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Jay Sean gets ‘down’ with Penn

By , , and 12/10/09 1:16am

With the music blasting and the lights dimmed, the crowd at MarBar Wednesday night danced to the music as they anxiously awaited popular hip-hop artist Jay Sean.

Over 500 people showed up for the “Jay Sean Visits Philly” event. In addition to Jay Sean, DJ XTC, a headline DJ for the South Asian X-perience and a senior at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, played a variety of hit tracks.

The Social Ivy Society partnered with SAX in planning the CD-signing and meet-and-greet, which was part of the Social Ivy Society’s Rising Icons series. The series seeks to bring an up-and-coming artist to Penn each month. The group looks for artists who have a positive message to spread and who are able to connect with the fans.

Even though Jay Sean is already well-known, one of the event’s main organizers, College sophomore Karishma Shah, described him as “very down-to-earth and in touch with his South Asian culture.”

Shah, who worked for Jay Sean as a backup dancer five years ago, said she is thrilled that this event was able to bridge several universities in the region, including USP and the University of Maryland.

At first, the meet-and-greet was meant to be an intimate event with around 100 guests. When word got out over 900 people submitted RSVPs and a cap had to be set at the first 500 people to sign up.

College junior and Social Ivy Society event organizer Ezegozie Eze said, “It’s great that the popular response just exploded. It shows that people really appreciate and like his music.”

The event started off with a question and answer session, in which Jay Sean expressed his appreciation for fans who buy his albums in lieu of downloading illegally from the internet.

“It hurts when people steal my hard work,” he said. “I put my heart, soul and tears into this album. All the things you hear, it’s real.”

Although Jay Sean could not perform certain songs for legal reasons, he beatboxed a mix of popular hip-hop songs, receiving a deafening reaction from his fans. The night ended with Jay Sean signing his newest album, “All or Nothing.”

Despite the event happening during finals season, organizers said they were pleased with the event’s turnout and success.

“I was pretty impressed Penn was able to get him to come,” College senior Jason Bilog said.

“I have finals tomorrow, but I’m still here!”