Sean Paul
Sep 26, 2011
Dancehall superstar Sean Paul began scoring hit singles in Jamaica starting in 1996 and thereafter steadily began attracting international attention, eventually breaking into the pop mainstream in 2002 with his song "Dutty Rock". Born Sean Paul Henriques on January 8, 1973, the multi-ethnic Paul grew up comfortably in St. Andrew, Jamaica, his mother a renowned painter. He was a skilled athlete, excelling in swimming and especially water polo, playing for the Jamaican national team in the latter. Although his education was enough to land a prosperous career, dancehall music remained Paul's first love, particularly crafting rhythm tracks. He became a DJ after he began writing his own songs, patterning his style largely after Super Cat and finding a mentor in Don Yute; he also found contacts in several members of the reggae-pop band Third World in 1993, which helped 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." In 1999, Sean Paul started to make inroads to American audiences; he was first commissioned to collaborate with fellow dancehall hitmaker Mr. Vegas on a production for rapper DMX; titled "Here Comes the Boom," the song was included in director Hype Williams' film "Belly". Also that year, Paul scored a Top Ten hit on the Billboard rap charts with "Hot Gal Today."
That fall, Paul released his first album on VP Records; the sprawling Stage One collected many of Paul's previous hit singles and compilation cuts, plus a few brand-new tracks. 2002's Dutty Rock and 2005's The Trinity were extremely successful. Both albums peaked in the Top Ten of the album chart and featured a handful of mainstream smashes. Imperial Blaze was released on 2009 which was certified gold in France, debuting at #8, #7 in the United Arab Emirates, #5 in Canada, #4 in Switzerland, #15 in Belgium, #17 in Austria, and #17 in Germany and it was also the first ever Jamaican album to debut atop the Billboard Rap Charts.
Sean Paul is currently in the studio making his fifth coming album due for release at the end of the year. The first song, "Got 2 Luv U" (featuring Alexis Jordan) was released for purchase on June 26th and is blowing up the charts and can be heard all over multi-format radio now.
