Sean Paul's national pride burns bright
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. (CUP) — In Jamaica, they call beats riddims and they call clubs dancehalls. Sean Paul, one of the top-selling artists ever from the country, wouldn't have it any other way.
Despite having huge international crossover success on the pop charts, Paul is happy to hail from the island. “I always want my album to reflect what's happening in Jamaica.”
“I am feeling good to be back,” Paul says of Canada. “I have family here in Toronto. It was one of the first places I broke internationally, (outside of) just Jamaica.”
“Other than that, in Jamaica, I live a pretty humble life,” he says, adding he usually starts his day around the crack of noon with a jog. Other people around his native Kingston (in Jamaica, not Ontario) are used to seeing the music star going about his daily life.
“People are just used to seeing me. I'm comfortable at home. That's why I live there,” he says. “I'm not too hard to approach.”
Paul seems to emerge as a people's champion: though he came from an uptown family, he would often come down to the ghetto to connect with the people there. With his friends there, he conversed about dancehall and reggae musicians in the Patois language.
“(That) music makes me feel happy when I hear it and I remember the days when I was a kid,” he said. “I would like to see Jamaica as a more full, rounded place instead of such a segregated place.” Imperial Blaze is Sean Paul's latest work and fourth studio album. Released in August of last year, the record belongs as much to Sean Paul as it does to his island home. “People always been saying to me, ‘Oh, you should work with the great producers of the world,'” he says. He's been grateful for the chance to be on one-off tracks, like Beyoncé's Baby Boy, but on his own album, Paul prefers to showcase homegrown talent.
“It's just important to keep reflecting what's happening in Jamaica to me,” he says. “I try and find hot riddims from different producers and (include) what's happening in Jamaica.”
“There are a lot of people over the years that put me on to the game,” he continues. “I still must be the teacher, but I can learn every day too.” Now ready to pass the torch, he recruited young Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor to architect large portions of the new album.
“I met (him) when he was eight years old. It was funny to me — 10 years later, I was touring the world and I'm hearing ‘Oh, it's Steve McGregor's riddim,' and I was like, ‘What?'”
The veteran dancehall artist was impressed with the 19-year-old's production and came to visit him in the studio. He saw maturity in how McGregor handled the studio and brought his riddims to his management. “He's basically a part of the whole crew and the whole camp right now. The vibe is good with this kid.”
Paul also worked with his brother and long time collaborator Jason “Jigzagula” Henriques on crafting Imperial Blaze. “My brother and me have always been the best songwriters together. He's written many songs with me,” says Paul. “Get Busy was a really big hit for me and he was the one that wrote the hook for me.”
Henriques has produced tracks on all of Paul's albums and joins the stage for his live show. “He's been instrumental in the career from the beginning, he's always been there.”
Singles from Imperial Blaze have been burning up the charts, but what's next for Sean Paul? “I'm planning to go over (to Haiti) just to visit orphanages and stuff. A lot of people like my music there, I've been told. I'd seen the poverty (before the earthquake) and it's crazy.”
“There's a kid over there who plays on the radio that was playing my songs. He's on Twitter, every now and then he would tweet out saying ‘I'm playing this and that song' and then the earthquake happened. I didn't hear from him in a while and I didn't know where he was, if he had made it, and then he started to tweet again about three weeks later.
“I was happy to see him there, you know what I mean. I just talked to him and he still is playing music there. So every now and then I get to hear what (music) he is playing or what he's saying on the radio and what he's trying to go to for his peeps. That's just a crazy thing.”
Despite having huge international crossover success on the pop charts, Paul is happy to hail from the island. “I always want my album to reflect what's happening in Jamaica.”
“I am feeling good to be back,” Paul says of Canada. “I have family here in Toronto. It was one of the first places I broke internationally, (outside of) just Jamaica.”
“Other than that, in Jamaica, I live a pretty humble life,” he says, adding he usually starts his day around the crack of noon with a jog. Other people around his native Kingston (in Jamaica, not Ontario) are used to seeing the music star going about his daily life.
“People are just used to seeing me. I'm comfortable at home. That's why I live there,” he says. “I'm not too hard to approach.”
Paul seems to emerge as a people's champion: though he came from an uptown family, he would often come down to the ghetto to connect with the people there. With his friends there, he conversed about dancehall and reggae musicians in the Patois language.
“(That) music makes me feel happy when I hear it and I remember the days when I was a kid,” he said. “I would like to see Jamaica as a more full, rounded place instead of such a segregated place.” Imperial Blaze is Sean Paul's latest work and fourth studio album. Released in August of last year, the record belongs as much to Sean Paul as it does to his island home. “People always been saying to me, ‘Oh, you should work with the great producers of the world,'” he says. He's been grateful for the chance to be on one-off tracks, like Beyoncé's Baby Boy, but on his own album, Paul prefers to showcase homegrown talent.
“It's just important to keep reflecting what's happening in Jamaica to me,” he says. “I try and find hot riddims from different producers and (include) what's happening in Jamaica.”
“There are a lot of people over the years that put me on to the game,” he continues. “I still must be the teacher, but I can learn every day too.” Now ready to pass the torch, he recruited young Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor to architect large portions of the new album.
“I met (him) when he was eight years old. It was funny to me — 10 years later, I was touring the world and I'm hearing ‘Oh, it's Steve McGregor's riddim,' and I was like, ‘What?'”
The veteran dancehall artist was impressed with the 19-year-old's production and came to visit him in the studio. He saw maturity in how McGregor handled the studio and brought his riddims to his management. “He's basically a part of the whole crew and the whole camp right now. The vibe is good with this kid.”
Paul also worked with his brother and long time collaborator Jason “Jigzagula” Henriques on crafting Imperial Blaze. “My brother and me have always been the best songwriters together. He's written many songs with me,” says Paul. “Get Busy was a really big hit for me and he was the one that wrote the hook for me.”
Henriques has produced tracks on all of Paul's albums and joins the stage for his live show. “He's been instrumental in the career from the beginning, he's always been there.”
Singles from Imperial Blaze have been burning up the charts, but what's next for Sean Paul? “I'm planning to go over (to Haiti) just to visit orphanages and stuff. A lot of people like my music there, I've been told. I'd seen the poverty (before the earthquake) and it's crazy.”
“There's a kid over there who plays on the radio that was playing my songs. He's on Twitter, every now and then he would tweet out saying ‘I'm playing this and that song' and then the earthquake happened. I didn't hear from him in a while and I didn't know where he was, if he had made it, and then he started to tweet again about three weeks later.
“I was happy to see him there, you know what I mean. I just talked to him and he still is playing music there. So every now and then I get to hear what (music) he is playing or what he's saying on the radio and what he's trying to go to for his peeps. That's just a crazy thing.”
