Sean Paul eyes another Grammy as he gets ready to drop another album within a year.
One thing international dancehall star Sean Paul is not lacking is confidence. Even as his latest album, Live N Livin, is in contention for the Grammy for Best Reggae Album this year (2022), he is positive that his upcoming one, Scorcha, will also get the nod in 2023.
Scorcha will be his eighth studio album, and fans can look forward to it dropping on May 27. He’s already announced that he intends to drop the album closer to the end of his ongoing US tour.
The “No Lie” artist shared his thoughts on the upcoming album with The Gleaner in a recent interview. He shared that he continues to be proud of his work but also admitted that he is taken aback by his progress in the competitive genre, which he first jumped into about two decades ago.
There’s no doubt that Sean Paul has been able to maintain his longevity in dancehall and now has an extensive repertoire of music. He’s also showed no signs of slowing down and has tracks played around the world.
He revealed that he still feels nervous when a new album is about to drop but maintained that regardless of if an album sells or wins a Grammy Award, he still feels accomplished when he produces one.
It’s the process of making an album that seems to be the most pleasurable to him. Paul explained that’s because it shows the stages of an artist as well as what kind of reflection an artist was having at the specific time he was making the album.
Sean Paul also said that even with all the work he has put into the industry, including production, what keeps him going is the fact that he knows an artist has to continue to evolve in order to excel at his craft.
The “Get Busy” deejay also revealed that he still remembers the nervousness when he was writing his first track. Besides worrying about if it would be any good, he was also worried that he might become just a one-hit-wonder.
“For Stage One, I was an artiste with five years into the business and trying to put out singles recorded with different producers, including one that was produced by me,” he continued.
A big part of his portfolio now includes his production credits, and this was not something that he did on his own. Sean Paul added that he was able to follow this part of his passion in music by taking the lessons imparted to him by those with experience in the game like Don Corleone.
At some point, he noticed that dancehall started to deviate and felt a personal responsibility to keep the true spirit of dancehall alive because he’s always trying to keep new fans and foreign fans interested.
This drive to put out authentic dancehall has given a different focus, and so he tries no matter what to put out music that he feels is good enough for the fans. Experience has been his greatest teacher, and he considers several things before signing off on a track.
Whatever the formula that he’s discovered, it seems to be working as one of Sean Paul’s most recent tracks, a collaboration with international pop star Pia Mia, called “How We Do It,” has already dominated Spotify, bringing in at least a million streams since its release.
“I felt I helped to break a genre to people who didn’t know it existed. Regardless if the new album is really felt by anyone else, I think at this point in time, I have proven to myself and the world that I can create hit albums,” he added.
Scorcha tracklist
01. As We Enter
02. Wine Up
03. Scorcha (Hot Peppa Mix)
04. Only Fanz – feat. Ty Dolla $ign
05. Earthquake
06. How We Do It – feat. Pia Mia
07. Bouncing – feat. Jada Kingdom
08. Dynamite – feat. Sia
09. Light My Fire – feat. Gwen Stefani & Shenseea
10. Calling On Me – feat. Tove Lo
11. Good Day
12. Borrowed Time
13. Pon Di Reel – feat. Stylo G
14. Back It Up Deh (Remix)
15. Bend You Back (6:30 Mix)
16. No Fear – feat. Damian Marley & Nicky Jam
