Carlos Jean

Carlos Jean Arriaga (born 15 February 1973) is a Spanish DJ and record producer born in the region of Galicia in Northwestern Spain. 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.

Biography

1973–1998: Early life He was born on February 15, 1973, in Ferrol, an industrial city in the northwest of Spain, in the province of A Coruña. His parents are Jean Robert Jean, Haitian, and Julia Arriaga, a Spaniard from Galicia. 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.

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's, 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. During his time on the show he held live castings that resulted in the formation of boy band Why Five and girl band Check Baby Check; however, both acts were short-lived.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums 2000: Planet Jean 2002: Back to the Earth 2006: Mr. Miracle (SPA #67)

Compilation albums 2011: Introducing Carlos Jean (SPA #7)

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. Mandy Santos (SPA #4) 2011: "Keep the Trance" feat. Mandy Santos (SPA #12) 2012: "Blackstar" feat. Ferrara (SPA #7) 2013: "Forza" Santander's Tribute to Scuderia Ferrari