Sean Paul

His father also played Water polo for the team in the 1960s, and competed in long-distance swimming, while Paul's mother was a butterfly swimmer.

When Paul was 15, his father was arrested on charges of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison; he was released for good behaviour when Paul was 19.

Paul played for the national Water polo team from the age of 13 to 21, when he gave up the sport in order to launch his musical career.

He attended Wolmer's Boys' School and the College of Arts, Science, and Technology, now known as the University of Technology, where he was trained in commerce with an aim of pursuing an occupation in swimming.

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican deejay, singer, and rapper who is regarded as one of dancehall and reggae's most prolific artists of all time.

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 9 January 1973.

His mother Frances, a painter, is of English and Chinese Jamaican descent.

In 1992, Paul worked as a bank teller and enrolled in a hotel-management program, learning the basics of French cuisine.

In 1994, Paul appeared in Carrot Jetter's music video "Nice Time".

Zachary Harding told his brother, Jeremy, about a singer that he had heard perform live at a small open mic event in Kingston, who sounded a lot like dancehall deejay and toaster Super Cat.

Jeremy eventually met the singer when Paul came by his studio to ask for some advice.

During the meeting, Paul recorded a vocal over Harding's rhythm track and in the process created the song "Baby Girl".

Jeremy subsequently became Paul's manager and producer.

Paul began hanging out at the studio every day, and the pair collaborated on several more tracks.

When they recorded "Infiltrate" they decided they had something good enough to get on the radio.

As Paul started to attract local attention, Harding began looking after his affairs.

He later told HitQuarters that his support of Paul's fledgling career initially led him assuming the roles of "DJ, manager, road manager and security guard."

In 1997, Paul collaborated with singer Spanner Banner on the song "Ladies Man".

Paul made a cameo appearance in the 1998 film Belly on stage performing.

He made a successful collaboration with DMX and Mr. Vegas, "Top Shotter", to the soundtrack of the film.

He released his first album, Stage One in 2000, however it was in 2002 that he gained international fame after releasing album Dutty Rock.

Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and most of his albums have been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, with Dutty Rock winning the award.

Paul has also been featured in many other singles including chart-toppers "Baby Boy" with Beyoncé, "Breathe" with Blu Cantrell, "What About Us" by The Saturdays, "Rockabye" by Clean Bandit (featuring Paul and Anne-Marie), "Cheap Thrills" by Sia and "Fuego" by DJ Snake.

"No Lie", "Cheap Thrills", and "Rockabye" each have over 1 billion views on YouTube, with "Rockabye" having reached over 2.7 billion views.

In 2000, Paul released his debut album, Stage One with VP Records.

This album not only further popularized dancehall music in the 2000s, but also helped developed and popularized the genre of dancehall pop, a musical fusion between the rhythmic styles and melodies of dancehall and pop music.

In 2001, Paul continued his work with manager and producer Jeremy Harding, Paul released a single "Gimme the Light" after writing and recording his lyrics to the "Buzz" riddim, the single turned out to be a nationwide success in Jamaica and eventually became a worldwide smash hit in 2002, ultimately reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, the early crossover momentum of the single would help Paul secure a record deal with Atlantic Records in a joint venture deal with his label VP Records, the single would then appear on his second studio album, Dutty Rock which was released in November 2002.

All of its latter hit singles would also receive heavy airplay and rotation on MTV and BET.

In early 2003, the second single "Get Busy" was released and would end up topping the Billboard Hot 100 months later, making it Paul's first number-one hit, it was also the first ever dancehall song to top the chart.

Dutty Rock became a worldwide commercial success, peaking in the top ten on the Billboard 200, was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and eventually selling over six million copies worldwide.

Dutty Rock won the Best Reggae Album at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004.

"Get Busy" was also nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance in that year.

Simultaneously, Paul was featured on Beyoncé's U.S. number-one hit song "Baby Boy" and Blu Cantrell's "Breathe", although didn't perform well in the United States but was a massive hit in Europe.

Both helped to push his reputation further still in the United States.

Paul's third album The Trinity was released on 27 September 2005.

The album debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, breaking records with its first-week sales for a reggae/dancehall artist, eventually going Platinum in the United States and selling 4 million copies worldwide.

His Portuguese paternal great-grandfather's Sephardic Jewish family emigrated from Portugal to Jamaica in the 17th century, while his paternal grandmother was Afro-Jamaican.

Paul was raised as a Catholic, though he also attended the Jewish private school, Hillel Academy in Jamaica.

Several members of his family are swimmers.

His grandfather was on the first Sri Lankan men's national Water polo team.