Sean Kingston returned this year with "Beat It", a big single, with some even bigger features. The release marked his first musical output since his near-death experience in a Jet Ski accident in 2011. Kingston spoke about the accident with the Breakfast club, as well as his upcoming album Back 2 Life, and the importance of keeping his singles within the "Urban" genre.
Sean explained the title of his album was a reflection of how his life had changed since the accident. "It's called Back 2 Life because it's like a brand new me," he explained. Kingston explained that he was afraid he would not even be able to sing after the crash. "That was one of my concerns because I had a tube down my throat." he said, but confirmed he's made a full recovery. "I'm 100% back, I'm healthy, my voice is good, we Gucci."
The Jamaican singer also spoke of his new collaboration with Chris Brown and Wiz Khalifa, and how it's important in defining his sound. "I had to go back from my roots, people forget where I started from." he said, revealing that he was getting to far away from the Urban sound. Sean went on to list records that embodied the sound he was going for. "'Beautiful Girls' wasn't the most Urban record, but it was on Urban charts" he said, "'Take You There' was on urban charts," he also mentioned collaborations he had done with rappers, "Stuff I did with Bun B, The Game."
The singer also mentioned that is often overlooked. "Plus I'm from Jamaica, people don't know that I grew up in the slums, in the hood.," he argued, adding that he "Slept in cars, my mom went to prison, all that."
"Top 40 success I'll never decline it," said Sean, but insisted that identifying with the Urban demographic was more important, saying, "at the end of the day, I'm black." Kingston believes his latest single can straddle both the pop and urban charts. "A record like 'Beat It' is perfectly in the middle."
Watch the full interview below.