Sean Paul
Sean Paul at the B96 Summerbash 2012.
Background information
Birth name	Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques
Born	(1973-01-09) 9 January 1973 (age 40) Kingston, Jamaica
Genres	Reggae, dancehall, ragga, R&B, hip hop
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, producer, actor
Years active	1998–present
Labels	VP, Atlantic
Associated acts	Beyoncé, Rihanna, Akon, Snoop Dogg, Kelly Rowland, Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, Jay Sean, Sean Kingston, Wayne Marshall, Simple Plan, Rahzel, Girls' Generation, The Saturdays, Di Genius
Website	allseanpaul.com

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques^[1] (born 9 January 1973),^[2][3] otherwise known as Sean Paul, is a Jamaican Grammy-winning dancehall and reggae artist.

Life and career [edit]

1973–96: Early life [edit]

Paul was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to parents Garth and Frances, both of whom were talented athletes. As a young boy, he was notorious for his Ganja sales on the backstreets of Kingston. His mother is a well-known painter.^[4][5] His paternal grandfather was a Hebrew immigrant who had emigrated from Portugal, and his paternal grandmother was Afro-Caribbean; his mother is of English and Chinese Jamaican descent.^[6][7] Sean Paul was raised as a Catholic, however he was aware that he came from an old respected Jamaican Jewish family.^[8] Many members of his 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 13 to 21, when he gave up the sport in order to launch his musical career. He attended the Wolmers High School for Boys, Belair School, Hillel Academy High School, and the College of Arts, Science, and Technology, now known as the University of Technology, where he was trained in commerce with an aim of pursuing an occupation in hotel management. His nicknames include Zion Lion and King of Israel. Because of his mixed heritage, some consider him a personification of the Jamaican Motto "Out of Many, One People"

1998–2000: Stage One [edit]

Sean Paul's manager and producer Jeremy Harding first heard about the singer when his brother told him about seeing someone at a small open mic event in Kingston who sounded a lot like the popular dancehall DJ and toaster Super Cat.^[9] Harding eventually met the singer when Sean Paul came by his studio to ask for some advice. During the meeting Paul recorded a vocal over Harding's rhythm track and in the process created the song "Baby Girl".^[9] Sean Paul began hanging out at the studio every day, and the pair collaborated on several more tracks. When they recorded "Infiltrate" they decided they had something good enough to get on the radio. As Sean Paul started to attract local attention, Harding began looking after his affairs. He later told HitQuarters that his support of Paul's fledgling career initially led him assuming the roles of "DJ, manager, road manager and security guard."^[9] Sean Paul made a quick cameo appearance in the 1998 film Belly on stage performing. He made a very successful collaboration with DMX & Mr. Vegas (Top Shotter) as a soundtrack of the film. In 2000, Sean Paul released his debut album, Stage One with VP Records.

2001–02: Dutty Rock [edit]

Sean Paul in 2005

In 2002, he began working extensively with a team of producers and choreographers from 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 U.S. #1 single "Baby Boy" and Blu Cantrell's "Breathe", a chart hit in Europe. Both helped to push his reputation further still in the United States. 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".

2003–05: The Trinity [edit]

Sean Paul's third album The Trinity was released in on 27 September 2005. The album produced five big hits, "We Be Burnin'", "Ever Blazin'", "Give It Up to Me", "Never Gonna Be the Same" and the U.S. chart-topping smash hit "Temperature". The video of "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".^[10] 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. Sean Paul appears on the game Def Jam: Fight for NY as part of Snoop Dogg's crew and again in the game's sequel, Def Jam: Icon.

2006–10: Imperial Blaze [edit]

"Imperial Blaze" was released on 18 August 2009. The lead single, "So Fine", which was produced by Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor, premiered on Sean Paul's official website on 26 April 2009.^{[11][dead link][12]} Speaking to Pete Lewis of 'Blues & Soul' magazine in August 2009, Sean Paul stated that 'Imperial Blaze' "Actually signifies 'The King's Fire'. It's that thing inside of you that gives you the desire to do whatever you do, and be the best in the world at it."^[13] The new album consists of 20 tracks including "So Fine", "Press it Up", "She Want Me", "Private Party" which are party tracks and also love songs such as "Hold My Hand" (feat Keri Hilson), "Lately", "Now That I've Got Your Love" among others. Producers on the album include Don Corleone, Jeremy Harding, and Sean's brother Jason 'Jigzagula' Henriques.^[13] All the full songs of the album have been added to Sean Paul's Myspace page^[14] on the day of release of the album.

Up until now there have been eight 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), "Come Over" with Estelle,^[15] and also the video of his first single, "So Fine" from the new album. 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 Paul and others will be having a benefit concert. All proceeds will go towards getting new equipment and technology 'For Aid to the Bustamante Hospital for Children'. In an interview in 2009 he says he is planning to release a new album in 2011. During the premiere for MNET's Big Brother Africa 5: All-Stars on 18 July 2010, he performed his songs "Temperature", "Hold My Hand", and "So Fine".

2011–present: Tomahawk Technique [edit]

The first single Got 2 Luv U features vocals from American singer Alexis Jordan. It was released on 19 July 2011 by Atlantic Records. The song was written by Sean Paul, Ryan Tedder and Stargate, and it was produced by Stargate.^[16][17][18]

She Doesn't Mind is the second single from the album. It was written by Sean Paul, Shellback and Benny Blanco and was produced by Shellback and Benny Blanco. It was released on 29 September 2011 on NRJ & Skyrock (French radios), and to iTunes on 31 October.^[19] Like its proceeder, "Got 2 Luv U", featuring Alexis Jordan, it topped the charts in Switzerland, but it debuted at that spot. Sean appeared on the Never Mind the Buzzcocks episode which aired on 21 November 2011. This album is released on 18 September 2012 in USA. The album nominated for the best reggae album in the 55th Grammy awards.

Sean Paul is featured in the Simple Plan song Summer Paradise.

In 2012, Paul was asked to team up with electronic artist Congorock and Moombahton artist Stereo Massive to feature vocals on their song "Bless Di Nation", there is an instrumental version also.

In 2013, Paul featured on the single What About Us by British Girl Group The Saturdays. The single went straight in to the Official UK Charts at number 1 with over 100,000 sales in its first week.

Discography [edit]

Studio albums

• Stage One (2000)
• Dutty Rock (2002)
• The Trinity (2005)
• Imperial Blaze (2009)
• Tomahawk Technique (2012)

Mixtapes

• The Odyssey Mixtape (2009)

Filmography [edit]