“It’s a living language. It’s not something that you could write down in a textbook.”
Grammy-winning dancehall artist Sean Paul knows that like language, music is always evolving. The hitmaker is celebrating 20 years of his Trinity album, which spawned multiple hit singles like “We Be Burnin’,” “(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me,” and the mega smash hit “Temperature,” which topped the Billboard 100. The Kingston, Jamaica-born musician sat with Newsweek to reflect on the era, discuss gaming and technology, and share his role as an ambassador for his genre, dancehall.
Paul gained international fame with his breakout single “Get Busy” from his Dutty Rock album in 2002. That was the artist’s first-ever Billboard number one, and Paul still cites the song as one of his favorites.
But the dancehall singer isn’t just in it for himself. He has also brought his unique sound to a range of artists like Beyoncé, Sia, and Dua Lipa, and now looms large as one of the genre’s elder statesmen. From that vantage point, Paul is looking to bring more artists into the world of dancehall.
Sean Paul, thank you so much for taking the time out to do this. You’re here celebrating 20 years of the Trinity album, which had some huge hits on it. Do you have a particular memory from that time that sticks out to you?
Going back in my memory now, just being in a whirlwind. When those numbers start to happen, and people start to pay attention to the work you’ve been doing for so long, I’d been doing it about five years at the time or maybe 10, almost, but it blew up. Just an amazing feeling to be accepted and to be heard and to be listened to, and a big sense of responsibility comes upon you after that week, you gotta maintain, you know. I can say that at the same time as being happy, I was kind of not pressured, but a sense of responsibility.
Game On
Some of the most memorable and like valuable moments for me from that time were spending time with my brother and playing video games, and that’s how I initially got exposed to you. So can you tell me a little bit about how connecting with gaming has helped you maintain that legacy, especially with during that initial era, Midnight Club 3, DJ Hero, Def Jam. And now, you’re in Fortnite. Tell me how connecting to gaming has helped continue to keep that legacy strong.
Every now and then technology provides us something new with entertainment. I remember as a kid, we didn’t have nothing else but music to listen to, and then video games came out, and that took away some of our attention. Better video games, in a newer way, and that kind of stuff. And then music started to be integrated into it. So that was a great tool to be able to use, because my medium is music. That’s how I mainly get out to people and I can’t tell you the amount of times that people come up to me say, “Yo, you were the best character in Def Jam, bro, I beat everybody. Yo, wow. How did they make you so good?” I like that I’m good. But it kept me or introduced me also to a lot of people. A lot of people weren’t onto the game that I was doing. I would always love to connect with the gaming community, to at least putting music on the game. Just dope.
I was just talking about how you were the best character in the game, and how I used to beat my brother all the time!
People say, “You was unbeatable.” I’m like, “I don’t know. I played it myself, and a lot of people beat me,” so maybe I just wasn’t good in real life, but the character was dope.
Hey, you saved me a lot of arguments. Going back to that time period, which of your older songs do you think has aged the best? And why do you think that is?
“Get Busy” and “Temperature,” two number one songs, and they are really dope, but two other songs that are “Rockabye” and “No Lie.” “No Lie” [featuring Dua Lipa] came out 2017, but those were creepers. When they came out, they didn’t come out with a big bang or a splash. It was like, “Oh, they were released.” And it was like, “Oh, nice.” And then it started to get more and more attention. I think, “No Lie,” was a hit in London that summer. And then as Dua Lipa became more huge…it started to grow. And then 2019 two years later, is when the song actually became more of a thing, worldwide, internationally. I just have to give thanks for every step on every breath, bro. That’s what we gotta do every morning, when we get up, every night when we go sleep is the same thing. I think I give thanks for every step on every breath, bro.
I can’t say which one’s been my favorite, but I could tell you those four, as in, you know, the first two were bangers as they came out, they were like, boom, that’s crazy “Temperature” and “Get Busy.” My biggest streaming song is “No Lie” right now, which is crazy, because it wasn’t a big blast when it came out. It took time to creep but that just goes to show you that the climate in the music business right now and the attention span of people. You said it just a while ago, you met my work through playing video games with your brother, so it’s a good thing, and it’s also sometimes disappearing for artists who came from that generation where, as you put something out, everybody knows about it because the media is pushing it to you.
Now, we have social media. I could do it myself. I’m still doing good music, but they’re creepers now, because there’s not so much emphasis on my career as it was at that time. We trying to get it back into that space, though, with your help, bro. Thank you very much for letting these young people know who I is.
Oh man, you don’t have to thank me for anything. You’re a legend forever! Let’s talk about that new music. You have a new single out, “Ginger,” that’s like really boiling up. Can you talk about a little bit about having that legacy and that longevity to still be making those hits? Like you said, “No Lie” in 2017 that’s one that was big in NBA2K and how you’re still maintaining and evolving the sound?
We are influenced by African music. Here in Jamaica and the Caribbean, we used African sounds to produce dance hall music, and then that became a whole trend of how that sounds. In turn, Africa, kind of, hear that music and start to produce music with that syncopation and that kind of vibes as well. And so to me, the whole thing is one thing right now, it’s called different things, Afrobeat, Amapiano, Reggaeton, Dancehall, but we are all doing a similar type of music, even the new, I don’t know if they call it funk or whatever, in Brazil, but it does have the element of that rawness that Dancehall gave. The sound that’s in “Ginger” is kind of like the sound mixed with the flavor of a pop on Afrobeat Dancehall track.
Dancehall, a lot of people don’t want to acknowledge it, or never knew that, so I have to educate and I mean, we were the first type of people to make this type of music. I’m not the one who invented it, no. But I’m proud of the genre that I do, and I will wave the flag forever. “Ginger” is just a nowadays installment of what dancehall is, and it’s a more popular or where you can say prettier side. I’m singing a lot of harmonies and different stuff like that. But to me, I have evolved as an artist, and I wanted to display that as well. I do all types of songs. Have all types of tracks dropping right now. You know, from Luude and people like Brodie in drum and bass. I just dropped those tracks earlier this year. Also, something with INNA earlier this year, which is a dancier-pop type of vibes. We did “Shake it to the Max” remix called Tough, and that was like more straight dancehall for me. But also, I’m releasing, like one drop tracks with Runkus, last week you can check that out. It’s called “Sure as the Sun.”
So just all type of different tracks, because I have evolved as an artist, my artistic expression has. It’s a mix-up type of vibe. But I think that’s where the music is right now. It’s mixed up. Dancehall made an early statement in the early 2000s and a lot of different pop, Afrobeat, Reggaeton has followed. And so now we following that back as well. We have to keep up with the times. So it sounds like nowadays Dancehall vibes.
Talk a little bit about those “nowadays vibes.” You’ve always been an innovator, like keeping that genre fresh. Where do you see it going? And what do you think is next for it?
Oh, it’s been growing. Man, nothing but big things this year, especially a lot of dancehall artists recently got back their visas, which was something that was holding us back in terms of big players in the game not being able to tour their songs in certain territories. So, their work was kind of like, I don’t want to say ignored, but it was kept on a low. Now, people like Bounty Killer, Beanie Man recently got their visas back. Also, Vybz Kartel, people we becoming more of a force to be reckoned with.
Again, it’s not just one or two of us out there doing our thing internationally. There’s way more of us now, and that’s a big thing. And for the record, when I was younger, dancehall didn’t have the numbers that it has now. It didn’t have the numbers of sales. It didn’t have the numbers of people producing the music, and also artists doing the music. For me, when I saw hip-hop spreading out from the Bronx and taking over New York, and then moving from New York to the South, Miami, and all over the place, and in Germany. I mean, that was an indication that the music was popping off. You can’t stop it. And that’s what’s been happening for Dancehall over the past 10 years.
I would say there’s other people producing it, cats like Kybba or Major Laser. They’re doing their thing where it’s heavily dance-oriented, but they’re not from here. People like Gentleman from Germany, he’s a dancehall artist. Stonebwoy from Ghana, he’s a dancehall artist. For me, that just means the genre has swollen over our shores and outside of our walls, and be giving a lot more people joy. I had the privilege of selling a lot of records, and so did Shaggy and letting people know about the genre. It’s an honor to still be here and still be rocking in and still having people appreciate the music. That’s what I do for it from the beginning.
The Art of Collaboration
Amazing, like you said, you’ve been stamped, and you’ve been everywhere and you’ve collaborated with everybody. What’s a collaboration that you still want to make happen that fans wouldn’t expect?
I don’t know, I like different type of step outs. If you notice, I did like songs with, as I said, Clean Bandit. That was me wanting to work with them. And it ended up we did a couple of demos, but we ended up doing a single for them, which was really big. So, I like to pick kind of out of pocket. Like right now, I’ve been doing a lot of work with younger dancehall acts Runkus, he’s the one that I just mentioned earlier, which is a reggae one-drop track. I got stuff coming out with Brushy One String. Also, the great Maxi Priest. But to do, like a step out, I wouldn’t mind doing a song with like, Billie Eilish. I mean, like Twenty One Pilots, something out the box, like, “Yo Yo, bro. That’s crazy.”
Every time I hear one of their songs, I feel I can rap, I can spit ‘pon it and, I mean, I can feel my flow upon it. One of them type of people there. One day we tried to hook a collab with me and Anderson.Paak, which I thought would have been interesting, but it never got to happen. I’m open for a lot of different types of things. As I said, my musical expression has expanded and while I’m still waving the flag for reggae and dancehall music, I think that bringing those type of people, like I was trying to get Katy Perry on a track once, also we released a kind of rocksteady, kind of bop with Gwen Stefani a few years ago.
I’m trying to do things like that, where I’m bringing them to our genre. A lot of times, people have me on step outs, and they’ll have me on a hip-hop or an R&B-sounding track or some pop-sounding thing, and I’m doing my authentic stuff as a dancehall artist on there, but I’m trying to get them to do more things. Like when me and Busta did it, people who step to our genre and are friends with our genre and help our genre along the way, people like that is who I’ve usually done stuff with. I’m trying to get the others who, people who you never thought would have done so. Yeah, I like Billie Eilish or Twenty One Pilots. Send me a track, man or I’ll send you one.
What’s the wildest collab requests you’ve ever gotten?
One of them dudes from One Direction. Think his name’s Zayn [Malik]. We didn’t end up doing it, something with the track that was really too poppy at the time for me. And it’s not that the song wasn’t good, but I had out some songs that were really poppy, and I like to balance my stuff. I like to have some hardcore Dancehall thing, some poppy things. Put my foot in at the reggaeton, put my foot over by Afrobeat, because, as I said to me, it’s all mixed right now. That didn’t work out but, I was surprised that they reached out to me.
Mad-Libs
That’s crazy! OK, I have to address something. So turns out, this whole time we’ve been hearing your ad-lib wrong?
Man, yeah, Here’s the thing. Back in the day, we used to be freestyling, doing double plates, and one of mi brethren, actually, the guy who started Dutty Cup Crew. Now he passed away. So RIP to Daddigon, my brother. He used to just mess around. And if you wanted to leave the room, go use the bathroom, he would say, “Yo I’ma post a letter.” He would have different talks like that, and you’ll be like, “What? Post a letter?” And then only us knew that he was saying he’s going to the restroom. He had different talks and different slangs. One day we were freestyling, and he was just like, “Tell the world, We have to tell them all. Next ‘pon di mic is Sean de Paul!,” and he gave me the mic. And everybody laughed in the room, and I even laughed and went and spit the rest of my freestyle.
And it was funny, because my name is Sean Paul, but there’s a huge cricketer called Chanderpaul. And when he said that, everybody was like, “Yo Chanderpaul!” And it just became my nickname in the studio that day. I ended up saying it at the beginning of “Like Glue” because around that same time we were voicing it was like 1997. But ’98 is when I voiced “Like Glue” and funny, because the song broke in the States way after, like, 2000-2001 but that’s where I got the nickname from. From Daddigon saying Chanderpaul, and it just stuck. So memories for me, and it’s funny that I think it was just like an inside joke, like same, like how Daddigon speaks, just every day with a new slang. And that was one of them one day. And it ended up sticking in my being my nickname for a time, and then kind of just put it on a couple songs.
So, everybody’s like, “Yo! Sean de Paul!” He’s saying his name. I don’t know what they thought. What did you think? I was kind of like joking around same way, but big ups, Chanderpaul. I’ve met him since the cricketer. Me and him are friends, we text each other every now and then. “What’s up, bro?” So, it’s a good vibe. That’s how the Caribbean is. That’s how Jamaica is. We call each other nicknames all the time. So when he called me that nickname, it was just funny. And everybody just started to say, that was it. I’m so sorry for everybody who are disappointed or shocked and surprised. It’s not really him. I’m calling out, it’s me. I’m saying my name, but just in a little kind of funny. You know, when you have a friend that always coming up with different slangs? That was Daddigon, you know? So, it was his fault.
That’s like a perfect storm. How it perfectly came together and stuck forever. Speaking on that do you have another misheard lyric or something that you’re always having to correct people on?
Most of my songs, I think that my true fans, they kind of dig around and they find out on the internet. And I see sometimes people post the whole song lyrics. And I see they get, still, some of it wrong, you know. Patois is a real, I could say it’s an indigenous language to Jamaica in terms of our patois, how we’ve developed it. And, you know, [it] evolves every day. And that’s why, sometimes, for people to write it down in a book, it would change. Like when we were kids, irie was the word, “Irie mon.” It was a more Rasta phrase, and Bob Marley was huge. So we don’t say that no more. I went up by the time I was a teenager, we didn’t say “irie mon,” because a lot of people in the States are going, “irie mon” and it’s corny to us, so we switch it up.
Over the years, it’s just different type of slangs and it’s a vibrancy of the people. It’s a living language. It’s not something that you could write down in a textbook. It will be something that’s different in a couple of years. A few years ago, just two years or four years ago, people were saying “braff”, which mean, like, party and laugh and have fun and mess around. So now we ain’t saying “braff,” no more, too much. It’s what’s beautiful about dancehall, because reggae was mainly sung in English language. There was some of our accent and our talk in there, but Patois and dancehall was something that utilized Patois to like the ground. And there’s parts of Jamaica that, people would talk, and you’ll be like, “What he say?” like even me, and you have to listen in two times. Patois a vibrant language and it’s hard for people to catch. So, when people don’t understand my lyrics, I can understand that, but I know they love the vibe, and that’s cool. With a music like this, with a language like this, if you really love it, it draws you way in. I mean so, because you have to keep up with the time you can’t come to Jamaica no more and say, “Yeah Mon, irie mon.”
Sean, I appreciate you doing this so much. What’s one Sean Paul track that you think should never be left off the party playlist?
Oh, man, there’s too much. It’s too much, bro.
That’s why I had to ask it. Had to make a tough on you for the last one.
Yeah, yeah, it’s tough on me. I think it’s, you know, DJs always tell me, “Yo, if I have a problem. I ain’t reading the crowd right. If I throw that on, ladies jump up.” So I would say three songs are really clubby songs, and it’s “Temperature,” “Get Busy” and “Give Me Light.” Like if any of those are played it’s a showstopper for me. I can’t pick. And there’s more, but I can’t pick. I’m going to say those three. And so I let the people watching pick their favorite of those three.
I’ll let you get away with this time. What else do you have coming in? And anything else you want to talk about?
Yeah, just released a Juggling which is us, a Riddim track. And I have to explain for people who don’t know. So, it’s a rhythm track with several different artists on it. So myself is on it with a song called “Up in the Air.” I just released a video for it, and the Riddim also features other artists, from dancehall world like Spice, Bounty Killer, Chi Ching Ching is on it. Munga Honorable and some young cats like Bayka and IWaata.
So you can check out the Moroccan Gold Riddim. It’s on all platforms. And my song is called “Up in the Air.” I recently released it right after “Ginger.” I like to balance things. So “Ginger” was more of a poppy song, and this one is more hardcore dancehall song. And I built this riddim, by the way. So, if people check out Moroccan Gold Riddim and like it, thank you very much. Also, ZJ Chrome who’s presently traveling the world right now, being Vybz Kartel. DJ, he also produced a track for me called “Circuit.” Those two tunes are out. And as I told you, look out for the Brushy One String. Look out for Runkus that we just dropped, and a song with Maxi Priest coming out all in, I would say, October and November, all these things dropping right now.