Sean Paul: A Great Fusion!

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques, best known as Sean Paul, is of of today’s most famous dancehall/reggae artists.  Born on January 8, 1973, Sean Paul relies on a great cultural fusion since, in spite of the fact that his parents are both Jamaican, his mother has African heritage and his father, Sephardic Jewish.  In addition, his maternal mother also has Chinese heritage.  Likewise, although Sean Paul was born in Kingston, Jamaica, he spent his childhood in Canada.  The way he is nicknamed is really interesting because he is called King of Israel and Zion Lion.

Sean Paul’s music style is considered to be very similar to the Super Cat’s in the 90’s, who was a very famous Jamaican dancehall reggae artist.  In 1997, Sean Paul started working with Jeremy Harding, who was Beenie Man’s hit “Who Am I” producer.  Thus, this producer launched the crossover song “Baby Girl”, which was a complete success.  The follow-up hit was titled “Infiltrate”, and with this two hits, Sean Paul was introduced to the Jamaican top charts.  Lately, Sean Paul contributed to Nina Sky’s song called “Connection."

Sean Paul strongly believes in high quality due to the fact that, since 2002, he has released three discs, from which all of them have become incredibly successful: Stage One (2000), Dutty Rock (2002), which sold 6 million copies and went Platinum, and The Trinity (2005), which sold 4 million copies and went Gold.  In addition, he has received many awards, including a Grammy award for Best Reggae Album in 2004 and two Billboard Music awards for Selling Reggae Artist of the Year (2005) and Top Selling Reggae Album of the Year (2005).