Young rapper Sean Kingston’s history helps describe his sound. Born in Miami, Florida, then raised in Kingston, Jamaica, from the age of six, he mixed more than a little dance hall and reggae into his hip-hop. The hard lyrics come from a hard life, which included incarceration, homelessness, and growing up a lot faster than he should have. He landed a breaking-and-entering charge at age 11. He endured twenty-one days in jail, boot camp and living in a car while his mother was incarcerated. None of it swayed the youth against hustling; it just pointed him in a different, more lucrative direction. Taking his ability to write rhymes and hooks, he started working Miami’s talent show and showcase circuit. Producer Jonathan “J.R.” Rotem caught his demo and signed the young rapper to his record label right before the major-label bidding wars began. The Sony imprint Epic won and introduced their new artist in spring 2007 with the single “Colors 2007.” Kingston was only 16 years old when the track landed. With his second single, “Beautiful Girls,” he took a sample of Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me” and twisted it into a huge hit. This more polished, smoother, and less hardcore stance suited the singer and figured heavily into his self-titled debut full-length. Sean has since returned to the top ten with catchy hits like “Me Love,” “Fire Burning” and “Take You There.” Sean is expected to release an album in the very near future, perhaps by the end of 2016. Sean continues to tour the world.
