Caroline Richards ’22
Arts Editor
A friend (@tommy) and I were discussing the staple hits of the 2000’s the other day—as one does—and “Take You There” came up—as it should—and we began questioning: what ever happened to iconic pop-rapper Sean Kingston? Where did he go? How could he give us so many bangers, so many lyrically perfect dance icons, and then just disappear like that? On one hand, I’m enraged. He was at the peak of his career and imagine the possibilities if he’d kept things up, yet on the other hand I’m mildly concerned: did he die? Where was the news coverage? Surely, we would have heard? I had to find out, so I began researching, and my discovery, folks, is not good.
He’s alive, thank God, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, he was in a terrible jet ski accident in Miami in 2011 which resulted in his near death. On vacation in the infamous Florida party city in May, he and an unnamed female friend crashed into a bridge while out jetskiing, and Kingston was knocked unconscious—he nearly drowned. Luckily, he was rescued by an off-duty coast guard officer and rushed to the hospital in critical condition. After 11 days, it was discovered that he had a torn aorta and had to be rushed into open heart surgery. According to Kingston in his interview for the Hollywood Reporter, he was in unbearable pain for weeks afterwards and was told he might not survive.
Over the course of the next 10 years there’s essentially no news on him. He released three singles (“Wake Up,” “One Away,” and “All I Got”) supposedly in anticipation for his fourth studio album, but they unfortunately didn’t make it very high on the charts. Then in 2021 (according to Urban Islandz) during a video shoot at his Miami home, he reportedly punched his video director in the face and pulled a gun on him, demanding that he get his things and leave the house immediately. The rapper neglected to comment on the altercation, and, according to local police, the case is still being investigated.
On May 21st, 2021, Kingston released a single called “Darkest Times” with G Herbo and on July 30th, 2021, he released a single called “Love is Wonderful,” featuring American musician Travis Barker. He has also been advertising a new album called Deliverance, but time will tell if it will be released or not given the pending investigation and Kingston’s seemingly overall lack of interest in participating in the music world at the moment. *Sigh*
In any case, he’s recently formed a “Professional Rapper Boxing League” with hip hop rapper agent Triple the Mogul? At this point, I think I’ve lost hope in any good music coming from him going forward. At the same time, I think we have plenty of his timeless oldies to make up for it. #Normalize Sean Kingston In The Club 2022.
So bad
Love this post! I had no idea Sean Kingston was struggling with so many health issues. His music was such a big part of my teenage years and hearing about what he’s been going through is really sad. Thank you for sharing this story, it’s nice to remember the impact he had on music.
King of 2000’s music? Seriously? No he was more like a 1 hit wonder. Now he is just another scumbag thug/thief.
Great story about great man