Sean Kingston, who might be the world’s nicest reggae/rapper, doesn’t have a bad word to say about anyone — unless it’s girls who put “looks” at the top of their criteria list for boyfriends.
Kingston’s hit song Face Drop is about a girl who brushed him off because he was too husky.
“It’s like I meet this girl. She’s like, ‘I don’t want to be with you, you’re too chubby. I don’t like the chubby guys,’ ” stated the 19-year-old singer, who performs on Thursday at the Lotus nightclub in Red Deer.
“But I’m like, ‘Yo, you should take the time out to see how I am inside.’ It should be about my inner, not my outer.”
Kingston previously told an interviewer that the girl eventually discovered his success. “She judged me and didn’t want to be with me. (But) now I got my girl, I’m doing my own thing and I made her face drop.”
The Jamaican-American singer’s star has risen like a comet since his debut album in 2007. His hit Beautiful Girls stayed No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and his second single, Me Love, stayed at the top of Canada’s Hot 100 chart for six weeks.
Kingston chased this initial success with a second album of sunny, feel-good songs. Tomorrow produced two more sizzling hits: Fire Burning and Face Drop.
The album has garnered critical kudos as well as popular praise. One reviewer called Kingston the cuddly teddy bear of reggae, and said his album “radiates 1,000-watt feel-good charm.”
Neither the singer’s infectious music nor his easy-going, affable style is really reflective of his troubled upbringing.
Kingston’s mother and sister were sent to prison for tax evasion when he was 15, and he was raised for a time by his aunt in Florida. Then known as Ke-sean Jamal Anderson, the singer threw himself into making music. He borrowed a friend’s computer and started shopping his songs to listeners on the social network MySpace.
After coming across a web page for hit-making producer J.R. Rotem, Kingston began emailing him every day, in a bid to get noticed.
Rotem finally surrendered and invited the teenager to meet with him in Los Angeles — which was pure kismet, since Kingston was already in the process of moving to live with his brother in California.
The producer concluded Kingston had a distinct sound and limitless potential. He helped him release his first album through Epic Records.
But Kingston didn’t come by his talent accidentally — his grandfather was legendary Jamaican record producer Jack Ruby.
Kingston has told interviewers he grew up on reggae and likes the cultural vibe, which touches on politics, poverty, “everything. The message, the melodies and the concepts of reggae music are unbelievable.”
So far, he’s enjoyed working with Wyclef Jean, Florida and the group Good Charlotte.
Kingston’s also written songs for Rihanna, and has said he would love to work with Beyonce, who’s “dope” as well as a trend-setter and great performer.
The reggae-rapper, who enjoys Fergie’s solo songs and the new Whitney Houston, even likes country music, which he says “has the biggest melodies ever.”
The only thing Kingston isn’t too big on is the competitive aspect of the music business, which recently came to the forefront when Kanye West dissed Taylor Swift’s recent win at the Video Music Awards.
“Life should be (about being) together, happy, making great music. . . . It’s not a competition. Everybody’s talented; everybody’s famous for a reason. It’s all a community.”
Sean Kingston performs at 9 p.m. on Thursday at the Lotus nightclub, at 4618 50th Ave. in Red Deer. Tickets are $20 in advance from the Bell Fever Lounge, next door to the Lotus, or $23 at the door.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com