Artist: Sean Kingston

Sean Kingston is far from your average popstar; the boy wonder tells Emmanuel ‘BoyWonder’ Ezugwu why he wouldn’t have it any other way.

There’s a lot to be said for Sean Kingston’s all round savvyness, but first things first. Via the wonders of modern day technology aka ‘The Phone’ singer/rapper Ka'Shon Anderson is musing over his new found eligibility with the ladies. "I've always been popular with girls, but now it’s just crazy," he says in a solid American accent, surprising given he was actually raised in Jamaica.

The 17 year-old has just relocated to a spacious condo in the glossy celeb hubbub of LA, but even loftier are his expectations of first single Beautiful Girls. Who knew that the combination of lush doo-woops and the Stand By Me melody would equate to the perfect summer signature record? "It’s very uptempo and catchy,” states Sean of his J.R Rotem produced vocodered hit, which has the radio on lock. “I think the topic and the beat is what makes it hot." On the flipside, the track, which sees Sean get suicidal when a girl dumps him, has created controversy; people are split between really loving, or really hating the single! But whether you’re for or against, there’s nothing stopping this becoming a monster smash when it’s released next month.

Far from your average teen sensation, life for the mature star hasn’t always been worth crooning about. “Last year, my mom and my sister got incarcerated, and as I’m the youngest in my family I was forced to live with my aunt who’s very Christian,” Sean slowly recollects. “She went to church all day and thinks rap is the devil music, so I was doing rap and doing my thang, pursuing my music career and she was being very harsh. She kicked me out and I was homeless.”

Despite not having a roof over his head, the headstrong Kingston - who had already generated a buzz from his MySpace page - was determined to pursue his dream. Having been a fan of acclaimed producer J.R (Rihanna, 50 Cent, Britney Spears), he went on a cyberspace charm offensive. “I messaged JR and he didn’t reply back, so basically I hit him up three times a day, everyday!” His persistence soon paid off. “He finally got back to me. He said he would check it out and he did and he gave me his number.”

As the first artist signed to JR’s Beluga Heights label, Kingston is out to prove he’s no glitch in the system. He plans to incorporate his reggae upbringing into his self-titled album, courtesy of his Bob Marley hitmaker granddad, Jack Ruby and family friend Buju Banton. “Mixing up my reggae background with other styles of music is something that I also wanted to do, and they both influenced me a lot. I had a lot of control over my album and I just want it to be unique and for it stand out.”

With his next single Me Love looking as successful as his first, Sean can delight in the fact that his family is oh-so-proud. “Oh man, they’re very happy for me and they can’t believe it,” gushes the singer about his success. “It’s everything I wanted to do since I was young,” he pauses briefly before concluding. “I know my mum is proud.”

Beautiful Girls is out now. MySpace.com/seankingston

Sean on Rihanna’s record breaking 10 week No. 1!
“Wow. really? I’ve seen her at a couple of places, but I never got a chance to talk to her, as it was always in and out. I think she’s sooooo pretty and I just like her whole style and swagger. You know she’s from the Islands and I heard that she a cool person. She’s real humble.”

RWD Magazine

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