Sean Paul was born Sean Paul Ryan Henriques on the 8th of January, 1973
in Kingston Jamaica. The son of a well-to-do Jewish-Portuguese father
and a Chinese-Jamaican mother, both accomplished athletes, the young man
was inspired to start out as a swimmer, competing with the national
water polo team until he was 21. But he had already begun to apply
himself to keyboard when he was only 13, and he later quit athletics to
pursue emceeing, singing, and composing.
Influenced by pop, reggae and hip-hop, Sean Paul released his debut
single "Baby Girl (Don't Cry)" in 1996, with the help of record producer
Jeremy Harding. It was the first of a string of hits, leading to his
debut album, "Stage One," which became the Billboard No. 4 Reggae album
of the year. It was his sophomore album, "Dutty Rock" (2002) that
became a best seller and won a Grammy as best Reggae album. He was soon
collaborating in the United States with rapper DMX. His top ten hit on
the Billboard Rap chart was "Hot Gal Today" which became his signature
tune. "Dutty Rock" had been propelled by hit singles, "Gimme the
Light," "Like Glue," and "I'm Still in Love With You," the album
eventually becoming an international success. He continued to
collaborate with big name stars like Beyonce and Mariah Carey, and made
music videos which made their way onto BET and MTV. 2005 saw the release
of Sean Paul's third album, "The Trinity." His hits won three awards at
the African Musical Awards, for Favorite Male, Favorite Hip-Hop, and
Artist of the Year.
