Me Against Myself is the debut studio album by Jay Sean, released 8 November 2004 in the United Kingdom, on 2Point9 Records, Relentless Records, and Virgin Records.
Reception
Commercial performance
The album includes three UK top 20 hit singles: "Dance with You" (#12), "Eyes on You" (#6), and "Stolen" (#4). Noted for its experimental, creative fusion of contemporary R&B, British hip hop and Indian music, as well as its social commentary, the album was universally acclaimed by critics and sold more than two million copies worldwide, remaining Sean's most successful album to date. Me Against Myself was influential in pioneering and popularizing Bhangra-R&B fusion music among the worldwide South Asian diaspora.
Despite initially failing to reach the top 20 on the UK Albums Chart (where it peaked at #29), the album gradually managed to sell 100,000 copies in the UK and went on to become a substantial hit in Asia. "Dance with You" and "One Night" were included on the soundtracks for the Bollywood films Boom (2003) and Kyaa Kool Hai Hum (2005), with Sean making an appearance in the latter, while the Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu made an appearance in the music video for the song "Stolen". This helped Me Against Myself sell over two million copies and become five-times platinum in India. Beyond India, the album sold over 300,000 copies across other parts of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Hong Kong. His performance of tracks from Me Against Myself on MTV Asia (alongside the Rishi Rich Project) had a television audience as large as 165 million viewers. The album helped establish Sean as a major recognized artist across Asia and among the worldwide Desi diaspora.
Critical response
Me Against Myself was universally acclaimed by critics across the world, particularly for its experimental, creative fusion of contemporary R&B, hip hop music (including old-school and British hip hop) and Indian music (including Bhangra and Bollywood music), as well as its social commentary. In the UK, Dan Gennoe of Yahoo! Music gave the album 8 out of 10 stars, referring to Me Against Myself as "an album of phenomenally accomplished R&B" and "an album of indisputable quality." He praised the Asian musical influence, social commentary, and "well adjusted sense of humour", particularly the "hysterical crisis of integrity" shown in the title track "Me Against Myself" where "rapper Sean mercilessly derides his “pansy” singing alter ego". Antony Hatfield of BBC Music praised the album, stating that it "is of major league significance" and, with "influences that enter from all angles," it is "an album by gifted people with a vision beyond boundaries and a simple devotion to music." In particular, he also praised the title track "Me Against Myself", where Sean's singer and rapper personae go into battle, for its honesty and self-awareness.
Tareck Ghoneim of Contactmusic.com also praised the album, referring to Sean as an "Asian sensation" who is breaking barriers "making pop songs that include sounds from Sean’s cultural background and with potential mass appeal." He stated that the "album is progressive in that it shows a fusion of Asian sounds with r’n’b and pop music." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, praising "the Bollysoul arrangements that underscore his vocals", in reference to the fusion of Bollywood and soul music, especially in the song "Stolen". The Liverpool Daily Post gave the album a score of 3 out of 4 stars. Peter Culshaw of The Telegraph referred to the album as "highly accomplished R&B, with minor Indian musical elements", but considered the best tracks in the album to be the hip hop tracks "You Don't Know Me" and "Me Against Myself" for their social commentary which deal with Sean's inner conflicts and the difficulties in "trying to make it as an Asian in the hip-hop arena." Culshaw praised Sean's talent and stated that, "currently attracting the attention of demi-god producer Timbaland, it will be fascinating to see how Sean resolves his musical schizophrenia."