The first song I remember hearing

Tony Orlando and Dawn – ‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree’

“I distinctly remember my mum and dad singing this song on road trips when I was a kid. Me and my brother would try and sing along from the back of the car, even though we didn’t know the words, so it’s quite a nice childhood memory.”

The first album I bought

Lionel Richie – ‘Back To Front’

“Back in the day, you could walk into HMV and listen to an album in-store. I remember being about nine and putting those headphones on so I could listen to this Lionel Richie album. It’s not the kind of thing you’d think a nine-year-old would gravitate to, but something in his songs really spoke to me. And I’m not lying when I say that I think it really shaped my songwriting. Because even though he’s a soul singer, there’s a lot of country in his melodies. People say I have, too.”

The song that reminds me of home

Alfonzo Hunter – ‘Just The Way’

“When I was growing up, R&B and hip-hop became my love, so anything from [those genres in] the mid-’90s reminds me of listening to cassettes in the car with my mates. We’d press record when a song we liked came on the radio, because that was the only way to make a mixtape. ‘Just The Way’ stands out because me and my best friend would rinse it over and over again. He’s still my best mate today, so it’s a song we always go back to.”

The first gig I went to

The Roots, Camden Jazz Cafe, 1998

“Because I fell in love with hip-hop, me and my mates would go and see any big US acts who came over to England. We saw Wu-Tang Clan, Junior M.A.F.I.A., Biggie, so many amazing ones. But I distinctly remember seeing The Roots because they brought out Rahzel, who did some beatboxing, and it absolutely fascinated me. I was like, ‘This is insane!’ And it inspired me to learn how to beatbox, which I incorporate into my shows now.”

The song I do at karaoke

Eminem – ‘The Real Slim Shady’

“When my friends are like, ‘Let’s go karaoke, bro,’ it’s the last thing I want to do because I sing for a living. So, I usually do something completely different from my own stuff like a rap song. But one time I was touring in Bumblefuck, America and we went to this dive bar after the show. It wasn’t even a karaoke bar, but the DJ was like, ‘Yo bro, come up and do one of your songs.’ This sounds like a made-up story but I swear this random guy came up to me afterwards and said: ‘Stick to your day job.’ I just died laughing because obviously I must have sounded horrible. I’m not someone who can drink and sing.”

The song I want played at my funeral

Stevie Wonder – ‘Stay Gold’

“Lyrically, it’s gorgeous and right on the money. He’s basically saying that our time on earth is fleeting, so we should try to live our life right and impact people positively. My brother and I were obsessed with the [1983 coming-of-age] movie when we were kids, and this song was on the soundtrack, so we’d listen to it over and over again.”

The song that makes me cry

Damien Rice – ‘The Blower’s Daughter’

“After a couple of glasses of wine, there are a number of songs that could make me cry. But if you were to play this song at any time of day – it doesn’t matter what mood I’m in – it immediately puts me into a melancholic state. It’s just a gorgeous song and so honestly sung. He lets his voice break and go out of tune or whatever because it’s just raw emotion. His repetition of the melody gets me every time.”

The song I wish I’d written

“I mean, I could just pick the biggest song ever written – ‘Billie Jean’. But for me, because it influenced me at a pivotal point in my career, it has to be ‘So Sick’. I’d always loved R&B music and pop music, and when I heard the way Ne-Yo blended them in this song, I was like, ‘This is the kind of shit I want to do.’ It was a really groundbreaking record because after it did well, you had all these humongous global smashes that Ne-Yo made with [producers] Stargate – like Rihanna‘s ‘Take A Bow’ and Beyoncé‘s ‘Irreplaceable’.”

The song that makes me want to dance

“I do a lot of mid-tempo songs but this year I’ve really focused on making uptempo music because I think the world needs it. For me, ‘Body’ is super-global sounding because I’m singing a very Jay Sean melody over a really fun Afro-house production. I can’t dance for shit, mate, but this song makes me want to get up and have a go.”

Jay Sean’s latest single ‘Body’ is out now