Sean Kingston

Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber

 

By Michael Hamersly8/4/2010

Sean Kingston is the quintessential rags-to-riches story, having burst on the pop-music scene in 2007 with the surprise success of "Beautiful Girls," a single that topped the Billboard charts for three weeks, powered by its sample of Ben E. King's classic song "Stand By Me." The 20-year-old singer/songwriter has endured his share of tough times - he was born in Miami, moved to Jamaica when he was 5, and ended up living in his car for awhile after moving back to the Magic City to pursue his dream. Then, magic struck and he hit it big, then followed up that success by co-writing Jason Derulo's massive hit "Whatcha Say." Catch Kingston Thursday, Aug. 5 at the BankAtlantic Center opening for the white-hot pop sensation Justin Bieber, with whom he recorded the track "Eeenie Meenie."
 
Kingston took the time to talk about his tour with Miami.com:
 
What can we expect from your show?
Basically, I have a 50-minute set, and it's one of those deep celebration sets with a lot of energy and a lot of feel-good music, hands in the air, like a rock star just partying.
 
You were born in Miami, then moved to Jamaica, then moved back. What are some of your favorite hangouts now?
South Beach is always nice, and the Grove. I like to go to Boca - Boca has a nice mall. I like to go to Movico, the Hard Rock - I don't gamble or nothing like that, but the clubs are pretty nice. Wherever they let me in is where I'm at.
 
You've been through a lot in your life - how grateful are you for the success you've found?
It's just a blessing - I'm very grateful, man. It's kind of like one of those things where I've been dreaming of this all my life, and it's finally opened up, that big break when I was 17. Now it's just about keeping it up and staying relevant and continuing to make great music for the people.
 
How surprising was it to you how big "Beautiful Girls" got?
It wasn't really that much of a surprise due to the fact that I kind of knew how great the song was - I just didn't know it would pick up that fast.
 
With "Whatcha Say," did you guys know right away how big a hit you would have?
Yeah, with that, definitely, because of the sample and the production and the melody, and where music was right now. I knew as soon as people heard that, they'd fall in love with it.
 
You use a lot of samples in your hits. What is it about certain songs that stands out to you and lets you know you could make a hit out of it?
I'm really about doing stuff that's never been done before. Nobody ever used the Ben E. King beat and chopped it up, nobody ever used Led Zeppelin or those types of things, creating it and making it your own.