Sean Paul

1973年1月，肖恩·保羅（Sean Paul）（全名Sean Paul Henriques）生于牙買加。Sean Paul擁有包括葡萄牙，中國和牙買加等三國血統(tǒng)，在St. Andrew的一個藝術(shù)家庭中長大。母親是當(dāng)?shù)匾晃恢�名的畫家�?　　混血兒Sean Paul自幼就很喜歡運動，并十分擅長游泳和水球。后來的Paul還入選了牙買加的國家隊。但舞曲音樂卻始終是Paul的最愛。 　　Sean Paul在決定放棄體育之后開始專注于做自己的音樂。1993年，年輕的Paul已經(jīng)和雷鬼樂組合Third World的幾位成員混得很熟了。1996年，Paul在制作人 Jeremy Harding的幫助下發(fā)行了個人的首支單曲《Baby Girl》，事實證明，Sean Paul從這時候已經(jīng)開始上路了。 　　1999年，Sean Paul開始進(jìn)軍美國市場。Paul的單曲《H ot Gal Today》在Billboard說唱單曲榜中進(jìn)入前十，從此，Paul開始固定下來了自己這種“混血”的風(fēng)格：巧妙的將搖曳的雷鬼節(jié)奏，強(qiáng)勁的電子節(jié)拍和他流利的說唱融為一體。2000年，首張專輯《Stage One》發(fā)行。2002年，Sean Paul依靠個人第二張專輯《Dutty Rock》開始名揚天下。專輯中包含了那首同Beyonce合作的冠軍單曲《Baby Boy》以及《Gimmie The Light》，《Get Busy》和《Like Glue》等熱門打榜單曲。迄今為止，《Dutty Rock》的銷量已經(jīng)超過600萬張。今年9月27日，Sean Paul發(fā)行個人最新專輯《The Trinity》。 　　如今，繼Bob Marley之后，Sean Paul和Damien Marley（Bob Marley之子）一起已經(jīng)逐漸成為當(dāng)代牙買加音樂的標(biāo)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.