The O2 London Mela 2011 took place on Sunday the 4th of September in Gunnersbury Park, London W3. It is the largest outdoor Asian festival in Europe, supported by the Mayor of London, produced by the Ealing Council and organized by the BBC Asian Network.The annual event attracts thousands of youngster and families and the best part is that it’s for free. This year guests not only enjoyed the “In Conversations”, performances of singers like Ash King, JoSh, Mumzy Stranger and Jazzy B but also the funfair and famous food markets.
A very special guest also performed at a Mela in London for the first time after three years. We are talking about hit recording artist Jay Sean! Fans crowded the Main stage area to catch a glimpse of the singer and see him perfoming Billboard chart topping songs. Many fans also held out poster and messages for the actor. One of them read: “Welcome home Jay Sean”
The British singer, who broke into the American market after signing a deal with Cash Money, returned to London to perform in front of his home crowd.
Speaking to the press after his performance at the O2 London Mela Jay Sean described his experience of being back home in London: “Even though I live in America now, it’s like coming back to my home when I come to London. I grew up in this town, literally five minutes away from here. So performing here and performing in front of all these people who have been with me from the beginning, there is nothing like it.”
The 30-year-old singer also spoke about his new mixtape The Mistress which is available for free downloads on his website www.jayseanworldwide.com
“The Mistress is an album of 13 original songs. Now technically a mixtape is meant to be using other people’s beat and singing over it etc. but this is actually an album. The reason why I am calling it a mixtape is that it’s free. It’s a gift to my fans. It’s an album that I really wanted to write. It has nothing to do with charts on radio or chasing hits. It’s a straight R’n’B album, something which I love”, the singer explained.
Sean does not only sing but also writes all of his songs himself. Talking about writing the lyrics and his inspirations he said: “As a songwriter, it’s given that you have to be creative. Writing songs is like writing films. When I am writing a song, I think how the video and story will be like. I have got a wild imagination and I enjoy that. But also, I think with The Mistress I have gone lyrically into places that I have never been before. Some stuff is super controversial, dark, edgy and heavy. For songs like ballads, I usually draw it from personal experiences.”
When probed on who his Mistress would be he responded with Kim Kardashian but was quick to add that she is unfortunately married now.
Check out these exclusive pictures from the Mela (Click to enlarge):
