Carlos Jean
Encyclopedia
Carlos Jean Arriaga is a Spanish DJ
and record producer
. He is the co-founder of the group Najwajean, and has been a producer for some of the most important Spanish and Latin-American artists of the 2000s, earning seven Latin Grammy nominations.
, in the province of A Coruña
, Galicia. His parents are Jean Robert Jean, Haiti
an, and Julia Arriaga, Galician
.
to form the indie pop
band Najwajean, releasing their first album, entitled No Blood, that same year. It was followed by original soundtracks for the films Asfalto and Guerreros
, both directed by Daniel Calparsoso. Meanwhile, he launched a career as a solo artist, releasing his debut album, Planet Jean, in 2000. Two years later, he released Back to the Earth, which included the internationally acclaimed single "Mr. Dabada", and also a compilation album as part of Najwajean, Selection. He continued working alternatively as a solo singer and in Najwajean, with the releases of Mr. Miracle (2006) and Till It Breaks (2008), respectively.
"Mr. Dabada" was featured in a TV commercial for Intel Core 2 Duo microprocessor, which was aired in most American and European countries.
Since 2000, Jean has also become one of the best-known music producers in Spain, having worked with a variety of pop artists, including Alejandro Sanz
, Miguel Bosé
, Hombres G
and Estopa
.
Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake
, Jean released the charity single Ay Haití, in which he gathered together some of the most important Spanish and South American artists of the moment to raise money for the earthquake victims. 25 artists collaborated in the song, including La Oreja de Van Gogh
, Shakira
, Miguel Bosé
, Juanes
, José Mercé
and Alejandro Sanz
. Jean's father, Jean Robert Jean, who was born in Haiti, had a part too in the song. Other personalities also appeared in the music video, such as Real Madrid
football player Kaká
, Barcelona
's Andrés Iniesta
, Atlético
's Sergio Agüero
, and actress Paz Vega
. The song reached number one on the Spanish singles chart, and stayed on top for two weeks.
, and counted with collaborations from both famous and anonymous artists.
Following the success of such a revolutionary idea, his career was given a boost, with the compilation album Introducing Carlos Jean being released in May 2011. It contained some of the songs from the Plan B as well as hits from his previous three albums. It produced 2 top five singles, "Lead the Way" and "Gimme the Base (DJ)".
He also started appearing on a regular basis in the TV programme El Hormiguero
, in which new Plan B tracks were created, presented or remixed live. Some achieved tremendous popularity, reaching number one in the Spanish iTunes Store
. The Hormiguero remix of single "Lead the Way" peaked at number 9 on the Spanish singles chart.
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. He is the co-founder of the group Najwajean, and has been a producer for some of the most important Spanish and Latin-American artists of the 2000s, earning seven Latin Grammy nominations.
1973-1998: Early life
He was born on February 15, 1973 in Ferrol, an industrial city in the northwest of SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, in the province of A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
, Galicia. His parents are Jean Robert Jean, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an, and Julia Arriaga, Galician
Galician people
The Galicians are an ethnic group, a nationality whose historical homeland is Galicia in north-western Spain. Most Galicians are bilingual, speaking both their historic language, Galician, and Castilian Spanish.-Political and administrative divisions:...
.
1998-2010: Najwajean and solo projects
In 1998, he joined Spanish actress/singer Najwa NimriNajwa Nimri
Najwa Nimri Urrutikoetxea is a Spanish actress and singer of Jordanian descent.-Early life:...
to form the indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band Najwajean, releasing their first album, entitled No Blood, that same year. It was followed by original soundtracks for the films Asfalto and Guerreros
Guerreros
Guerreros is a 2002 Spanish film about a group of Spanish soldiers and their French allies stationed in the border between Kosovo and Serbia during the KFOR humanitarian deployment of 2001. It was nominated for two Goya Awards...
, both directed by Daniel Calparsoso. Meanwhile, he launched a career as a solo artist, releasing his debut album, Planet Jean, in 2000. Two years later, he released Back to the Earth, which included the internationally acclaimed single "Mr. Dabada", and also a compilation album as part of Najwajean, Selection. He continued working alternatively as a solo singer and in Najwajean, with the releases of Mr. Miracle (2006) and Till It Breaks (2008), respectively.
"Mr. Dabada" was featured in a TV commercial for Intel Core 2 Duo microprocessor, which was aired in most American and European countries.
Since 2000, Jean has also become one of the best-known music producers in Spain, having worked with a variety of pop artists, including Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sanz , is a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician. For his work, Sanz has won a total of fifteen Latin Grammy Awards and three Grammy Awards. He has won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year three times, more than any other artist...
, Miguel Bosé
Miguel Bosé
Miguel Dominguín Bosé is a Latin Grammy-winning Spanish/Italian musician and actor.-Early life:Bosé was born in San Fernando Hospital in Panama City, Panama, the son of the famous Italian actress Lucia Bosé and the legendary bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. He is also a cousin of Carmen...
, Hombres G
Hombres G
Hombres G is a Spanish pop rock band, formed in Spain in 1982. They are widely considered one of Spain's most important groups of the late 1980s and 1990s...
and Estopa
Estopa
Estopa are a popular Spanish rock/rumba duo from Cornellà, Spain. The band consists of the brothers José and David Muñoz, who sing a unique blend of sounds reflecting many genres, including rock, rumba, flamenco, and a "sonido callejero" that does not easily fit into categories...
.
Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
, Jean released the charity single Ay Haití, in which he gathered together some of the most important Spanish and South American artists of the moment to raise money for the earthquake victims. 25 artists collaborated in the song, including La Oreja de Van Gogh
La Oreja de Van Gogh
La Oreja de Van Gogh is a Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated Spanish pop band from Donostia-San Sebastian. The name of the band refers to the famous post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh who cut off the lobe of his own ear...
, Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
, Miguel Bosé
Miguel Bosé
Miguel Dominguín Bosé is a Latin Grammy-winning Spanish/Italian musician and actor.-Early life:Bosé was born in San Fernando Hospital in Panama City, Panama, the son of the famous Italian actress Lucia Bosé and the legendary bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. He is also a cousin of Carmen...
, Juanes
Juanes
Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez , better known as Juanes is a Colombian musician who was a member of heavy metal band Ekhymosis and is now a solo artist. In 2000, his solo debut album Fíjate Bien won three Latin Grammy Awards.Juanes has sold more than 13 million albums...
, José Mercé
José Mercé
José Mercé is a flamenco cantaor .He is the great-grandson of nineteenth-century seguiriya maestro Francisco Valencia, who received the nickname Paco la Luz....
and Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sanz , is a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician. For his work, Sanz has won a total of fifteen Latin Grammy Awards and three Grammy Awards. He has won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year three times, more than any other artist...
. Jean's father, Jean Robert Jean, who was born in Haiti, had a part too in the song. Other personalities also appeared in the music video, such as Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
football player Kaká
Kaká
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite , commonly known as Kaká , is a Brazilian football attacking midfielder who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. Kaká started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club...
, Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
's Andrés Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta Luján is a Spanish football player. He currently plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team....
, Atlético
Atlético de Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D., commonly known as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish football club based in Madrid who play in La Liga. Atlético have won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey on nine occasions, including a double in 1996; in Europe, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1962, were...
's Sergio Agüero
Sergio Agüero
Sergio Leonel "Kun" Agüero del Castillo is an Argentine footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester City in England's Premier League and the Argentine national team....
, and actress Paz Vega
Paz Vega
Paz Campos Trigo , better known as Paz Vega, is a Spanish actress.- Early life :Vega was born in Seville, Andalusia, Spain to a homemaker mother and a retired bullfighter father. Vega's younger sister has performed as a flamenco dancer. Vega has described her family as "traditional" and Catholic....
. The song reached number one on the Spanish singles chart, and stayed on top for two weeks.
2011-present: Plan B and Introducing Carlos Jean
In 2011, he started the initiative Plan B as an alternative way of music production by intercollaboration between musicians. It consisted of Jean uploading a music base to the Internet so that anyone could edit it and send it back with some addition, which could range from lyrics to background noise. It was sponsored by Ballantine'sBallantine's
Ballantine's is a range of blended scotch whiskies distilled by George Ballantine & Son Ltd in Dumbarton, Scotland.The Ballantine's flavour is dependent on 50 single malts, four single grains and in particular the fingerprint malts from Miltonduff and Glenburgie...
, and counted with collaborations from both famous and anonymous artists.
Following the success of such a revolutionary idea, his career was given a boost, with the compilation album Introducing Carlos Jean being released in May 2011. It contained some of the songs from the Plan B as well as hits from his previous three albums. It produced 2 top five singles, "Lead the Way" and "Gimme the Base (DJ)".
He also started appearing on a regular basis in the TV programme El Hormiguero
El Hormiguero
El Hormiguero is a Spanish television program with a live audience focusing on comedy, science, and politics running since September 2006. It is hosted and produced by screenwriter Pablo Motos and aired on Cuatro, a Spanish television station, until June 11, 2011 but since September 5, 2011 is...
, in which new Plan B tracks were created, presented or remixed live. Some achieved tremendous popularity, reaching number one in the Spanish iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
. The Hormiguero remix of single "Lead the Way" peaked at number 9 on the Spanish singles chart.
Studio Albums
- 2000: Planet Jean
- 2002: Back to the Earth
- 2006: Mr. Miracle (SPA #67)
As part of Najwajean
- 1998: No Blood (SPA #80)
- 2001: Asfalto OST (SPA #175)
- 2002: Guerreros OST (SPA #88)
- 2002: Selection (SPA #108)
- 2008: Till It Breaks (SPA #16)
Singles
- 2000: "Give Me the 70's"
- 2002: "Mr. Dabada"
- 2006: "Have a Nice Day"
- 2011: "Lead the Way" feat. Electric Nana (SPA #4)
- 2011: "Lead the Way (El Hormiguero remix)" feat. Electric Nana (SPA #9)
- 2011: "Gimme the Base (DJ)" feat. M-AND-Y (SPA #4)
- 2011: "Keep the Trance" feat. M-AND-Y (SPA #12)