Sean Paul

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This article is on the Jamaican reggae artist Sean Paul. For the Atlanta-based rapper of the same name, see Sean Paul (rapper).

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Sean Paul
Sean Paul in September 2005.
Sean Paul in September 2005.
Background information
Birth name Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques
Born January 9, 1973 (age 34)
Origin Flag of Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica
Genre(s) Reggae, Dance Hall, Alternative Rap
Occupation(s) Deejay, singer
Years active 1996 to present
Label(s) VP Records
Atlantic Records
Website seanpaul.net

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born January 8, 1973) is a popular Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. He is professionally known only by his first names, Sean Paul.

Contents

Early life

Sean Paul was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and spent his early years "comfortably" (according to his VH1 biography[1]) in Upper Saint Andrew Parish, a few miles north of his birthplace. His parents were both talented athletes, and his mother a well-known painter.[2] His father is Jewish (whose Portuguese family emigrated to Jamaica in the 17th century) and his mother Chinese Jamaican. In line with his Sephardic heritage, he was a pupil at the island's Hillel Academy, a non-religious school funded by the local Jewish community.[citation needed] He claims to be a direct descendant of Solomon through his father.[3]

Many members of Sean Paul's family are swimmers.[4] His grandfather was on the first Jamaican men's national water polo team.[5] His father also played water polo for the team in the 1960s, and competed in long-distance swimming, while Sean Paul's mother was a backstroke swimmer.[6] Sean Paul played for the national water polo team from the age of thirteen to twenty-one.[7]. However, he gave up the sport in order to launch his musical career.

Musical career

See also: Sean Paul discography

Dancehall music was Sean Paul's first love, and he became proficient at crafting rhythm tracks. He became a DJ after writing his own songs, basing his style largely on the works of Super Cat and Don Yute. The latter was later to become his idol and mentor. Sean Paul was closely connected to the reggae-pop band Third World. His brother, Jason "Jigzag" Henriques, and his best friend Zameer Masjedee helped him open up business connections. Sean Paul released his debut single "Baby Girl (Don't Cry)" with producer Jeremy Harding in 1996.[citation needed] It proved a significant success, and led to further Jamaican hits like "Nah Get No Bly (One More Try)", "Deport Them", "Excite Me", "Infiltrate", and "Strategy".

In 1999, Sean Paul started to attract audiences in the United States. He was commissioned to collaborate with fellow dancehall hitmaker Mr. Vegas on a production for rapper DMX, entitled "Top Shotter". The song went on to be included in the film Belly (dir. Hype Williams). Paul also recorded the Jamaican chart-topper "Ladies Man" with rapper Spanner Banner, through the latter's label, Sweet Angel Productions. The success of "Ladies Man" resulted in Sean Paul being approached by the then little-known Harding, who burst on the scene with his production of Beenie Man's crossover hit "Who Am I" and most famously recorded "Baby Girl (Don't Cry)" with Sean Paul. The following single, "Infiltrate", joined the singer's combination hit in the Jamaican top charts. Also that year, Paul scored a top ten hit on the Billboard Rap chart with "Hot Gal Today", which quickly became his signature tune. Sean Paul fell out very publicly with Mr. Vegas over the packaging of Vegas' remix of "Hot Gal Today", but this did not slow Sean Paul's career momentum.

In March 2000, Paul released his first album, Stage One, on VP Records, which included many of his previous hit singles and compilation cuts, plus several new tracks. He played the Summer Jam 2000 in New York City, where he was held in high acclaim. Sean Paul's fanbase grew tremendously with fans from all over the world. In 2001, Sean Paul appeared on Toronto rapper Kardinal Offishall's Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 on a single called "Money Jane", which was released in Canada the previous year and featured Jully Black.

In 2002, he announced the release of his second album, Dutty Rock. Pushed by the success of the singles "Gimme the Light" and the Billboard Hot 100 topper, "Get Busy", the album was a worldwide success, eventually selling over six million copies. Simultaneously, Sean Paul was heard on Beyoncé's single "Baby Boy" and Blu Cantrell's "Breathe", both chart hits in 2003, and helping to push his reputation further still in the United States.

He then appeared on Punk'd, 106 & Park, Sean Paul Respect, Making the Video ("Get Busy", "Gimme the Light", "Like Glue", "We Be Burnin'", and "Temperature") and his music videos have been broadcast on MTV and BET. Paul's biggest hits include "Get Busy", "Like Glue", "Gimme the Light", "Baby Boy", "I'm Still in Love With You", "Temperature", and "(When You Gonna) Give It up to Me" (featuring Keyshia Cole). On September 27, 2005, Henriques released his third album called The Trinity.

Sean Paul spent part of 2006 opening for Mariah Carey's Adventures of Mimi Tour. In September of that year he started work on his fourth album, and was featured on the single "Break It Off" (High Altitude Riddim) with Rihanna, on her A Girl Like Me album.

He was nominated for four awards at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, including male artist of the year, rap artist of the year, hot 100 single of the year, and pop single of the year for his hit "Temperature".[8]

He returned to his native Jamaica to perform at the Cricket World Cup 2007 opening ceremony.

Awards

References

  1. ^ http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/paul_sean/bio.jhtml
  2. ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artistsls/p/seanpaul.htm
  3. ^ http://spec.hamilton.edu/arts.cfm?action=display&news=1512
  4. ^ http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/8685
  5. ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1123326_4%7C102882%7C%7C0_0_,00.html
  6. ^ http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/8685
  7. ^ http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/8685
  8. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/awards/index.jsp

External links

Sean Paul

Studio albums: Stage One · Dutty Rock · The Trinity

Singles: "Deport Them" · "Gimme the Light" · "Get Busy" · "Like Glue" · "Breathe" · "Baby Boy" · "I'm Still in Love With You" · "We Be Burnin'" · "Ever Blazin'" · "Temperature/Breakout" · "Cry Baby Cry" · "Never Gonna Be the Same" · "(When You Gonna) Give It up to Me" · "Break It Off"

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