Sean Paul

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the Jamaican reggae artist. For the American rapper, see Sean P.
Sean Paul
Sean Paul at the International Reggae & World Music Awards in May 2007.
Sean Paul at the International Reggae & World Music Awards in May 2007.
Background information
Birth name Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques
Born January 8, 1973 (1973-01-08) (age 35)
Origin Kingston, Jamaica
Genre(s) Reggae
Dancehall
Occupation(s) Deejay, vocalist
Years active 1996–present
Label(s) VP, Atlantic
Website Sean-Paul.net

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born January 8, 1973[1]) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. He is professionally known only by his first names, Sean Paul.

Contents

[edit] Background

Sean Paul was born in Jamaica, and spent his early years "comfortably"[1] 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.[2] His father Garth is a Sephardic Jew[3] of Portuguese descent, and his mother is of African-Caribbean and Chinese descent; both were born in Jamaica. 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. He attended Wolmers High School, Bales Air High School and a college of arts, science and technology. He is also known as Sean-da-Paul or SPeezy.

[edit] Musical career

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.[8] 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 1995, 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.

Soon after, Sean Paul worked extensively with a team of producers and choreographers from Caribbean-friendly Toronto, namely Jae Blaze and Blaze Entertainment. 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). The video of "Give It Up To Me" 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".[9] 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.

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.

In October 2007, a music video for Sean Paul's new single "Watch Them Roll" was leaked to the internet.[10]

Sean Paul Is featured in the dancehall music track and video of "Hot Winter Medley" by Bling Dawg.

In 2008 Sean Paul was featured in a collaboration with controversial dancehall artist Mr. Evil, titled "Back It Up".

In 2008 Sean Paul sang the song In Da Club with arrested celebrities Akon and R. Kelly.

He has been in the studio with Ashanti helping her record her album "The Declaration" for the past two year which is due out in June 3,2008.[11]

[edit] Stage One (2000)

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 single called "Money Jane", which was released 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.[12][13]

[edit] Dutty Rock (2002)

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.

Sean Paul in September 2005.
Sean Paul in September 2005.

[edit] The Trinity (2005)

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".

[edit] Discography

Main article: Sean Paul discography

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/paul_sean/bio.jhtml
  2. ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artistsls/p/seanpaul.htm
  3. ^ http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/813_sean_paul.htm
  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.uc411.com/trebas_article2.asp
  9. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/awards/index.jsp
  10. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrvjQNJrRug
  11. ^ http://oh-ashanti.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=830&pos=4
  12. ^ http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=31377
  13. ^ http://theenvelope.latimes.com/extras/lostmind/year/2001/2001juno.htm

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Sean Paul
Albums Stage One (2000) · Dutty Rock (2002) · The Trinity (2005)
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" · "Cry Baby Cry" · "Never Gonna Be the Same" · "(When You Gonna) Give It up to Me" · "Break It Off" · "Give It to You" · "Watch Them Roll"
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Paul"
Personal tools