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Sean Paul

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This article is about the Jamaican reggae artist. For the American rapper, see Sean P.
Sean Paul

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques[1] (born January 9, 1973),[1][2] simply known as Sean Paul, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall musician.

Biography

Early life

Sean Paul was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and spent his early years "comfortably"[2] in Upper Saint Andrew Parish, a few miles north of his birthplace. His parents were both talented athletes, and his mother Frances is a well-known painter.[3] His father Garth is a Sephardic Jew[4] of Portuguese descent, and his mother is of Afro-Caribbean and Chinese Caribbean descent; both were born in Jamaica. Many members of Sean Paul's family are swimmers.[5] His grandfather was on the first Jamaican men's national water polo team.[6] 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.[5] Sean Paul played for the national water polo team from the age of thirteen to twenty-one.[5] However, he gave up the sport in order to launch his musical career. He attended the Wolmers Trust High School for Boys, where he was trained as a classical flautist, Belair High School and the College of Arts, Science, and Technology (CAST) which is now known as the University of Technology (UTech).

Early career: Stage One

Dancehall music was Sean Paul's first love, and he became proficient at crafting rhythm tracks. He became a deejay 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 "Jigzagula" Henriques, and his best friend Zameer Masjedee helped him open up business connections. In 1996, Sean Paul released his debut single "Baby Girl (Don't Cry)" with producer Jeremy Harding. It proved a significant success, and led to further Jamaican hits such as "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 (directed by 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 Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall's Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 on a song called "Money Jane" (remix), which was released as a single in Canada the previous year and featured Jully Black. The video for "Money Jane" won Best Rap Video at the 2001 MuchMusic Video Awards, and the song was nominated for Best Rap Recording at the 2001 Juno Awards.

Success: Dutty Rock and "Get Busy"

Sean Paul in September 2005.

In 2002, he began working extensively with a team of producers and choreographers from Caribbean-friendly Toronto, namely Jae Blaze and Blaze Entertainment and 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.

During this period, he appeared on Punk'd, 106 & Park, Sean Paul Respect, Making the Video ("Get Busy", "Gimme the Light", and "Like Glue") and his music videos have been broadcast on MTV and BET. Paul's biggest hits included "Get Busy", "Like Glue", "Gimme the Light", "Baby Boy", and "I'm Still in Love with You".

The Trinity (2005-2007)

Sean Paul's third album The Trinity was released in on September 27, 2005. The album has a number of hits: "We Be Burnin'", "Ever Blazin'", "Give It up to Me", "Temperature" and "Never Gonna Be The Same".

The video of "(When You Gonna) Give It up to Me" (featuring Keyshia Cole) was also featured in the movie "Step Up" in 2006.

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".[7] He also won an American music Award for "(When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me" beating Kanye West and Nick Lachey who were also nominated for the award.

His song "Send It On" from "The Trinity" featured on the 2005 Vauxhall Corsa advert.

Sean Paul often contributes his songs to various Riddim Driven albums (by VP Records). In March 2007, he returned to his native Jamaica to perform at the Cricket World Cup 2007 opening ceremony.

The Next Thing (2009)

The newest Sean Paul album The Next Thing is to be released sometime in early 2009. Up until now there have been seven music videos: "Always On My Mind (with Da'Ville)", "Give It To You (with Eve)", "Watch Them Roll", "Back It Up" (with Left Side/Mr. Evil), "(I Wanna See You) Push It Baby" (with Pretty Ricky), "Hit 'Em" (with Fahrenheit and his brother Jason "Jigzagula" Henriques) and "Come Over" with Estelle.

He has recently been featured in Shaggy's video, "Save A Life" which also includes appearances from Elephant Man and Da'Ville, among others. In an effort to raise money for a children's hospital, Shaggy, Sean and the others will be having a benefit concert. All proceeds raised will go towards getting new equipment and technology 'For Aid to the Bustamante Hospital for Children'.

Discography

Main article: Sean Paul discography

Awards

World Music Awards in May 2007.

Trivia

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Sean Paul Biography - AllSeanPaul.com
  2. ^ a b Sean Paul | View the Music Artists Biography Online | VH1.com
  3. ^ Sean Paul
  4. ^ Sean Paul | www.somethingjewish.co.uk
  5. ^ a b c http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/8685
  6. ^ EW's Celebrity Wish List | Jorge Garcia | Music News | Music | Entertainment Weekly | 1
  7. ^ Music Awards Show Winners from Billboard.com - The Resource for Music Awards News
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