Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "

Get Busy "Get Busy" is a dancehall song by Jamaican reggae toaster Sean Paul, from his album ''Dutty Rock''. The song was one of the many hits from the jumpy handclap riddim known as the Diwali Riddim, produced by then-newcomer Steven Marsden, and ...

" and "

Temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the United States and most of his albums have been nominated for the Grammy's

Best Reggae Album The Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1985 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the reggae music genre. Honors in sev ...

, with ''

Dutty Rock ''Dutty Rock'' (West Indian patois for "dirty rock") is the second studio album by Jamaican reggae/dancehall artist Sean Paul. Released on 12 November 2002, it features four top 15 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits , "Gimme the Light", "Get Busy", "Li ...

'' winning the award. Paul has also been featured in many other singles including chart-toppers " Baby Boy" with

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 ...

, "

What About Us What About Us may refer to: * ''What About Us'' (Livin Out Loud album), or the title song * ''What About Us?'' (Ruth-Ann Boyle album), or the title song * "What About Us?" (Brandy song), 2002 * "What About Us" (Jodeci song), 1994 * "What About ...

" by

The Saturdays The Saturdays were a British-Irish girl group based in London, England. The group formed during the summer of 2007 and have been on hiatus since 2014. The lineup consists of Frankie Bridge, Una Healy, Rochelle Humes, Mollie King, and Vanessa Wh ...

, " Rockabye" by

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit are an English electronic music group, formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have had four number 1 hits and ten top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for ...

, and " Cheap Thrills" by

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

. As well as his own top ten UK hit " No Lie" (featuring the Youngest English-Albanian singer

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

), the EP's lead single. " No Lie" and " Cheap Thrills"and " Rockabye", each have over 1 billion views on YouTube, with "Rockabye" having reached over 2.7 billion views.

Early life

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques was born in

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 Inter ...

, on 9 January 1973. His mother Frances, a painter, is of English and

Chinese Jamaican Chinese Jamaicans are Jamaicans of Chinese ancestry, which include descendants of migrants from China to Jamaica. Early migrants came in the 19th century; there was another moment of migration in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the descendants of ea ...

descent.His maternal grandfather who was a Chinese Doctor

His paternal great-grandfather's

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

family immigrated from Portugal to Jamaica in the 17th century, while his paternal grandmother was

Afro-Jamaican Afro-Jamaicans are Jamaicans of predominant Sub-Saharan African descent. They represent the largest ethnic group in the country. Most Jamaicans of mixed-race descent self-report as just Jamaican. The ethnogenesis of the Black Jamaican people st ...

. Paul was raised as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, though he also attended the Jewish private school Hillel Academy in Jamaica. Many members of his family are swimmers. His grandfather was on the first Sri Lankan men's national

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

team. His father also played water polo for the team in the 1960s, and competed in long-distance swimming, while Paul's mother was a butterfly swimmer. When Paul was 15, his father was arrested on charges of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

and sentenced to 15 years in prison; he was released for good behaviour when Paul was 19. 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 Wolmer's Boys' School and the College of Arts, Science, and Technology, now known as the

University of Technology An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

, where he was trained in commerce with an aim of pursuing an occupation in swimming.

Career

1994–2000: Early beginnings and rise to fame

Former manager and producer Jeremy Harding's brother told him about a singer at a small

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether the ...

event in Kingston who sounded a lot like

DJ and

toaster A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast. Types Pop-up toaster In pop-up or automatic toasters, a single vertical piece of bread is dropped into a slot on the top of the toaster. ...

Super Cat William Anthony Maragh (born 25 June 1963),Huey, Steve " Super Cat Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 18 July 2010 also known as Super Cat, is a Jamaican deejay who achieved widespread popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s dancehall mo ...

. Harding eventually met the singer when 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". 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 Paul started to attract local attention, Harding began looking after his affairs. He later told

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 ...

that his support of Paul's fledgling career initially led him assuming the roles of "DJ, manager, road manager and security guard." Paul made a cameo appearance in the 1998 film ''

Belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, cen ...

'' on stage performing. He made a successful collaboration with DMX and

Mr. Vegas Clifford Smith (born December 29th, 1974), better known as Mr. Vegas, is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Biography Clifford Smith was born in Kingston in 1974.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Gu ...

, "Top Shotter", to the soundtrack of the film. In 2000, Paul released his debut album, '' Stage One'' with

VP Records VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York (state), New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and Soca music, soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami ...

2001–2015: Atlantic Records deal and international success

In 2002, Paul continued his work with manager and producer Jeremy Harding, and after a joint venture deal with his label VP Records and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, announced the release of his second album, ''

''. All of its hit singles would receive heavy airplay and rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and

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 A ...

. The first single "

Gimme the Light "Gimme the Light" is the first single from Jamaican dancehall musician Sean Paul's second studio album, ''Dutty Rock'' (2002). The song was originally released in Jamaica in 2001 as "Give Me the Light" and was issued internationally in 2002. ...

" was an instant worldwide smash hit, reaching number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second single "

" would end up topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it Paul's first number-one hit, it was also the first ever dancehall song to top the chart. ''Dutty Rock'' was a worldwide success, peaking in the top ten on the ''Billboard'' 200, was certified double-platinum by the RIAA and eventually selling over six million copies worldwide. ''Dutty Rock'' won the Reggae Album of the year at the

46th Annual Grammy Awards The 46th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003. They recognized acc ...

in 2004. "Get Busy" was also nominated for best Rap Song in that year. Simultaneously, Paul was featured on

's U.S. number-one hit song " Baby Boy" and

Blu Cantrell Blu Cantrell (born Tiffany Cobb; March 16, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. Cantrell rose to fame in 2001, with the release of her debut single, " Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)", which peaked at number two on the US ''Billboa ...

's " Breathe", although didn't perform well in the United States but was a massive hit in the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Both helped to push his reputation further still in the United States. This album not only further popularized dancehall music in the 2000s, but also helped developed and popularized the genre of

dancehall pop Dancehall pop is a sub-genre of the Jamaican genre dancehall that originated in the early 2000s. Developing from the sounds of reggae, dancehall pop is characteristically different in its fusion with western pop music and digital music producti ...

, a musical fusion between the rhythmic styles and melodies of dancehall and pop music. Paul's third album ''

The Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Fa ...

'' was released on 27 September 2005. The album debuted at number 5 on the ''Billboard'' 200, breaking records with its first-week sales for a reggae/dancehall artist, eventually going Platinum in the United States and selling 4 million copies worldwide. The album produced five big hits, "

We Be Burnin' "We Be Burnin'" is the first single from Jamaican musician Sean Paul's third studio album, '' The Trinity'' (2005). It achieved success worldwide, becoming a top-10 hit on at least 10 national music charts, including those of Germany, Italy, th ...

, " Ever Blazin', "

Give It Up to Me "Give It Up to Me" is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira featuring American rapper Lil Wayne, taken from the deluxe version of the former's eighth studio album ''She Wolf''. It was released on 19 October 2009, by Epic Records as the ...

", " Never Gonna Be the Same" and the U.S. chart-topping smash hit "

", making it his second number-one hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The video of "Give It Up to Me" (featuring

Keyshia Cole Keyshia Myeshia Cole Johnson; born October 15, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Born and raised in Oakland, California, Cole began her career as a backing vocalist for MC Hammer. After signing with A&M Records ...

) was featured in the film '' 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 "Temperature". He also won an

American Music Award The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produc ...

for "Give It Up to Me" beating

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 ...

and

Nick Lachey Nicholas Scott Lachey ( ; born November 9, 1973) is an American singer, actor, television personality, and host. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the multi-platinum-selling boyband 98 Degrees, and later starred in the reality series '' Newl ...

who were also nominated for the award. "Send It On" from ''The Trinity'' featured on the 2005 Vauxhall Corsa advert. Paul often contributes his songs to various '' Riddim Driven'' albums by VP Records. In March 2007, he returned to Jamaica to perform at the

Cricket World Cup 2007 The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the ...

opening ceremony. Paul appears in the video game '' Def Jam: Fight for NY'' as part of

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

's crew and again in the game's sequel, '' Def Jam: Icon''. Seanpaul01

Paul's fourth album ''

Imperial Blaze ''Imperial Blaze'' is the fourth studio album by dancehall artist Sean Paul. The album was released on 18 August 2009.

'' was released on 18 August 2009. The lead single, "So Fine", which was produced by Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor, premiered on Paul's website on 26 April 2009. The 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 Paul's brother Jason 'Jigzagula' Henriques. All the songs of the album were added to Paul's Myspace page on the day of release of the album. The album spawned eight music videos: "Always On My Mind (with

Da'Ville Orville Thomas, better known by his stage name Da'Ville, is a Jamaican reggae singer. Biography Orville Thomas is the first child of Jah Thomas and Cleopatra Wright.Morgan, Simone (2012)Singer Da’Ville returns with new album, ''Jamaica Observ ...

)", " Give It to You (with

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

)", "

Watch Them Roll This is a comprehensive listing of official releases by Jamaican dancehall singer Sean Paul. ''Stage One'' is the debut album by Paul, released on 28 March 2000. Putting the CD in a CD-ROM drive gives access to the "Haffi Get De Gal Ha (Hot Gal ...

", "Back It Up" (with Leftside), " (I Wanna See You) Push It Baby" (with

Pretty Ricky Pretty Ricky is an American R&B/ hip hop group originating from Miami, Florida. The group originally consisted of brothers Diamond Blue (Baby Blue) Smith and Spectacular Smith, plus Corey (Slick 'Em) Mathis and Marcus (Pleasure P) Cooper. Plea ...

), "Hit 'Em" (with Fahrenheit and his brother Jason "Jigzagula" Henriques), " Come Over" with Estelle, and also the video of his first single, " So Fine". Paul appeared in

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

's video, "Save a Life", which also includes appearances from

Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

and

, among others. In an effort to raise money for a children's hospital, Shaggy, Paul and others had a benefit concert. All proceeds went towards getting new equipment and technology 'For Aid to the Bustamante Hospital for Children'. During the premiere for MNET's ''Big Brother Africa: All-Stars'' on 18 July 2010, he performed his songs "Temperature", "Hold My Hand", and "So Fine". Paul's fifth album ''

Tomahawk Technique ''Tomahawk Technique'' is the fifth studio album by Jamaican dancehall recording artist Sean Paul, released in several countries by Atlantic Records (Warner Music Group) on 24 January 2012. The album was released eight months later in the Uni ...

'' was released on 24 January 2012. The first single "

Got 2 Luv U "Got 2 Luv U" is the first single from Jamaican recording artist Sean Paul's fifth studio album ''Tomahawk Technique''. The song features vocals from American singer Alexis Jordan. It was released on 19 July 2011 by Atlantic Records. The song ...

" features vocals from American singer

Alexis Jordan Alexis Jordan (born April 7, 1992) is an American singer and actress from Columbia, South Carolina. Jordan rose to fame as a contestant on the first season of ''America's Got Talent'' in 2006 at the age of 14. After being eliminated from the sho ...

. The song was written by Paul,

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

and

Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...

and produced by Stargate. "

She Doesn't Mind "She Doesn't Mind" is the second single from the Jamaican Dancehall recording artist Sean Paul's fifth studio album ''Tomahawk Technique''. It was written by Sean Paul, Shellback and Benny Blanco and was produced by Shellback and Benny Blanco ...

" is the second single from the album. It was written by Paul, Shellback and

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also ...

and was produced by Shellback and Benny Blanco. It was released on 29 September 2011 on NRJ and

Skyrock Skyrock may refer to: *Skyrock (social network site), a French social network site *Skyrock (radio) Skyrock is a French radio station based in Paris created in 1986, and is mainly dedicated to mainstream rap music Rapping (also rhyming, s ...

(French radios), and to

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 mul ...

on 31 October. Like its proceeder, "Got 2 Luv U", it topped the charts in Switzerland, but it debuted at that spot. Paul appeared on the ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

'' episode which aired on 21 November 2011. ''

'' was released on 18 September 2012 in the U.S. The album was nominated for the best reggae album in the

55th Grammy awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...

. In 2011, Paul released his first

riddim Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm". In the context of reggae and dancehall, it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the ...

called "Blaze Fia Riddim" under Dutty Rock Productions his own label. In 2012, Paul was asked to team up with electronic artist

Congorock Rocco Rampino (born 1983, in Lecce), better known as Congorock, is an Italian people, Italian Music producer, producer and Disc jockey, DJ. He is best known for his song "Babylon" in 2010. In 2012 Congorock toured with Barbadian R&B singer Riha ...

and production/DJ duo Stereo Massive to feature vocals on their song "Bless Di Nation". Sean Paul COP21 2015-12-10

During 2013, Paul worked on his sixth studio album ''

Full Frequency ''Full Frequency'' is the sixth studio album by Jamaican dancehall singer Sean Paul, released through Atlantic Records. The album was originally planned for release on 4 November 2013, but was later pushed back to a release date of 18 February ...

'', which was released on 18 February 2014. The first single on the album, "Other Side of Love", was released to iTunes on 10 June 2013. The second single, "Entertainment", which features

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (or Tity Boi), is an American rapper. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he initially gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, al ...

and

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip hop group Three 6 Mafia, established i ...

, was released on 25 June 2013. Paul released the official remix to "Entertainment" on 3 September 2013 with an additional feature from

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 accent ...

. "Turn It Up" was released as a single in the UK on 20 October 2013. It was to be released in Germany on 22 November 2013. "Want Dem All" was released as a single in the U.S. on 5 November 2013. The album features guest appearances from

Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Damian Marley is the youngest son of reggae musician Bob Marle ...

Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...

Brick & Lace Brick & Lace are a Jamaican-American dancehall/R&B (or reggae fusion) musical duo consisting of sisters Nyanda and Nailah Thorbourne. According to '' Billboard'', their name reflects the tough and the soft sides of femininity. Brick & Lace ...

Konshens Garfield Delano Spence (born 11 January 1985), also known as Konshens, is a Jamaican dancehall recording artist. Biography Garfield Delano Spence was born on 11 January 1985. Prior to his solo career, he was a member of the duo SoJah with his ...

, Nicki Minaj, 2 Chainz and Juicy J. Also in 2013, Paul was featured on the single "

" by British girl group

. The single went straight to the top of the Official UK Charts with over 100,000 sales in its first week, becoming the fastest selling single of the year at the time of release. In January 2014, Paul was the main international artist at Fiestas Palmares 2014 in Costa Rica. Also in 2014, Paul was featured on the official English-language version of long-running Latin American chart topper " Bailando" by

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the ...

featuring Gente de Zona and

Descemer Bueno Descemer Bueno (born July 5, 1971) is a Cuban singer, songwriter, and record producer. His first professional gigs were playing bass with Cuban troubadour Santiago Feliú. Early career Bueno studied music and became a music teacher before formi ...

. The video for the English version was shot concurrently with the video for the Spanish version in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. The English version reached top 10 status in the United States and topping the charts of several other countries. Paul appeared on the ''

Apocalypse Soon ''Apocalypse Soon'' is an extended play (EP) by American electronic dance music band Major Lazer. It was released in 2014 after the success of their 2013 studio album ''Free the Universe''. The EP includes 5 tracks featuring collaborations with ...

'' EP by electronic group

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after t ...

, on the track " Come On to Me", which was released as the second single from the album, after "Aerosol Can", a collaboration with

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

. He also collaborated with Nigerian recording artist

Timaya Inetimi Timaya Odon (born 15 August 1980), better known by his stage name Timaya, is a multiple award-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter. He hails from Odi, Bayelsa state, South-South Nigeria. He is fondly called the Egberi Papa 1 of Bayels ...

on a remix of his song "Bum Bum". An accompanying video directed by Shutah Films was released online on 11 April. On 6 July 2015, Paul released the music video for his song "Take It Low" on the album ''Full Frequency''

2016–present: New label and commercial resurgence

Paul had already became an independent artist after parting ways with Atlantic Records in September 2014. Under new management of Jules Dougall of Dougall Group & Steve "Urchin" Wilson, Paul enjoyed a commercial resurgence in his career throughout 2016 after being featured on Australian-singer

's remix version of her song " Cheap Thrills", it topped the Billboard Hot 100, making it Paul's first number-one hit on the chart since 2006. The song was also a global success, reaching number one in more than 15 other countries. It reportedly ended up becoming the most Shazamed song of 2016. Following this resurgence, Paul signed a new record deal with

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

in July 2016. In October 2016, Clean Bandit released the song " Rockabye", which features Paul and English singer

Anne-Marie Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson (born 7 April 1991) is an English singer. She has attained charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, including Clean Bandit's "Rockabye (song), Rockabye", which peaked at number one, as well as "Alarm (Anne-Marie song ...

. It peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent nine consecutive weeks at number one of the UK Singles Chart, and gained the coveted

Christmas number one In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

. The song would go on to become a massive global hit in 2017, reaching number one in 18 other countries. In November 2016, Paul cited

Toots and the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

as inspiration when it comes to his own personal career longevity by saying, "I've seen some great people in my industry, you know, people like Toots... Toots and the Maytals. Toots he's a great reggae artist and he's still doing it... He's up there in years and he's doing it. Those kind of artists inspire me. I know I'm just going to keep on doing music as long as I can." On 18 November 2016, he released a new single " No Lie" featuring

, which served as the lead single from his EP '' Mad Love The Prequel'' (which would be released in 2018, making it his first project release with Island Records). The song would eventually become a global phenomenon over the following six years after its release, it became a top-ten hit in 10 different countries and would end up becoming his most streamed song across streaming platforms, the music video (directed by

Tim Nackashi Tim Nackashi is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and music video director. He is perhaps best known for his one-take music video for OK Go's WTF? and the documentary film Dirty Work co-directed by David Sampliner and executive produced by ...

) also surpassed 1 billion views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, 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 ...

in April 2022, making it his most popular music video. One of the few other singles off the EP, " Mad Love" a collaboration with

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

which features singer

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. She first gained recognition in 2011 when she began posting videos of herself covering popular songs online. One of her videos caught t ...

would also make a global impact on the charts, peaking within the top 50 in multiple continents. In March 2019, Paul collaborated with Colombian singer

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...

on a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

song called "Contra La Pared", the song peaked within the top 15 of the ''Billboard''

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, rad ...

chart, making it his seventh entry on the chart. It was also a major hit in

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, peaking in the top 10 on the nation's chart and was a top 30 hit in both

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Paul had suggested that Jamaican musicians making use of "hardcore

patois ''Patois'' (, pl. same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or ...

", a mixture of English with several languages spoken in Jamaica, create a

language barrier A language barrier is a figurative phrase used primarily to refer to linguistic barriers to communication, i.e. the difficulties in communication experienced by people or groups originally speaking different languages, or even dialects in some ...

that prevents them from becoming successful in the United States and the United Kingdom. It was announced that he would receive the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') i ...

, Officer class (OD) from the Jamaican government on 21 October 2019, "for contribution to the global popularity and promotion of reggae music". In August 2019, Paul was nominated alongside

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

DJ Snake William Sami Étienne Grigahcine (born 13 June 1986), known by his stage name DJ Snake, is an Algerian French music producer and DJ, first achieving international recognition in 2013 by releasing an instrumentation-oriented single called " Turn D ...

, and

Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

for the 'Favorite Crossover Artist' category of the 2019

Latin American Music Awards The Latin American Music Awards (Latin AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by the MRC Live and Alternative. It is the Spanish-language counterpart of the American Music Awards (AMAs). As with AMAs, the Latin AMAs are determine ...

In March 2021, Paul released his seventh studio album called ''

Live n Livin ''Live n Livin'' is the seventh studio album by Jamaican dancehall singer Sean Paul, released on 12 March 2021 by his label Dutty Rock Productions. Recorded in Jamaica in various studios, It features collaborations with Assassin, Bugle, Buju Ban ...

'' under his own label Dutty Rock Productions. Paul, collaborated with fellow Jamaican artists

Spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

and

for a dancehall single called "Go Down Deh". They performed the song live on

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

and

The Wendy Williams Show ''The Wendy Williams Show'' (often shortened to ''Wendy'') is an American syndicated talk show created and hosted by Wendy Williams, and produced by Wendy Williams Productions, along with Perler Productions. The show is distributed by Debmar-Me ...

. The song was massively well-received worldwide on the internet, and was named the "Dancehall track of the year" for 2021 by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. In May 2022, Paul released his eighth studio album ''

Scorcha ''Scorcha'' is the eighth studio album by Jamaican dancehall artist Sean Paul, released on 27 May 2022 through Island Records. It features collaborations with Sia, Gwen Stefani, Shenseea, Stylo G, Damian Marley, Nicky Jam, Tove Lo, Jada Kingdo ...

'' through Island Records. In September 2022, Paul appeared in season 22 of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' as

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", "Spiderwebs ...

's coach advisor.

Business ventures

In 2011, Paul established his own record label, Dutty Rock Productions along with his production team. In 2017, Paul signed Jamaican artist Chi Ching Ching to the label, making it the label's first signing. In 2022, in promotion of his eighth studio album ''

'', he released his own brand of Jamaican patties called the "Scorcha Patty" along with its

hot sauce Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of mass-produced hot sauce exist. History Humans have used chili peppers and other hot spices for thousands of years ...

in partnership with a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

-based Jamaican restaurant called Port Royal, which was made available for a limited time.

Philanthropy

In 2016, Paul donated $1 million JMD towards

Bustamante Hospital for Children Jamaica Hospital for Children is a children's hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, located on Arthur Wint Drive in the Kingston 5 district of the city, near the national stadium Independence Park and the Bob Marley statue. It is the only children's h ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Paul founded the "Sean Paul Foundation" in 2020, aiding less fortunate communities in Jamaica with donations of groceries to poor families and distribution of

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...

s to primary schools for students.

Activism

Paul has spoken out about

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. In 2015, he attended the

United Nations Climate Change conference The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties (Conference of the Parties, ...

, expressing concerns over pollution and has said that athletes in Jamaica are having to "run in smog". He has advocated for waste reduction, solar power and the use of

electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quie ...

s. He collaborated with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

Colbie Caillat Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre. After signing with Universal Republic R ...

and various other artists on a single called "Love Song to the Earth" to spread awareness about climate change. In 2018, Paul was named an ambassador for climate change in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. In 2022, Paul stated in his efforts to help combat climate change; "I have made the move to make my whole house solar powered. From the water to all the lights, And it runs my studio as well".

Personal life

In 2012, Paul married his long-term girlfriend, Jamaican TV host Jodi Stewart. In August 2016, it was announced that the couple was expecting their first child. On 26 February 2017, Paul announced the birth of his son, Levi Blaze. Their second child, Remi, was born on 20 August 2019.Sean Paul's new bundle of joy
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor i ...

'', 21 August 2019.

Discography

* '' Stage One'' (2000) * ''

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2005) * ''

Imperial Blaze ''Imperial Blaze'' is the fourth studio album by dancehall artist Sean Paul. The album was released on 18 August 2009.

'' (2009) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2014) * ''

'' (2021) * ''

'' (2022)

Filmography

Films TV Appearances Video games

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

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, Himself ,

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Imperial Blaze ''Imperial Blaze'' is the fourth studio album by dancehall artist Sean Paul. The album was released on 18 August 2009.

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) ,

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, ''

Live N Livin ''Live n Livin'' is the seventh studio album by Jamaican dancehall singer Sean Paul, released on 12 March 2021 by his label Dutty Rock Productions. Recorded in Jamaica in various studios, It features collaborations with Assassin, Bugle, Buju Ban ...

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Other awards

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Sean 1973 births 21st-century Jamaican male singers 21st-century Jamaican male musicians Living people Atlantic Records artists Grammy Award winners Island Records artists Jamaican dancehall musicians Jamaican pop singers Jamaican male water polo players Jamaican rappers Jamaican reggae singers Jamaican Roman Catholics Jamaican people of African descent Jamaican people of Chinese descent Jamaican people of English descent Jamaican people of Jewish descent Jamaican people of Portuguese descent Mad Decent artists MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica VP Records artists

Early life

Career

1994–2000: Early beginnings and rise to fame

2001–2015: Atlantic Records deal and international success

2016–present: New label and commercial resurgence

Business ventures

Philanthropy

Activism

Personal life

Discography

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Other awards

See Also

References

External links