WUSC Wednesdays: Jamie T

The Diagnosis is back and this week our featured artist is Jamie T.

Born Jamie Treays in Wimbledon, South London,  Jamie started playing stand-up bass after realizing the guitar was too hard to play while singing. Though he’s flown relatively under the American radar, Jamie T’s first hit was “Sheila,” which was playlisted by BBC Radio 1–meaning it received more airtime across all stations. His subsequent hits “If You’ve Got The Money” and “Calm Down Dearest” were even bigger, with the latter reaching #9 on UK charts.

Jamie T is one of those artists whose accent you can hear almost immediately in his singing. With a slight Cockney-proper British hybrid, his lyrics throw in slang and pronunciations known especially to South London. Musically he is a cross between the Kooks and the Streets. He’s got both pop and hip hop style, both dark and lighthearted sensibility.  He’s just straight up modern–not fitting into any distinct genre categories.

To hear some songs from Jamie T’s latest album Carry On The Grudge as well as some older releases, tune in to the Diagnosis tonight at 10 p.m. on WUSC 90.5 FM or at wusc.sc.edu.