Matt Meyer
Mr. Sunshine

Another British invasion has begun as a few extremely talented R&B artists and rappers have shown up in America from across the pond. Jay Sean, Taio Cruz, and Leona Lewis have all scored recent #1 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
The British Invasion brought many of the timeless artists whose music still influences people today. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who (whose Super Bowl performance has shown the world that men in their mid-60s should be completely clothed at all times) provided music that shaped an entire genre and more broadly, an entire generation. The British music scene swept across our nation, the entertainment capital of the world, and turned music on its head. The Beatles are arguably the most popular band in history, The Rolling Stones inspired a counter-culture that helped spark one of the most radical times in our country’s history, and The Who, despite fitting better in an old folk’s home, rocked the most recent Super Bowl with surprising force.
Leona Lewis began this second British Invasion with “Bleeding Love” becoming the first female U.K. solo artist in nearly three decades to reach #1 status (and also became only contestant of merit on American Idol knockoff The X-Factor). She also single-handedly brought slow R&B love ballads back into pop music.
Jay Sean topped the charts by teaming with Lil Wayne for his song “Down” to be the first British ‘urban’ artist to make any kind of splash on the U.S. charts. He is now a key player for Cash Money Records and has collaborated on two more songs to break into the Hot 100, his song “Do You Remember” featuring Sean Paul and Lil Jon and was featured in Kevin Rudolf’s “I Made It” also with Lil Wayne and Birdman.
Taio Cruz followed Jay Sean’s popularity by taking the American charts almost as quickly as he did in U.K. His single “Break Your Heart” debuted (yes, you read that correctly) at #1 in the U.K. and reached #1 in the U.S. in only two weeks. The London-born singer and producer has teamed up with the ever glitter-covered Ke$ha for another Hot 100 song called Dirty Picture Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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it).
And these three stars have paved the way for more R&B and hip-hop artists to make their way state-side. R&B artist Tinchy Stryder, rapper Chipmunk, and hip-hop group N-Dubz are all poised to make a splash on the Billboard Charts.
Tinchy Stryder wined and dined with Lil Wayne late last year in hopes of collaborating on a song, and is now being courted by Island Def Jam Records to bring the U.K. chart topper to The States. The question isn’t if, but when he’ll be climbing the Hot 100.
Chipmunk is breaking new ground for U.K. artists. The rap artist has a pop-rap feel in his latest album, and has drawn fans from a wide variety of Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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ckgrounds. That wide variety of fans hasn’t escaped the notice of record producers from trying to bring this cross-genre phenomenon to America.
N-Dubz is also bringing a new sound to American music. The group, consisting of Dappy’s auto-tuned vocals, Fazer rapping, and Tulisa’s powerhouse vocals, have brought a new and extremely diverse sound to Hip-Hop in the U.K. N-Dubz have recently set up meetings with multiple record producers in LA, and seem ready to strike at the Hot 100.
British music, after a long drought, has come back strong to influence the musical culture of America and more artists wait in the wings. America is no longer the entertainment spotlight of the world, and will have to, if only for a short time, share the spotlight with the U.K.
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jameyer@mesastate.edu