Down by Jay Sean (featuring Lil Wayne)

Album: All or Nothing (2009)

Charted: 3 1

Get the Sheet Music License This Song

This was the first song recorded by British R&B artist Jay Sean after he'd signed with the American Hip-Hop oriented record label Cash Money Records.
This tune features Lil Wayne. Sean told MTV News that he recorded this song in 90 minutes, after which he received a call from Ronald "Slim" Williams, the CEO of Cash Money Records. He recalled: "Slim called me up and was like, 'Yo, man, there's something wrong on the second verse that just doesn't sound right.' I was like, 'Really? What?' He played the song. All of a sudden I heard Wayne's Auto-Tune stuff, and I'm like, 'OK. What's going on? Right! That's Lil Wayne on my song right now!' That day was brilliant."
Sean penned the song during a late night recording session in Miami's Hit Factory Studio. He told Billboard magazine: "The news was on, everything was depressing and we were like, Look at this man - everything's so down in the dumps. Why don't we write a song to take everyone's mind away from being down?" He added: "Wayne heard it, fell in love and dropped a verse on it."
When this replaced the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Sean became the first male British urban artist to have a #1 single in the US.
Sean told MTV News that he heard the news heard of his American #1 record in London, when he was about to do an interview for radio. He added: "It's been the only time in my career where when I found out, I literally couldn't breathe properly. I was so excited. I was so happy."
The song was co-written by former American Idol contestant Jared Cotter who met Sean when he was hosting Fuse TV's The Sauce.

Cotter told DesiHits the story of the song: "We thought the album was done but they needed one more track, so we flew down to Miami and were just brainstorming. We were watching the news and Jay said how horrible everything is in the world. I had this line in my phone: 'I love you, even if the sky is falling down' and when I said that it just clicked. Jay just said 'down down down down down!' It was written and recorded in less than two hours and two months later it was on the radio. It's a good song but you never realize how massive something is gonna be. You never realize what a hit it's gonna be, that it's gonna make history."

Please sign in or register to post comments.

Comments: 1

Tabitha from Greenfield, OhI love this song

see more comments

Billy Steinberg - "Like A Virgin"They're Playing My Song

The first of Billy's five #1 hits was the song that propelled Madonna to stardom. You'd think that would get you a backstage pass, wouldn't you?

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete BlondeSongwriter Interviews

The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Famous Singers' First FilmsSong Writing

A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.