Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), better known by his stage name Sean Kingston, is an American-Jamaican singer and rapper. He is known for his hit songs " Beautiful Girls", " Fire Burning", " Take You There", and his collaboration with

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

: " Eenie Meenie".

Early life and education

Born Kisean Paul Anderson in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, Kingston was the first of three children born to Janice Turner. Kingston's family moved to

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inte ...

, when he was six. Kingston attended Ocho Rios High School in Ocho Rios for three years before migrating back to the United States. His grandfather was the noted Jamaican reggae producer Lawrence Lindo, who worked under the stage name

Jack Ruby Jack Leon Ruby (born Jacob Leon Rubenstein; April 25, 1911January 3, 1967) was an American nightclub owner and alleged associate of the Chicago Outfit who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was accused of ...

Career

2007–2008: ''Sean Kingston''

Kingston was discovered on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

by Matt Tobin at Beluga Heights Records, and signed to the label in a partnership deal with

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

. In an interview with

HitQuarters HitQuarters was an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It was noted for its in-depth interviews with industry figures, as well as its A&R and manager contact directory, free artist promo pages and song ...

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 Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

and Koch Records, Kingston recorded and released the single " Beautiful Girls" in May 2007. The song peaked at the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Beautiful Girls" was a success internationally, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, the song spent four weeks at the summit of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In 2007, Kingston was the opening act for

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderweb ...

's ''The Sweet Escape'' Tour and for select dates on

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's '' The Beyoncé Experience'' tour. In 2008, he was one of the opening acts for the Australian leg of

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of '' American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her de ...

's '' My December Tour''.

2009–2010: ''Tomorrow''

The album '' Tomorrow'' was released on September 22, 2009. Producers involved in the album included former Fugee Wyclef Jean; RedOne (of recent Lady Gaga fame); plus Sean's original mentor, J. R. Rotem. " Fire Burning" and " Face Drop" were released as singles. Additionally, five promotional digital singles were released leading up to the album. Kingston co-wrote

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter.

's " Whatcha Say". He also found the R&B-reggae singer Iyaz on MySpace and signed him to J. R. Rotem's record label. 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 movie, ''The Lottery Ticket''. He had a performance in the

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...

where he was supported by Mumzy Stranger.

2010–2013: ''Back 2 Life'', ''King of Kingz,'' "Lee Strike" and other projects

The album features T-Pain,

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single " Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital dow ...

Soulja Boy DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single " Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peak ...

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...

, Cher Lloyd, Akon, and Green Eyed Tayla. The first single from the album is " Eenie Meenie" featuring

, released on March 23, 2010, which is also included on Bieber's '' My World 2.0'' album. The second single from the album is " Letting Go (Dutty Love)", which features a verse from

. It was released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

August 3, while the third is "Dumb Love" and was released on iTunes September 8. 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. Kingston represented the continents of North and South America to sing the Official Theme Song of the

Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

, " Everyone". He collaborated with four other artists representing their continent, South African Jody Williams representing Africa,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

an Tabitha Nauser (Asia), Briton

Steve Appleton Steven R. Appleton (March 31, 1960 – February 3, 2012) was the CEO of Micron Technology, based in Boise, Idaho. Born and raised in California, Appleton attended Boise State University, where he was on the tennis team. A lifelong aviation enthus ...

(Europe), and Australian Jessica Mauboy representing Oceania. However, Kingston was unable to attend the Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 opening ceremony due to passport mix-ups. Sean was invited to be featured with Cash Money Records/former So So Def member Bow Wow on his single " For My Hood". He performed the song with Bow Wow and

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz, a ...

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

's television program '' 106 & Park'' the day after release. Kingston planned to release a mixtape with pop star

, called ''Our World''. It featured about 12–14 songs and included their versions of songs like "Pretty Boy Swag", Eagles hit single, "Lyin Eyes" and "Billionaire". The mixtape was completed and Kingston showed his fans a preview on uStream on August 19, 2010. However, the album was never released. Kingston also went on to perform on the first leg of Bieber's tour. Kingston released his first mixtape, ''King of Kingz'', on February 3, 2011, as a free download only. The mixtape includes guest appearances by Akon,

, B.o.B, and Tory Lanez. Kingston has announced that his new album will be called '' Back 2 Life''. He also said in an interview with MTV that he would be completely re-doing the album and that the previous singles will not be on it. Kingston linked up with T.I. on the set of the video for "Back 2 Life", the street single off his upcoming album of the same name. The two shot the video in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

with comedian Mike Epps. In November 2012, Kingston performed in the Dubai Caribbean Carnival at Downtown Dubai with

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter.

and Bow Wow. On April 13, 2013,

put up the preorder of ''Back 2 Life'', its cover art and track listing as well as a release date of September 10, 2013.

2013–present: ''Road to Deliverance''

In March 2013, Kingston announced plans for his upcoming fourth studio album while stating that he will be recording with Disney and pop star Zendaya. At the same time, he said that they are both recording a song titled "Heart on Empty", which Kingston described as "a soulful ballad that you all will be sure to remember". In November, Kingston also guest-starred, along with

Chance the Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape ''10 Day'' in 2012. He ...

, Debra Wilson, Erykah Badu,

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sc ...

, Rochelle Jordan,

David Alan Grier David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as Bernard on ''Damon (TV series), Damon'' (1998), as David Bellows on ''Life with Bonnie'' (2002–2004), as Joe Carmichael on ''The Carmic ...

, and

Christopher "Kid" Reid Christopher Reid (born April 5, 1964), formerly known as Kid (shortened from his original MC name, Kid Coolout), is an American rapper, actor and comedian. During the peak of his career with the rap duo Kid 'n Play (with Christopher Martin), Re ...

, in the

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements ...

episode of ''

Black Dynamite ''Black Dynamite'' is a 2009 American blaxploitation action comedy film starring Michael Jai White, Tommy Davidson, and Salli Richardson. The film was directed by Scott Sanders and co-written by White, Sanders, and Byron Minns, who also co ...

'' on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

. In March 2015, Kingston posted on Instagram a picture with Swedish record producer

RedOne Nadir Khayat ( ar, نادر الخياط; born 9 April 1972), better known by his stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive. As a record producer and songwriter, he has worked with many high-profi ...

, confirming that they were working on the album. In May 2015, Sean Kingston posted a snippet of the then-upcoming lead single from his fourth studio album. On September 14, 2015, Kingston premiered his first single in two years titled "Wait Up", the lead single off his upcoming fourth studio album. Music videos were released for "One Away" and "All I Got" in January and March 2016, respectively. In March 2017, he announced the release of the ''Made in Jamaica'' mixtape, preceded by the single "Chance" that featured Vybz Kartel. In 2018, he participated with Italian singer Giusy Ferreri on the vocal part of the single "Amore e capoeira", by Italian record producers Takagi & Ketra. In 2019, he released his single "Peace of Mind" with rapper Tory Lanez. In June 2020, he announced the creation of the "Professional Rapper Boxing League" with hip hop super agent, Triple The Mogul. On May 21, 2021, Kingston returned with the single, "Darkest Times", featuring

G Herbo Herbert Randall Wright III (born October 8, 1995), better known by his stage name G Herbo (formerly Lil Herb), is an American rapper from Chicago. G Herbo is signed to Machine Entertainment Group. He has released the mixtapes '' Welcome to Fa ...

, while also announcing his upcoming fourth studio album. On December 31, 2021, Kingston participated with Japanese rapper TOMORO on the vocal part of the single "Let Me Hold You". On September 30, 2022, ''Road To Deliverance'' was released as Kingston's fourth studio album.

Personal life

Activism

Kingston filmed a public service announcement with Do Something to encourage teens to become active in their communities by forming a Do Something club. In 2010, he appeared with one of his dogs in an ad for

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, a ...

, encouraging people not to chain their dogs outside.

Jet-skiing accident

In May 2011, Kingston was involved in a near-fatal jet skiing accident in

, Florida and was immediately rushed to the hospital. Kingston was required to pay a $180 fine for careless operation in the accident. By 2018, he had begun to ride jet skis again.

Discography

* '' Sean Kingston'' (2007) * '' Tomorrow'' (2009) * '' Back 2 Life'' (2013) * ''Road To Deliverance'' (2022)

Awards and nominations

Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

** 2008, Outstanding New Artist (Nominated) * MOBO Awards ** 2007: Best Reggae Ever Acts (Win) * MTV Video Music Awards Japan ** 2013: Best Reggae Video "

Back 2 Life (Live It Up) "Back 2 Life (Live It Up)" is a reggae fusion, R&B and hip hop song by American recording artist Sean Kingston, featuring vocals from American rapper, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur T.I. The song was released on June 5, 2012 as the lea ...

" (Nominated) *

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United ...

** 2007: Choice R&B Track " Beautiful Girls" (Win) ** 2007: Choice Summer Track "Beautiful Girls" (Nominated) ** 2009: Choice Summer Song " Fire Burning" (Nominated)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kingston, Sean 1990 births Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American singers African-American male rappers African-American male singers African-American songwriters American emigrants to Jamaica American expatriates in Jamaica American hip hop singers American male pop singers American male rappers American male singers American male songwriters American rappers of Caribbean descent American rappers of Jamaican descent Southern hip hop musicians Epic Records artists Jamaican male singers Jamaican pop singers Jamaican rappers Jamaican songwriters Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Musicians from Miami People from Saint Ann Parish Rappers from Miami Reggae fusion artists Singers from Florida Songwriters from Florida