Sean Kingston will do feel-good music without foul language
Posted on August 1, 2007
Filed Under News
How do get to be top of the world at 17? Never underestimate the power of knocking on the right person’s door several times. Well, not knocking, actually, emailing…
17-year-old Sean Kingston has become a singing sensation with his schoolboy clothes, doo-wop backing singers, a classic Sam Cooke sample and songs that have become popular without whilst avoiding industry formulas.
When Kingston learned that J.R. Rotem, the Los Angeles-based producer whose clients include 50 Cent, Rihanna, Dr. Dre and Britney Spears, was looking for artists for a new label, he e-mailed him, sending the same message five times a day until he finally replied.
Kingston tells the story on his MySpace video: “I sent him a message like ‘Yo, please take your time out to check out my music, man. That’s all I’m asking for. I’m not asking for much. I just really want you to listen to my music and tell me what you think. I mean, I’ve been through a lot. I mean, I just really want you to take your time out to listen to my music.’ I copied and pasted that message and I sent it to him five times a day until one time he hit me back and was like, ‘Yo, you’ve been sending us a lot of messages. We’re really going to take our time out to check out your music or whatnot, and we’re going to tell you what we think.’”
Kingston set a new MySpace Album Listening Party record with more than a million plays in one day, and has been the top artist on MySpace for six straight weeks. “Beautiful Girls” is the most-played song on radio, is the No. 1 video on iTunes, the No. 1 song on both AOL Music and Yahoo! Music, and for three weeks was the No. 1 Verizon ringtone, with more than a million sales. And his debut CD, “Sean Kingston,” has just been released.
When asked, “What are you gonna do when you’re 18?” the youngster replied, “I’m just planning on dropping good new albums and making great new albums for the fans, because I make feel-good music.”
“No foul language,” Kingston told The Today Show before performing his hit single, “Beautiful Girls,” for a cheering audience on the Plaza at Rockefeller Center. “I’m going to stick with that, man, because I think I’m a role model to the youths and the kids out there. There’s a lot of kids out there that like what I do, so I don’t feel like me putting profanity in my lyrics is the right way to go,” he said.
Kingston writes all his own music, saying he draws his inspiration from a life that has seen its share of trouble. “I’ve been homeless. I’ve been through so much, I feel I’ve got a lot to express.”
Born Kisean Anderson in Miami, he spent his first six years in Jamaica before his family moved back to Florida. At the age of 15, both his mother and his sister were imprisoned on federal charges of tax evasion and identity theft. Kingston slept on a bench in a bus stop for a week until he found refuge with an aunt in Boynton Beach, Florida. Kingston himself spent 21 days in detention when he was 11 years old for breaking and entering.
Kingston also paid tribute to the great Bob Marley by performing his classic “No Woman, No Cry” on the Plaza. His grandfather is Jack Ruby, who produced Bob Marley, and iconic Reggae artist Buju Banton is his uncle. “Music”, says Kingston, “is in my blood.”
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hes so lucky, most producers wouldnt have even answered him.
I never even knew that sean kingston was so young, he has became one of my favorite singers though even over akon. Don’t sleep on dudes rapping skills either he tears it up in the song “colors” featuring The Game.
hey whats up i think you have a great voice for singing and i think you are cute to