Sean Paul has spoken to NME about the next stage of his career, being a dancehall legend, and how he doesn’t plan to retire soon.
Speaking to NME backstage ahead of his Wireless set last week (July 12), the Jamaican icon explained hiw every time he performed at the festival was “amazing feeling because to me wireless is the epitome of what’s happening right now”.
Paul affirmed that he’s a legend of dancehall – a genre he described as “a son of reggae and a brother of hip-hop, a cousin of reggaeton and a cousin of afrobeats”.
“It’s a mixture of music and , like our people in the Caribbean, very spicy. I’m proud of it and I’m glad to be someone who brings forth some of the new stuff.”
The Kingston-born deejay said his mission throughout his career was to “emulate the big music [he] heard from Bob Marley, Super Cat, Shabba Ranks, Third World Band – all these greats” and “add to what they gave [him]”.
Recently, many artists have sampled the ‘Diwali Riddim’ – an instrumental made by Steven “Lenky” Marsden and was popularised by Paul’s 2004 global hit ‘Get Busy’. Most famously, back in April, Kehlani released the sultry floor-filler ‘After Hours’ as the lead single for her upcoming fourth album ‘Crash’. Paul said it’s “dope” to see dancehall re-emerge into the pop stratosphere.
“The entire hip-hop genre at one point sampled a lot of James Brown, and that just proved that his music at a different time was very influential and very flavourful and very awesome,” he went on. “So now that people are sampling [the] ‘Diwali [Riddim’] – that made me feel like the shit, sorry, but it do.”
During her set at this year’s Coachella, New York drill star Ice Spice teased the frenetic ‘Gimme A Light’, which sampled the 51-year-old’s 2002 breakthrough single ‘Gimme The Light’. While talking to NME at Wireless, he explained how the song came about.
“It was about February where they linked me and they was like, ‘Yo, we’re going to [sample ‘Gimme The Light’]’,” Paul said. “They slowed it down a little bit, but her career is so hot right now and I was like, ‘Yo, that’s dope’.”
He went on to praise the Bronx rapper, saying: “She’s a great artist. She’s out there performing tonight. Everybody was screaming. So I feel good about the vibe. Big up to Ice. Big up to everybody who loves dancehall and reggae culture and who may want a sample or use it or whatever.
He added: “It just proves that people like me, people like [fellow dancehall pioneers] Charly Black, Busy Signal, we have potency in what we do and big up to everybody else who has contributed to the genre. Beenie Man, Bounty Killer – all the greats, big up.”
When NME posed with the idea of retirement to Sean Paul, he exclaimed: “No, man, mi nah retire ’til mi dead like a tyre, trust me na’ man”.
He did reveal that – while being “an elder statesman” – “it does get harder to be jumping up” on stage, but he believes it keeps him “youthful”. Paul said, ” I read a thing that if you go to two concerts or two festivals every month, you gon’ gain nine years on your life – so, I’m gon’ live forever!”
The ‘Dutty Rock’ superstar added that performing keeps him “fresh” and “young”. He also loves the fact that concerts and live performances are “a synergy and a gathering of people of like-minded people who want to party and have fun, forget the stresses of their present life and that’s an awesome thing.”
@nme “Not gonna retire till I’m dead like a tyre!” Music keeps @Sean Paul young – he tells NME all about it at @Wireless Festival #SeanPaul #WirelessFestival #Music #Dancehall #Festival #NME #foryou #fyp #reggaeton
When asked what is next for him, Sean Paul revealed that he has new music on the way with fellow Jamaican star Jada Kingdom and Latin pop singer Becky G.
He also said that he has been producing, which is also “awesome” as he’s “getting to see a next side of the business”.
“I’m getting to see why them music execs are so stingy,” he explained. “I’m trying not to be one of the stingy ones, but it take money to make money. You got to believe in the product and I believe in these guys who work with me.”
Paul also gave props to rising Jamaican stars Farenizzi and Chi Ching Ching. He also said he has been working on new music with his cousin Quan-Dajai Henriques and Ras Ajai – the two played young Bob Marley and Claude Massop in the Bob Marley: One Love biopic, respectively.
Last month, Sean Paul was featured on the soundtrack for Bad Boy: Ride Or Die – the latest instalment in the Bad Boy movie franchise which stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
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