Kisean Anderson, best known by the stage name Sean Kingston, is a Jamaican-American reggae fusion rapper and songwriter. Known for his dark lyrics, Kingston won the 2007 MOBO award for Best Reggae Act and a Teen Choice award for Best R&B track. Born in Florida, Kingston grew up in Jamaica with his grandfather, reggae producer Lawrence “Jack Ruby” Lindo. In 2007 at the age of 17, Kingston was discovered on Myspace by Tommy Rotem, of Britney Spears and 50 Cent fame, who signed Kingston with Beluga Heights Records. In a joint venture between Sony, Epic Records and Koch Records, Kingston released his first single, “Beautiful Girl”. It was an instant success, reaching number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 and topping international charts. His next single, “Me Love”, released at number one in Australia. Later that same year, Kingston toured with Gwen Stefani and Beyoncé as an opening act. The collection of singles was released as his self-titled first album later that year. In 2009, Kingston released his second album, “Tomorrow” with Lady Gaga, produced by RedOne. The single “Fire Burning” debuted at #5 on Billboard while “Face Drop” climbed to #61. In 2010, he joined the UK group Sugarbabies to record “Miss Everything” and was featured on Bow Wow’s single “For My Hood”. Over the next two years, Kingston released multiple singles featuring guest appearances from T-Pain, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Akon and Dr. Dre. He appeared on Justin Bieber’s single “Eenie Meenie” and his cover of “Pretty Boy Swag” and “Billionaire”. In 2011, Kingston released his free online mixtape “Kings of Kong” which featured Akon, Soulja Boy and Justin Bieber. His most recent album, 2012’s “Back 2 Life”, peaked at number 33 on the R&B Album charts and #52 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The single “Beat It” with Chris Brown and Wiz Khalifa reach number 17 on Hot R&B charts.

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are part of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located in Washington, D.C. 

We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials we seek to strengthen people's engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others.

The Smithsonian may archive materials posted on this website pursuant to its document retention policies. By posting content, you are giving the Smithsonian and those authorized by the Smithsonian permission to use or modify it for any educational, promotional, or other standard museum purpose, in media of all kinds whether now known or later developed. For more on the Smithsonian's terms of use and privacy policies visit: http://www.si.edu/termsofuse 

A platform for Reggae music worldwide. Empowering Artists / Building Community.

𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩:
rootfire@rootfire.net
𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞: https://rootfire.net
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤: https://www.facebook.com/RootfireNet/
𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦: https://instagram.com/rootfire_intl/
𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: https://twitter.com/rootfire_intl

Audible is the UK’s largest digital audiobooks provider -- offering downloadable audio of the hottest new fiction and nonfiction, literary classics, comedy and fully unabridged spoken word performances. Reach our customer care by phone  0800 496 2455, or customercare@audible.co.uk.

Schon als Teenager machte er sich auf, um die einzigartigen Vibes der Karibikinsel Jamaika aufzusaugen.
Er hat Jamaika und die Kultur mit großem Respekt aufgenommen und den direkten Draht zu den Menschen dort gesucht – genau das macht diesen Künstler aus. Nach über 1000 Konzerten rund um den Globus ist es immer diese verbindende Energie, die ihn als Künstler ausmacht – der direkte Draht zu den Menschen. Spätestens seit seiner Hitsingle „Intoxication“, die in der Karibik den Sommer 2004 musikalisch geprägt hatte, gehört er zur absoluten Top Riege der internationalen Reggae Gemeinschaft und Festivallandschaft.
In über 25 Jahren entstanden dabei über 100 Kollaborationen mit Top Stars wie: Shaggy, Sean Paul, Marcia Griffiths, Tanya Stephens, Ky-Mani Marley, Christopher Martin, um nur einige Jamaikaner aufzuzählen. Auch in den USA hat Gentleman mit einigen Stars zusammengearbeitet: Aloe Blacc, Pink, Destiny´s Child, SOJA, Michael Franti uvam.
Selbst in unseren Breitengraden ist die Liste lang und bekannt: Freundeskreis, Udo Lindenberg, Die Toten Hosen, Michael Patrick Kelly, Beginner uvam.
Gentleman veröffentlichte über 12 Alben mit 4 Gold- und einer Platinauszeichnung. Darunter mittlerweile Genre-Klassiker wie „Journey to Jah“, „Confidence“ oder das großartige „MTV Unplugged“. 
Zusammenfassend kann man dem Reggae Connaisseur und Autor Ulli Güldner nur zustimmen, in dem er Gentleman als „bis heute ersten & einzigen Reggae-A-List-Ambassador dieses Landes“ tituliert.

Jo Verney is following