SEAN KINGSTON  (October 2007) | Interview By: Nima

Photo Credit: Devin DeHaven (Fortress Photo)

As ever, you can read and listen to this exclusive interview and we urge you to leave feedback on our forums or email them to nima@dubcnn.com.

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Interview was done in October 2007

Questions Asked By: Nima

Sean Kingston Gave Dubcnn A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Audio Interview Here

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Dubcnn: We hooked up with shooting star Sean Kingston for an exclusive interview. How you doing man?

I'm all good man, just out here working, you know what I'm saying?


Dubcnn: The first time I heard your music was a freestyle over the "Make It Rain" beat, that had a huge buzz.

When I first heard the "Make It Rain" beat, I fell in love with it man, I just hopped on it right away! I was working on my album, and I wanted to get a buzz out there, so I jumped on it right away!


Dubcnn: When I heard your music at the beginning, it sounded like you were more on the Hip-Hop side of things, with a Reggae touch. However your album is more on the R&B side of things, what made you do that?

Sean Kingston is very versatile, you know? He can do whatever! I could do anything and everything, rap, R&B, pop, Reggae, all that. So that's how that came about. I started off as a rapper, so I wanted to let people know not to sleep on me, I can do rap too! So I sprinkled a little hot sauce on there, you know what I'm saying?


Dubcnn: Was that your own decision or did the label want to market you as a R&B artist and didn't want you doing too much grimey stuff?

No it was my own decision! Singing has always been my passion, it's always been something I wanted to do. I just didn't know how to get in the game. Everybody and they momma trying to rap or is rapping, so I wanted to be different and stand out. And I think singing got me to where I wanted to be.


Dubcnn: How many songs did you record for the album that didn't make it? I heard you had some collaborations...

Yeah man, I did a lot of other songs, worked with a lot of different producers, I worked with Cool & Dre, The Runners, Jazze Pha, a lot of people sent me tracks, but J.R. produced the whole album. Me and J.R. just got a chemistry together, and I really think that this is my first album, and J.R. introduced me to the game, I'm signed to his label, so it's only right for him to get his shine on! My next album though, we're gonna switch it up, we're gonna expand! J.R. gonna do like 5 tracks, then we gonna get Pharrell, Swizz Beatz, Jojo, Akon, and probably some other ones like Timbaland.


Dubcnn: Can we expect to hear the records that didn't make the album on a mixtape?

To be honest with you, I'm not very sure, those records are probably hard to find.


Dubcnn: How did you first hook up with J.R. Rotem?

I met with J.R. over at MySpace. I had a MySpace page up, I was just networking, hitting up everybody trying to get heard, and then I hit up J.R. on MySpace, bugging him, telling him to listen to my music! That's how we linked up.


Dubcnn: Were you a fan beforehand or were you just looking for ways to break into the game?

Both! I was a fan of his, and I was looking for a way to break into the game. I had heard about J.R., about what he's been doing, but he don't be in a lot of music videos, so he's a behind the scenes man. When I found out his history about producing, I was like "Okay, this guy got some hits! And he got talent!"


Dubcnn: What music did you grow up listening to?

I listened to a lot of stuff man, Lauryn Hill, Steve Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Biggie, Tupac, Jay-Z, Bob Marley, a lot of stuff.


Dubcnn: What's in your CD Changer right now?

Akon, Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, John Legend...


Dubcnn: What about Hip-Hop wise?

Jay-Z.


Dubcnn: Was the "Colors" remix with Rick Ross and Game done together or did they just add their verses?

It was done together, that was a big night! We were in L.A., they blessed me with the verses, came through and all, we did the whole thing, killed it, knocked it out!


Dubcnn: You also have a banging song with Clyde Carson from the Bay Area called "Doin' Dat". Tell us how that song was created.

Yeah man, "Doin' Dat" is produced by J.R., Clyde Carson's first single. I don't know how it's looking though, cause the label probably won't clear it. That's a crazy hook though, I wrote the hook, hooked up with Clyde, Clyde Carson's album is crazy, it's ridiculous!


Dubcnn: Are there any upcoming collaborations that we should be watching out for?

A lot of stuff man, I got some stuff I've done with Fergie, Mims, Natasha Beddingfield, I did something with Baby Bash, I'm going on the Gwen Stefani tour, Chris Brown tour after that. I'm just working!


Dubcnn: Tell us about your single, "Beautiful Girls". Did you want to use that sample or did J.R. come up with that?

I came up with the idea man, I came up with it due to the fact that I wanted my first single to be very different. Different from what everybody is putting out right now.


Dubcnn: How would you describe the sound of your album?

Man, I'd describe it... I'd say international. It's got everything, it's pop, my music got a worldwide sound.


Dubcnn: You had a lot of airplay and your song was all over the place, however the album didn't manage to push huge numbers its first week, does that worry you?

Nah, not really. I'm building myself as a brand, not just as a one-single dude. Usually them type of people that try to build themselves as one-single dudes, they complain about that stuff. I'm glad I'm not like that, I'm building myself as a brand, as an artist, come up with my own record label and make shit happen like Akon and the rest of them dudes out there. So I gotta build myself as an artist, I gotta do everything that I can, grind to the top, not just rely on Beautiful Girls to take me where I need to go. I gotta keep dropping records. So I wasn't disappointed at all.


Dubcnn: What are you planning to do after this album?

Like I said, I'm going on tour with Gwen Stefani and Chris Brown, I'ma probably be doing a little bit of acting, and start working on the second album! I'm already amped up to start working on it!


Dubcnn: How has the music business been treating you so far?

So far, so good! It's hard, but you gotta keep up with it, go hard or go home. We go hard.


Dubcnn: Were you positively or negatively surprised?

It's what I expected. I've been involved in the music business for like four years now.


Dubcnn: Is this your first time overseas and how has the experience been so far?

Yeah it's my first time! It's cool man, I love it! I'm from Jamaica man, so it's cool!


Dubcnn: Is there anything else you'd like to let everybody out there know?

Yeah, it's Sean Kingston, album in stores right now, go support me and pick up a couple of copies of that, it's a classic album! All my fans, check me out on MySpace. Much love, thanks for supporting and god bless, I'm keep making that great music.