Sean Kingston (born Kisean Anderson on February 3, 1990) is a Jamaican-American
singer and rapper. He pursued a music career and debuted in 2007
with Sean Kingston.
Contents
Kingston was born on February 3, 1988 in Miami, Florida and attended
Ocho Rios High School in Ocho Rios, Saint Ann, Jamaica.[1] His grandfather
was the noted Jamaican reggae producer Lawrence Lindo,[2] who worked
under the stage name Jack Ruby.
Sean Kingston was discovered through MySpace by Tommy Rotem at Beluga
Heights, and signed to the label in a partnership deal with Sony.
Beluga is a label notable for its focus on discovering and developing
artists. In an interview with HitQuarters label head and producer
J.R. Rotem described this process with regards to Kingston:
"Sean Kingston was a rapper when we found him and it was a
development process to get him more melodic. At Beluga we essentially
refine the talent so that it's more of a marketable product."
In a venture between Epic Records and Koch Records, Kingston recorded
and released the single "Beautiful Girls" in May 2007.[7]
The single, based on the bass line and lyrical "association" of
the 1961 hit "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King, reached number
one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and topped the UK
Singles Chart along with many other international charts. Similarly,
the song "Me Love" samples the main hook out Led Zeppelin's "D'yer
Mak'er", from their 1973 album Houses of the Holy. The song
also debuted at number one in Australia, where it knocked off Fergie's "Big
Girls Don't Cry", which had been at number one for nine weeks.
The song stayed on the Canadian Hot 100 number one spot for over
six weeks before getting knocked down to third place by the Plain
White T's. "Beautiful Girls" remained at number one in
Canada longer than any other song in 2007. In 2007, Kingston was
the opening act for Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape Tour and for
select dates on Beyoncé's The Beyoncé Experience Tour.
[edit] 2009–2010: Tomorrow
The album Tomorrow was released on September 22, 2009. Big-name
producers involved in the album included former Fugee Wyclef Jean;
RedOne (of recent Lady GaGa fame); plus Sean's original mentor, J.R.
Rotem.[8] So far, the singles "Fire Burning", and "Face
Drop" have been released. Additionally, five promotional digital
singles were released leading up to the album.
Kingston co-wrote Jason Derülo's "Whatcha Say". He
also found the R&B-reggae singer Iyaz on MySpace and signed him
to his record label.[9]
He also recorded the track "Miss Everything" for the UK
girl-group Sugababes studio album Sweet 7 which was released March
15, 2010 in the UK.
Kingston and DJ Khaled are being featured on Bow Wow's New Single "For
My Hood" From the upcoming movie, The Lottery Ticket
[edit] 2010–present: Dumb Love and other projects
According to Sean Kingston, he is already working on his next album.
The lead single was confirmed to be "Dumb Love" featuring
Lil Wayne by Kingston himself, but Lil Wayne was serving a prison
sentence and a music video has not been filmed. It is still possibly
a future single to be released with a music video shot after Lil
Wayne is released from prison. The song is also featured in a episode
of The Suite Life on Deck which Kingston guest starred on. The album
will also feature T-Pain, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Wyclef Jean, Akon
and Dr. Dre.[10][11] The first single from the album is "Eenie
Meenie" featuring Justin Bieber, released on March 23, 2010,[12]
which is also included on Bieber's My World 2.0 album. This collaboration
with the young star has been the source of much disapproval from
the rap community. The second single from the album "Letting
Go (Dutty Love)", which features a verse from Nicki Minaj. It
was released on iTunes August 3, while the third is "Dumb Love" and
was released on iTunes September 8, the song does not features Lil
Wayne. Sean Kingston's new song "She Moves" samples Irena
Cara's "What a Feeling" from the film Flashdance. A fourth
single "Party All Night (Sleep All Day)" was released on
December 21, 2010. The song leaked online in December of 2010. The
music video has already been shot. The video was released on December
23, 2010. Sean said this would be the song of the new year. It is
stated that Sean Kingston's upcoming third album will be titled King
of Kingz.
Kingston represented the continent of America to sing the Official
Theme Song of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Everyone. He
collaborated with four other international artists representing their
continent, South African Jody Williams representing Africa, Singaporean
Tabitha Nauser (Asia), British Steve Appleton (Europe), and Australian
Jessica Mauboy representing (Oceania)[13] However, Kingston was unable
to attend, the Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 opening ceremony, due
to passport mix ups[14]
He also released a single called "Letting Go (Dutty Love)" with
Young Money's Nicki Minaj. Plus, near the end of July 2010, he was
invited and featured on Cash Money Records/former So So Def member
Bow Wow on his single "For My Hood". He performed it with
him along with DJ Khaled on BET's television program 106 & Park
the day after release.
Sean Kingston will release a mixtape with pop star Justin Bieber,
called Our World. It will feature about 12-14 songs and includes
their versions of songs like Pretty Boy Swag and Billionaire. The
mixtape is finished and Sean showed his fans a preview on ustream
on August, 19, 2010.
[edit] Television appearances
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant
information into appropriate sections or articles. (August 2010)
For his 18th birthday, Sean appeared on the US TV show My Super
Sweet 16. The show was memorable for Sean's elaborate entrance to
his party, which involved Sean arriving at his party on a private
yacht, wearing his own personalized white suit.
Sean appeared on the Nick Jr. Original Series Yo Gabba Gabba.
He was also featured as a guest star on the 2009 remake of The Electric
Company.
He made appearances on the MTV reality show The Hills and MTV's
Cribs.
In 2010 he appeared in an episode of the Disney Channel series The
Suite Life on Deck as himself and performed his latest single "Dumb
Love"
In 2010 he appeared in Katy Brand vs. series on ITV2 in the United
Kingdom.
[edit] Discography
Main article: Sean Kingston discography
* Sean Kingston (2007)
* Tomorrow (2009)
[edit] Mixtapes
* Our World (2010)
* King of Kingz (2011)
[edit] Awards/nominations
* Image Awards
o 2008, Outstanding New Artist (nominated)
* MOBO Awards
o 2007: Best Reggae Acts
* Teen Choice Awards
o 2007: Choice R&B Track "Beautiful Girls"
o 2007: Choice Summer Track "Beautiful Girls" (nominated)
o 2009: Choice Summer Song "Fire Burning" (nominated)