b. Kisean Anderson, 3 February 1990, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. This Florida-based US rapper was raised in Miami from the age of six, although the influence of his Caribbean roots is readily evident in his music. Kingston’s troubled upbringing resulted in a custodial sentence for breaking-and-entering at the age of 11, by which time his mother and sister had already landed jail time. Music proved to be his saviour with the teenage Kingston working the local rap circuit and earning stage time with nationally famous talents including Ludacris and Trick Daddy. In 2006, he became the first signing to producer Jonathan ‘J.R.’ Rotem’s start-up label, Beluga Heights. Hype about the rapper had reached fever pitch on the Internet gossip sites when Epic Records snapped up Kingston for national distribution. He made his recording debut in early 2007 with the hard-hitting ‘Colors 2007’ (featuring the Game and Rick Ross), which attracted the attention of the gangsta rap fraternity. At the other end of the spectrum, the Ben E. King sampling ‘Beautiful Girls’ was a catchy slice of pop rap tailor made for radio play. Sure enough, the single became a runaway success and completed its climb up the US charts to reach the top slot in August 2007 (it also topped the UK charts a month later). His self-titled debut album steered down the pop rap path, with Kingston’s dancehall roots occasionally shining through. Further hit singles included ‘Me Love’ and ‘Take You There’, while Kingston also featured on Natasha Bedingfield’s hit ‘Love Like This’.
