April 17, 2008

Sean Kingston: A Whole Lotta Lovin'

By Menreet Kaur

Though he may croon about being suicidal over beautiful girls, Sean Kingston says the only way to win his heart, is to have a funny, laid-back personality. Of course, being a culinary whiz, with a speciality in whipping up spicy-hot Jamaican food, could give you an advance standing too.

Capturing hearts all over the world with his chirpy reggae cum doo-wop soundtracks, Sean Kingston has made a name for himself by being one of the youngest artistes to revolutionize the hip hop way of life. It is not all about gang fights and cussing for the seventeen-year-old, but more of telling tales of broken hearts and mended beauties through his explosive and unique vocals.

Judging from his music, one would expect him to be constantly pumped up with adrenaline and bursting with energy. But when we caught up with Sean Kingston in a round-table interview during his recent trip to Asia, we found out that this lovable teddy-bear, turned out to be pretty mellow instead...

Do your friends/relatives travel with you when you're on tour?

Yes, I have my cousin and two friends that travel with me.

How do you find the fans in Singapore?

It's good, they have a good vibe. Basically they have a lot of energy, it's cool over here.

Is it hard to strike a balance between your work life and personal life?

Not really. Basically, I'm always working.

Tell us something that none of us know about you?

I like to laugh.

Is there any special girl in your life right now?

No.

So you sing about beautiful girls, what traits must a girl possess to attract you to her?

Just cool you know what I'm saying, funny and outgoing.

So what were you thinking when you wrote that song?

I honestly wasn't thinking, you know, that situation didn't really happen to me. I just wrote the song because I felt like a lot of people could relate to it.

You've been on tour with several other big stars like Bow Wow, Chris Brown and Fergie, who was the most fun to work with?

Fergie, cos she is cool, talented and outgoing. She's level-headed, she's on top of things she is a business woman so I like to tour with her.

Who are you most looking forward to work with on a future collaboration?

Kanye West, definitely Kanye West.

How's the progress with the collaboration with Leona Lewis?

We're trying to get it done right now…

Is it going to be a hot track?

Yeah!

What is your favourite song on the album?

"Take You There", cos it reminds me of Jamaica every time I hear it.

Do you miss Jamaica a lot when you are travelling?

A little bit. The vibe, the food, everything.

Has your 64 carat diamond necklace been your most extravagant purchase since you have gotten famous?

You could say that, one of them. I just bought a nice house too recently.

Are you going to have your own line of merchandise soon?

I wanna start one, yeah.

What are you thinking of calling it?

Well, I haven't come up with a name for it yet. [Laughs]

What about your next album, what kind of style are you looking for it to be like?

Well basically you know it's the same thing but kinda taking it to another level. This time, I'm working with a lot of different producers and stuff, the first one was done by J.R.

If J.R didn't reply to your MySpace messages, what do you think you'll be doing now?

Probably, cutting grass? Nah, prolly football.

So do you like to sing in the shower?

No, never tried it. [Laughs]

Then how did you realize that you were good at singing?

I just did it one day in front of my mom and she loved it. Then I remember just listening to a lot of MTV, taking in a lot of music because my family just loves music. I just started saying I wanna do music since I was eight years old and I just kept up.

As you were growing up, who were your favorite artists?

Jay-Z, Biggie, Lornell

You mentioned your mum earlier, are you guys very tight?

Yeah.

What was the most important lesson you felt your parents taught you as you were growing up?

Basically just to stay focused. No matter what I'm doing, it's just to stay focused.

You must have heard Jojo's version of "Beautiful Girls", any thoughts on that?

I liked it, it's really different. As a matter of fact, she told me she was gonna do it but I didn't really believe her and when I heard it, it was nuts!

Speaking of which, in your album, the single "There's Nothin" was done with a collaboration with Paula Deanda. However, what we see on television is the Juelz Santana featuring D.E.Y version. Is there any particular reason why you didn't release the Paula Deanda version of that?

Basically, there is a new girl over at Epic which we wanted to introduce the world to. She's from the D.E.Y and she's a new singer, doing her thing. She's a great singer so we wanted to give her a little more publicity and Juelz Santana, man I think he is the hottest there is!

What is your fondest memory since you were a child?

I'd say it was just living in Jamaica, period. It was a great vibe like going to the beach, hanging with my friends, going to school.

Were you devastated when you didn't get to play the role of Notorious B.I.G?

No, coz it was rushed. I really wanted to do it, but it was rushed. I kinda figured it would have not turned out the way I wanted it to be but I have a lot of other movie scripts on the table right now.

What do you think of before you go to bed every night?

I just pray and go to bed. [Laughs]

How about those days when it seems to just get too much?

I always like to have positive energy and keep good people around me. I always have my mum in my thoughts everyday when I'm on the road.

So when your mum is not around, do you cook for yourself?

Nah, he does the cooking for me [Points to his manager and laughs]

So what is your favourite dish that he cooks?

Chicken Croquet.

Have you taken the time to try the local food?

Yeah, it's nice. I like spicy food. I love the stingray.

If you were stuck on a deserted island, name one movie, one person and one dish you would like to take along?

Movie: Scarface, Person: Cousin, Dish: Something Jamaican.

I heard your song "Beautiful Girls" was the top selling ring tone in the US for the past five weeks, was just wondering, what is the current ring tone that you have on your own phone?

My ring tone is my ring tone. It's "Take You There".

You've always had this image of being clean and non-controversial, tell us what is the most dangerous thing that you have ever done or you've gotten into most trouble for?

Well I don't really have any, YET. But I'm just very cool, humble and laid-back you know.

Do you like to club?

Yeah! [Cheeky grin]

What was the most rock star thing that you have done?

[Laughs] Club, club five days straight in Miami. Just constantly going. When you club in Miami, South Beach, you know you got to club heavy!

So do you pick up chicks easily then?

Yeah, but I'm single right now!