Sean Kingston

Kisean Anderson (born February 3, 1990), known professionally as Sean Kingston, is a Jamaican-American singer, songwriter, rapper and actor whose first album, Sean Kingston, was released in 2007.

Early life and education

Kisean Anderson was born on February 3, 1990, in Miami, Florida, and moved to Kingston, Jamaica, when he was six. He attended high school in Ocho Rios. His grandfather was the noted Jamaican reggae producer Lawrence Lindo, who worked under the stage name Jack Ruby. Afterwards, Kingston spent three weeks in jail for burglary, and he lived in a car while his mother was incarcerated for identity theft.

Career

2007–08: Sean Kingston

Kingston was discovered on Myspace by Tommy Rotem at Beluga Heights, and signed to the label in a partnership deal with Sony. In an interview with HitQuarters label head and producer J.R. Rotem described this process with regards to Kingston:

In a venture between Epic Records and Koch Records, Kingston recorded and released the single "Beautiful Girls" in May 2007. The song peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. "Beautiful Girls" was a success internationally, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, the song spent four weeks at the summit of the UK Singles Chart. In 2007, Kingston was the opening act for Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape Tour and for select dates on Beyoncé's The Beyoncé Experience Tour. In 2008, he was one of the opening acts for the Australian leg of Kelly Clarkson's My December Tour. Since Sean is a Jamaican singer, he got his stage name from the capital of Jamaica called Kingston.

Sean Kingston (album)

Sean Kingston is the self-titled eponymous debut album by Sean Kingston, released on July 31, 2007. The album was produced by J. R. Rotem. Sean Kingston wrote the lyrics with help from Evan Bogart. Kingston has claimed his lyrics are totally representative of his personal life. Ranging from the self-deprecating-schoolboy tale of lost love in the album's global chart-topping single "Beautiful Girls" to the much deeper "Dry Your Eyes", where he visits the hardship of watching his mother and sister being sent to prison when he was just 15 years old.

The album has been certified gold by the RIAA as of February 2008 with an excess of 500,000 copies.

The album entered the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at #6 and fell to #13 the following week. The album reached #2 on RIANZ in its second week.

Track listing

Take You There

Take You There may refer to:

See also

Take You There (Sean Kingston song)

"Take You There" is the third single by Sean Kingston from his self-titled debut album. It was produced by JR Rotem. The song was co-written by Jonathan "J.R." Rotem, Kingston, Evan "Kidd" Bogart, Rock City, and Eric Bluebaum. The song is about Kingston taking his girlfriend on a date to the West Indies, particularly his native Jamaica. As he told noted UK urban writer Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul in June 2007: "In 'Take You There' I'm basically telling a girl 'Let me take you to where I'm from - to Jamaica, to the paradise AND to the slums!'. Because, while many people just think of the tropical beaches, there is definitely another, rugged side to the island too!"

On the issue date of November 17, 2007 the single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 81 and peaked at number 7.

Music video

The video (directed Gil Green) was shot in Miami, and features cameos by Rick Ross, J. R. Rotem, DJ Khaled and Gunplay. Kingston's girlfriend is played by fashion model Kirby Griffin. In the music video version, "sip piña coladas" is censored because of the reference to alcohol, while left intact on radio stations.

Take You There (Jodie Connor song)

"Take You There" is a single by Barbadian British recording artist Jodie Connor. The song is a collaboration with American rapper Busta Rhymes. It is the third official single taken from her, yet to be titled, debut studio album. It was released on 29 July 2012 as a digital download on iTunes. The single was co-written by Busta Rhymes, Jodie Connor, David Dawood, and was produced by David Dawood.

Writing and production

"Take You There" was produced by David Dawood also known as Dawood. David Dawood is the producer of Roll Deep's 2010 hit single "Good Times" that featured Connor, and which reached number 1 in the United Kingdom. David Dawood is also the producer of Connor's first and second singles, "Now or Never" and "Bring It". The lyrics in "Take You There" are co-written by Busta Rhymes, Jodie Connor and David Dawood.

Following the release of, and prior to the release of "Take You There", Connor had been working in the studio with Roc Nation writers Makeba Riddick (Beyonce/Rihanna) and James Fauntleroy II (Chris Brown/Leona Lewis) in preparation for her debut album, which with feature "Take You There". According to Connor, the vocals were recorded over a year, prior to the release. The song is primarily targeted to the dance music audience.