Jay Kay

It’s fifteen years since Jamiroquai main man Jay Kay signed his unprecedented eight album deal with Sony’s S2 label. While much is made of the short-sightedness of British record companies, it’s only fair to credit Sony (now Sony/BMG) for the gamble. Back in 1992 Kay was a skinny white kid with a skateboard, a passion for vintage rare groove and a bizarre ‘Buffalo’ hat. Over twenty million albums, four world tours and 141 weeks on the UK singles chart later, it’s safe to say the gamble paid off.

From poster boy of the early nineties acid jazz revolution to international music icon, a lot has changed for Kay in those fifteen years.

Thanks to six albums of consistently on-point, danceable grooves and mercilessly unshakable melodies - not to mention an undisputed reputation as an electrifying live act - Kay’s as recognisable in France, Spain, Italy, South America, South Africa, Australia and Japan as he is to anyone who’s ever picked up a UK tabloid. While in America his status as one of the UK’s most respected exports is backed by an ever growing grass roots following, five MTV awards and a Grammy. Much to his amusement, of late Kay’s also become something of a style icon, as confirmed by his collection of Elle and GQ style awards.

“I’ve still got so much to prove,” when talking of the time he spent writing, recording and honing sixth album, ‘Dynamite’. “You’ve always got something to prove in this game. But the bottom line is I still love it. I love the thrill of seeing a track come together, and with this album we’ve been sitting with tracks, meticulously going through them, changing things, getting it right.”

Written and recorded in Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, Scotland, New York, Los Angeles and his own purpose built Buckinghamshire studio, ‘Dynamite’ was both a consolidation of fifteen years of Jamiroquai’s trademarked sci-fi sound and a cocky, two fingers to anyone who thinks that Kay might be resting on his country pile.

It’s fitting that, in the year that the British government assumed the presidency of the G8 - with the promise of putting third world poverty and climate change at the top of the agenda - and with war raging on the nightly news, one of Britain’s biggest stars should be back, prodding the collective conscience.

From day one Kay’s had an opinion and he hasn’t been afraid to share it. Sadly his impassioned sleeve notes to Jamiroquai’s aptly titled 1993 No.1 debut, ‘Emergency On Planet Earth’ still ring true. Third world poverty; climate change; wars initiated by power hungry dictators; it’s all there.

Likewise, 1994’s ‘Return Of The Space Cowboy’, with its dark, inner-city social commentary is as raw as ever. Meanwhile, the album which took Jamiroquai global, 1997’s ‘Travelling Without Moving’, came with a worryingly prophetic warning of the dangers of biogenetic engineering. Not only was Grammy winning single ‘Virtual Insanity’ released on the day Dolly the Sheep was born, its concerns mirror those currently consuming the debate on human cloning and ‘donor’ babies.

“As the human race we aim to do nothing but kill and maim each other,” says Kay. “All we do is hate, hate, hate. And a lot of it seems to be done in the name of religion, which is what ‘Give Hate A Chance’ and ‘Star Child’ are about. We hate each other for all sorts of reasons: different religion, different colour, different way of thinking. It’s hate, hate, hate and I just think when is it going to end?”

For all the tabloid headlines, rockstar trappings and hats, it’d be a mistake to ever dismiss or underestimate Jay Kay. As his indisputable track record shows, he’s many things, but he’s no fool. And while his opinions, and fearless attitude when expressing them, might regularly set him up as a easy target for jaded cynics, even they will freely admit that music, and life, would be a good deal duller without him.