great time. I want them to feel like they're my friends. I want them to feel like they got to know me a little bit, my personality. It's a unique experience that you can't buy off iTunes."

Talking of unique, Sean revealed a world exclusive to us. "Me and my brother used to have a secret language," he said launching into the strange speech without so much as a hint of a prompt. "We made it up. It's elongating certain parts of a word and only us would know what it meant. Yes, this is a true language," he added, trying to convince me. "If I did something wrong and came in he would tell me I'm in trouble before my parents knew what was going on. The world does not know this. It's an exclusive," he said, looking rather pleased with himself and warning me not to try.

Sean sang live, was pitch-perfect (even at his afternoon sound check) and kept the crowd entertained from start to finish on Friday.

Mayhem

Ride It, Down, Do You Remember, 2012, Me Against Myself and All or Nothing hit all the right notes as an estimated 40,000 people crammed on to the Corniche to see the star. But it was Hit the Lights which caused the mayhem.

Sean interacted with his crowd and if he was allowed to crowd surf, he would have tried. "I wish security would let me", he said.

As the UK's first Asian crossover superstar, Sean has already tasted chart success with more than 10 hits. But what makes him such an exciting musical proposition is that as a UK born and bred artist his unique appeal is that he fuses "desi" rhythms with a credible R&B sensibility to produce a thoroughly authentic sound.

However, the 30-year-old isn't your run of the mill urban music artist. Having given up a promising career in medicine, his story first began at medical school before he dropped out to pursue music.

Wonderful moments

"I just keep going with the flow. I stop to take in the wonderful moments, and of course the bad ones as well, you have to, there's ups and downs along the path and you learn from those. But I never stop and go ‘Oh yeah man, cool, I've made it now'. I just feel like there's so much more."

And finally, just to clear up any rumours of a relationship between Sean and Bollywood sensation Priyanka Chopra, "We're just friends," he laughed. "I wrote some songs for her album so hopefully she'll take them."

But don't get too excited, ladies, Chopra may not be romantically connected, but there is a lady in his life.

"I hope I'm a good boyfriend," he said. "I think I understand women pretty well by now. I've been around enough of them," he said. "I've had a lot of long-term relationships. I'm fun to be with, I'd hope. I don't take things too seriously even though my life is bonkers. They experience all the fun things but at the end of the day I still enjoy going home and watching a film. It doesn't always need to be popping bottles in nightclubs, we can do that, and it's fun but I enjoy the slightly normal things too and that's important."

Tweet Tweet

Jay Sean draws the crowds wherever he goes and the power of Twitter has certainly helped.

Before going on stage in Abu Dhabi he tweeted, "Expecting around 40,000 ppl at tonites show in Abu Dhabi. Mad!!!!"

Performing two shows to celebrate the start of the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Sean was hanging out with J Cole before his gig.

Sean didn't have bad company at the event either, as he tweeted "Abu Dhabi. I'm here to perform for part of the F1 festivities! Also performing are Britney Spears and Paul Mcartney! [sic] Not bad company then!!"

First up was a gig on the Corniche at Beats on the Beach, a free event to engage the local community, before he was whisked over to the F1 tracks to Flash Forum, a custom-built nightclub for a more lavish affair.

According to his twitter, he was eating meatballs by a yacht as he watched the cars do their test runs earlier in the day. What more could you ask from a Friday?