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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, seeYoungBloodZ.


Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born January 8, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a popular dancehall singer and deejay. He is best known by his stage name, Sean Paul. Template:Infobox musical artist 2

Early life

Paul grew up "comfortably" (according to his VH1 biography) [1] in Upper Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, a few miles north of his birthplace, Kingston. His parents were both talented athletes, and his mother a well-known painter.[2]

Paul came from mixed multiracial origins, as he himself explains: "My grandmother on my mother's side was born in Coventry, England, but the rest of my grandparents were Jamaican in origin. My mother's father, however, is Chinese and my father's father is white and from Portuguese descent. My grandmother on my father's side is mixed with black and white." [3] He claims to be a direct descendant of Solomon through his father.[4]

Many of Paul's family are swimmers.[5]. His grandfather was on the first Jamaican national men's water polo team.[6] His father also played water polo for the team in the 1960's, in addition to competing in long-distance swimming, while Paul's mother was a backstroke swimmer.[7] Paul played for the national water polo team from the age of thirteen to twenty-one.[8]. However, he quit to launch his musical career.

Musical career

Although his education did not land him a prosperous career, dancehall music remained Paul's first love, particularly 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. Paul also found friends in several members of the reggae-pop band Third World, and in his brother Jason 'Jigzag' Henriques, who helped him open up business connections. Paul released his debut single "Baby Girl" with producer Jeremy Harding in 1996; it proved a significant success, leading to further Jamaican hits like "Nah Get No Bly (One More Try)," "Deport Them," "Excite Me," "Infiltrate," and "Hackle Mi."

File:Sean Paul - Dutty Rock - CD album cover.jpg
Sean Paul's best-selling album to date is his second release,Dutty Rock (2002)

In 1999, Paul started to make inroads to audiences in the United States. He was firstly 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 song resulted in 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" with 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. Unfortunately for Paul, he had a very public fall-out with Mr. Vegas over the packaging of Vegas' remix of "Hot Gal Today," but this did not slow Paul's career momentum.

He played the Summer Jam 2000 in New York City, where he was held in high acclaim. In August 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.

Album cover for The Trinity (2005)

Two years later, he announced the release of his second effort 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, 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 U.S.

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 current hits include Get Busy, Like Glue, Breathe, Gimme The Light, Baby Boy, We Be Burnin', Ever Blazin', Temperature, and Give It Up To Me (feat. Keyshia Cole). On September 27 2005, Henriques released his third album called The Trinity.

File:SeanPaul1.jpg
Sean Paul on the set of his video for When You Gonna (Give It Up To Me) featuring Keyshia Cole from The Trinity(2006)


Sean Paul will start working on his fourth album in September 2006[9] and currently features on the single "Break it Off" with Rihanna, on her A Girl Like Me album. This track is part of a 'riddim set'- a group of artists singing on the same rhythmic base. He intends to include more "politically minded" songs in his fourth album, to be released in spring of 2007.[10]

Discography

For complete discography and sales information see: Sean Paul discography

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://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060715060850AAT9yT7
  4. ^ http://spec.hamilton.edu/arts.cfm?action=display&news=1512
  5. ^ http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/8685
  6. ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1123326_4%7C102882%7C%7C0_0_,00.html
  7. ^ http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/8685
  8. ^ http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/8685
  9. ^ http://www.musicstarx.net/biography/biography-sean-paul
  10. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/08/19/sean_paul_hails_his_musical_forebears/


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