Sean Paul

1973年1月，肖恩·保罗（Sean Paul）（全名Sean Paul Henriques）生于牙买加。Sean Paul拥有包括葡萄牙，中国和牙买加等三国血统，在St. Andrew的一个艺术家庭中长大。母亲是当地一位知名的画家。 　　混血儿Sean Paul自幼就很喜欢运动，并十分擅长游泳和水球。后来的Paul还入选了牙买加的国家队。但舞曲音乐却始终是Paul的最爱。 　　Sean Paul在决定放弃体育之后开始专注于做自己的音乐。1993年，年轻的Paul已经和雷鬼乐组合Third World的几位成员混得很熟了。1996年，Paul在制作人 Jeremy Harding的帮助下发行了个人的首支单曲《Baby Girl》，事实证明，Sean Paul从这时候已经开始上路了。 　　1999年，Sean Paul开始进军美国市场。Paul的单曲《H ot Gal Today》在Billboard说唱单曲榜中进入前十，从此，Paul开始固定下来了自己这种“混血”的风格：巧妙的将摇曳的雷鬼节奏，强劲的电子节拍和他流利的说唱融为一体。2000年，首张专辑《Stage One》发行。2002年，Sean Paul依靠个人第二张专辑《Dutty Rock》开始名扬天下。专辑中包含了那首同Beyonce合作的冠军单曲《Baby Boy》以及《Gimmie The Light》，《Get Busy》和《Like Glue》等热门打榜单曲。迄今为止，《Dutty Rock》的销量已经超过600万张。今年9月27日，Sean Paul发行个人最新专辑《The Trinity》。 　　如今，继Bob Marley之后，Sean Paul和Damien Marley（Bob Marley之子）一起已经逐渐成为当代牙买加音乐的标志。
by Steve Huey
Dancehall superstar Sean Paul began scoring hit singles in Jamaica starting in 1996 and thereafter steadily began attracting international attention, eventual breaking into the pop mainstream in 2002 with Dutty Rock. Born Sean Paul Henriques on January 8, 1973, the multi-ethnic Paul (his parents had Portuguese, Chinese, and Jamaican blood) grew up comfortably in St. Andrew, Jamaica, his mother a renowned painter. He was a skilled athlete, excelling in swimming and especially water polo, playing for the Jamaican national team in the latter. Although his education was enough to land a prosperous career, dancehall music remained Paul's first love, particularly crafting rhythm tracks. He became a DJ after he began writing his own songs, patterning his style largely after Super Cat and finding a mentor in Don Yute; he also found contacts in several members of the reggae-pop band Third World in 1993, which helped open up business connections.
Paul released his debut single, "Baby Girl," with producer Jeremy Harding in 1996; it proved a significant success, leading to further Jamaican hits like "Nah Get No Bly (One More Try)," "Deport Them," "Excite Me," "Infiltrate," and "Hackle Mi." In 1999, Sean Paul started to make inroads to American audiences; he was first commissioned to collaborate with fellow dancehall hitmaker Mr. Vegas on a production for rapper DMX; titled "Here Comes the Boom," the song was included in director Hype Williams' film Belly. Also that year, Paul scored a Top Ten hit on the Billboard rap charts with "Hot Gal Today." Unfortunately, Paul had a very public falling out with Mr. Vegas over the packaging of the latter's remix of "Hot Gal Today"; still, it didn't slow Paul's career momentum, as he played the Summer Jam 2000 in New York City, the center of his American popularity. That fall, Paul released his first album on VP Records; the sprawling Stage One collected many of Paul's previous hit singles and compilation cuts, plus a few brand-new tracks. 2002's Dutty Rock and 2005's The Trinity were extremely successful. Both albums peaked in the Top Ten of the album chart and featured a handful of mainstream smashes.