Sean Kingston

Jamaican singer/rapper Sean Kingston crafts a dance-friendly medley of dancehall, R&B, and Hip-Hop, which was featured most prominently on his breakthrough debut single, 2007's platinum chart-topper "Beautiful Girls." Subsequent hits "Take You There" and "Fire Burning" scored additional platinum hits for Kingston before a fortuitous collaboration with Justin Bieber​ "Eenie Meenie," helped propel him further into the pop mainstream.

A self-proclaimed product of his past, Kingston's history helped inform his sound. Born KiSean Anderson in Miami, Florida, and raised in Kingston, Jamaica from the age of six, he mixed more than a little dancehall and reggae into his hip-hop. He absorbed the adult lyrics of Ice Cube and Rakim. Taking his ability to write rhymes and hooks, he started working Miami's talent show and showcase circuit hard, eventually sharing the stage with Pitbull, Ludacris, and Trick Daddy. The Sony imprint Epic won and introduced their new artist in the spring of 2007 with the single "Colors 2007," featuring The Game and Rick Ross. Although he sounded much older, Kingston was only 16 when the track landed. With his second single, "Beautiful Girls," he took a sample of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" and twisted it into a huge hit. This more polished, smoother, and less hardcore stance suited the singer and figured heavily into his self-titled debut full-length. His sophomore album, Tomorrow, arrived in 2009 and featured the singles "Fire Burning," "Face Drop," and "My Girlfriend." In 2013, he released the single "Letting Go (Dutty Love)," with special guest Nicki Manaj along with his third album, Back 2 Life, which landed on the U.S. R&B chart.

For the remainder of the 2010s, Kingston stuck to singles, issuing a steady stream that included "Wait Up" (2015), "One Away" (2016), "Breather" (2017), and "Amore e Capoeira," a 2018 collaboration with Takahi & Ketra and Giusy Ferreri. In 2019, he recruited Tony Lanez and DaVido for his single "Peace of Mind."