Carlos Jean Arriaga (born 15 February 1973) is a Spanish DJ and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

born in the region of Galicia in Northwestern Spain. He is the co-founder of the group Najwajean, and has been a producer for some of the most important Spanish and Latin-American artists of the 2000s, earning seven

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

nominations.

Biography

1973-1998: Early life

He was born on February 15, 1973, in Ferrol, an industrial city in the northwest of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, in the province of

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

. His parents are Jean Robert Jean, Haitian, and Julia Arriaga, a Spaniard from Galicia.

1998-2010: Najwajean and solo projects

In 1998, he joined Spanish actress/singer Najwa Nimri to form the

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band Najwajean, releasing their first album, entitled ''No Blood'', that same year. It was followed by original soundtracks for the films ''Asfalto'' and '' Guerreros'', both directed by Daniel Calparsoso. Meanwhile, he launched a career as a solo artist, releasing his debut album, ''Planet Jean'', in 2000. Two years later, he released ''Back to the Earth'', which included the internationally acclaimed single "Mr. Dabada", and also a compilation album as part of Najwajean, ''Selection''. He continued working alternatively as a solo singer and in Najwajean, with the releases of ''Mr. Miracle'' (2006) and ''Till It Breaks'' (2008), respectively. "Mr. Dabada" was featured in a TV commercial for

Intel Core 2 Duo Intel Core is a line of multi-core (with the exception of Core Solo and Core 2 Solo) central processing units (CPUs) for midrange, embedded, workstation, high-end and enthusiast computer markets marketed by Intel Corporation. These processors ...

microprocessor, which was aired in most American and European countries. Since 2000, Jean has also become one of the best-known music producers in Spain, having worked with a variety of pop artists, including

Alejandro Sanz Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Award ...

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, Hombres G and Estopa. Following the

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, Jean released the charity single ''Ay Haití'', in which he gathered together some of the most important Spanish and

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artists of the moment to raise money for the earthquake victims. 25 artists collaborated in the song, including

La Oreja de Van Gogh La Oreja de Van Gogh (; English: "Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh's Ear") is a Pop music, pop band from San Sebastián, Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. The lyrical themes of their songs typically include love, friendship ...

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, José Mercé and

. Jean's father, Jean Robert Jean, who was born in Haiti, had a part too in the song. Other personalities also appeared in the music video, such as

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

football player

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at A.C. Milan, AC Mil ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

's Andrés Iniesta, Atlético's

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

, and actress

Paz Vega María de la Paz Campos Trigo (born 2 January 1976), known professionally as Paz Vega (), is a Spanish actress. She became popular for her performance in comedy television series ''7 vidas''. Her film credits include ''Sex and Lucia'' (2001), ' ...

. The song reached number one on the

Spanish singles chart Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and stayed on top for two weeks.

2011-present: ''Plan B'' and ''Introducing Carlos Jean''

In 2011, he started the initiative ''Plan B'' as an alternative way of music production by intercollaboration between musicians. It consisted of Jean uploading a music base to the Internet so that anyone could edit it and send it back with some addition, which could range from lyrics to background noise. It was sponsored by

Ballantine's Ballantine's is a brand of Blended whisky#Scotland, blended Scotch whisky produced by the Chivas Brothers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard in Dumbarton, Scotland. The Ballantine's flavour is dependent on fingerprint malts from Miltonduff and Glenb ...

, and counted with collaborations from both famous and anonymous artists. Following the success of such a revolutionary idea, his career was given a boost, with the compilation album ''Introducing Carlos Jean'' being released in May 2011. It contained some of the songs from the ''Plan B'' as well as hits from his previous three albums. It produced 2 top five singles, "Lead the Way" and "Gimme the Base (DJ)". He also started appearing on a regular basis in the TV programme '' El Hormiguero'', in which new ''Plan B'' tracks were created, presented or remixed live. Some achieved tremendous popularity, reaching number one in the Spanish iTunes Store. The ''Hormiguero'' remix of single "Lead the Way" peaked at number 9 on the Spanish singles chart. During his time on the show he held live castings that resulted in the formation of boy band Why Five and girl band Check Baby Check; however, both acts were short-lived.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

*2000: ''Planet Jean'' *2002: ''Back to the Earth'' *2006: ''Mr. Miracle'' (SPA #67)

Compilation albums

*2011: ''Introducing Carlos Jean'' (SPA #7)

As part of Najwajean

*1998: ''No Blood'' (SPA #80) *2001: ''Asfalto OST'' (SPA #175) *2002: ''Guerreros OST'' (SPA #88) *2002: ''Selection'' (SPA #108) *2008: ''Till It Breaks'' (SPA #16)

Singles

*2000: "Give Me the 70's" *2002: "Mr. Dabada" *2006: "Have a Nice Day" *2011: "Lead the Way" feat. Electric Nana (SPA #4) *2011: "Lead the Way (El Hormiguero remix)" feat. Electric Nana (SPA #9) *2011: "Gimme the Base (DJ)" feat. Mandy Santos (SPA #4) *2011: "Keep the Trance" feat. Mandy Santos (SPA #12) *2012: "Blackstar" feat. Ferrara (SPA #7) *2013: "Forza" Santander's Tribute to Scuderia Ferrari

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jean, Carlos 1973 births Living people People from Ferrol, Spain Spanish house musicians Musicians from Galicia (Spain) Spanish people of Haitian descent Electronica musicians Latin music record producers Spanish record producers Sony Music Latin artists