|
Biography |
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.
Sean Paul was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and spent his early
years "comfortably" (according to his VH1 biography) 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. His father Garth 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. He claims to be a direct descendant of
Solomon through his father.
Many members of Sean Paul's family are swimmers. His
grandfather was on the first Jamaican men's national water
polo team. 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. Sean Paul
played for the national water polo team from the age of
thirteen to twenty-one. However, he gave up the sport in
order to launch his 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
"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. 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
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.
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".
He returned to his native Jamaica to perform at the Cricket
World Cup 2007 opening ceremony. |
|
