Sean Paul says he isn’t hating on international artistes like Drake, Rihanna, and Ed Sheeran, for putting out reggae and dancehall songs, but wants more public respect for Jamaican genres.
Sean Paul has been a busy man as of late. Today he dropped his eighth studio album, Scorcha, which features some heavy hitters in the music arena like Ty Dolla $ign, Sia, Gwen Stefani, Shenseea, Damian Marley, and Tove Lo.
As much as he continues to tirelessly put in the effort for Jamaica and dancehall, Sean Paul still feels that a lot can be done when it comes to getting respect for the genre. He expressed the view while appearing on TMZ Live yesterday, May 26.
The platinum-selling artist acknowledged that dancehall had grown so much as a genre that it could now be heard in a lot of modern music, including hip hop and pop music. That can be clearly seen when artists like Drake and Ed Sheeran present new beats as the dancehall influence is obvious.
Sean Paul added that even sultry songstress Rihanna has used dancehall in her beats; something he said he understands is because of the type of music she grew up on in Barbados. The “Temperature” deejay said that he has a lot of respect for Drake, especially because of his affiliation with Popcaan.
While he admitted that he had never met the OVO Boss, he believes Drake is doing positive things for the genre. Another issue he highlighted was the way that Jamaican artists are treated at award shows. Paul said that it is an area that needs to be looked at and that there is no reason that Jamaica should not be given the same respect that other countries get.
The “No Lie” singer has highlighted this issue before. In 2021, while speaking on Claudia Jordon’s Out Loud on FOX Soul, he said, “we also win a Grammy every year and we never get our accolades, our thank you speech is never broadcasted which is something that I think is very important for the genre.”
Sean Paul added: “we never get broadcasted. You hear ‘earlier in the night, so and so won the Reggae Grammy'”
For his part, he intends to keep grinding away to get dancehall the respect it deserves. He added that he intends to try and bridge the gaps between reggae and reggaeton by recording with current superstars such as J Balvin and Anitta.
Drake has often infused dancehall on his projects and has in the past collaborated with Popcaan and Beenie Man on dancehall bangers.
Sean Paul’s new album, Scorcha, is now available on all streaming services.
