For well over a decade, Sean Paul has been waving the flag for Dancehall on a global scale.
Wildly successful in his own right, the Jamaican star has long been the go-to for Western acts hoping to sprinkle island spice on their songs.
In recent times, said sound has risen to Pop prominence – following releases such as ‘Sorry’ by Justin Bieber and ‘Controlla’ by Drake.
Paul, however, is none too pleased.
Not so much about the West’s love-affair with Dancehall, but rather the lack of acknowledgement of its roots.
His words await below…
In an interview with The Guardian, Paul said:
“It is a sore point when people like Drake or Bieber or other artists come and do dancehall-orientated music but don’t credit where dancehall came from and they don’t necessarily understand it.
A lot of people get upset, they get sour. And I know artists back in Jamaica that don’t like Major Lazer because they think they do the same thing that Drake and Kanye did – they take and take and don’t credit.”
Honing in on Drizzy, he continued saying “I love some of his songs but I don’t think he’s the best rapper.” He asserted that the bashment hooks and patois phrases used in ‘Views’ are less of a homage to dancehall and more of an exploitation.
***********
In all fairness to Paul, he has a powerful point. But we’re not sure the primary issue lay with the artists…alone. It’s the wider industry framework.
For, the term “Tropical House” is legitimately being carted around by reviewers and label figures as a means to describe songs by “mainstream” acts who adopt Caribbean influences. Here at TGJ we’ve specifically heard such phrasing attached to much of Justin Bieber’s last album.
It’s quite shocking when put in context, especially given how impactful Dancehall and now Afrobeats are in their own right.
We fist-pump in unison with Paul in hopes that his words will reach the right corners so as to educate and bring about positive change.
Because, whether deliberate or unintended, the lack of adequate acknowledgement is not right. At all.
Yes Sean P, talk de tings dem! Sick of white artists capitalizing off of Caribbean people and POC in general. Still not over Justin not putting not ONE west indian dancer in that video. Don’t Let Me Down, All in My Head, Side to Side, etc… All these billboard hits borrow from Jamaica yet don’t benefit struggling Jamaican artists which equally matched talent.
I can’t stand yo fat ass but I agree.
lmfaooo funniest comment of the month!
smh lol
Lol bish where? There’s more fat in Nicki’s fake booty than me. I’m a toothpick yo.?
What’s a West Indian? You might as well complain he didn’t put in a dancer from the Pakistani region of India while you’re at it.
Someone please slap OMG NO LOGIC with a Geometry book or an ATLAS!
Wikipedia is looking for yo’ dumb ass. Go find it.
Blatant exploitation and disrespect. I hope more Jamaican artists speak up against the fact that they are being used without proper creditation! Drake first number 1 single was laced with Jamaican influence and flavour. Other Jamaican influenced track like controlla etc on his album doesn’t have Beenie Man nor Popcaan name listed in the actual credits.
So true and soon these white artist will come with reggae theme songs Justin is trash drake always give credit to island reggae artist he has features on his albums plus drake grew up around a lot of island people in Toronto
Drake dates the dancehall queen so he can do that. Idk bout JB tho
Ha! Rihanna is not the dancehall queen, you’re clearly talking out your a$$. I love her to bits but real Bajans don’t even listen to dancehall, they’re more into soca/calypso. Rihanna just capitalizes off dancehall/reggae ’cause it sells. Same with Nicki.
I love riri like crrrrazy but even i must agree! Their music is generally calypso (soca).
.
However out of all these artists, Rihanna is the one who give proper credit when sampling music. That’s one of the main reason why i love this bish
ur wrong ,im a bajan and i can tell u real bajan rate dancehall n reagge above any other genre,
@Rico
The Jamaicanized Bajans do. Lol. Barbados is bout its Crop Over. Alison Hinds & Square One and Rupee, etc are all major soca artists. Tbh there’s not too many dancehall/reggae artists from outside Jamaica doing it big. I’m just shocked Rihanna has yet to do a soca song all these years. It’s all love tho!
Capitalize! It’s apart of her origin! And it makes sense to capitalize off of what feels like home. anyone else doing it is appropriating! Cough cough! I have no problem with other artist tapping into different sounds! But make sure you fully u set stand the sound and just not utilize it to gain mass appeal!
I’m a bajan and you’re talking crap we love dancehall music and have a few of our own dancehall artist…soca/calypso mainly takes over around crop over season smh ?
Queen of whaa..? Not when Alison Hinds exists
I love Caribbean music, especially dancehall. Sean Paul, Shaggy, Beenie Man, Buju Banton!
the sad thing is that the real dancehall artist can’t even get a hit.
What else is there to expect? Drake’s entire album is merely a culmination of 22 songs that already exists.
All of these people are bland and forgettable. Look at some legendary talent I just found in the Internet 🙂 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJeKkRtL2YY
Madonna isn’t really talented yet you still stan ?
Why do you speak? You should never speak. You Stan for Selena Gomez. Your opinion is dead. You are not valid. You don’t matter
LOL You stan for Rihanna and Selana something (don´t know her) so please give us a break! I don´t stan for Madonna and I know she is not one of those legendary RAW talents. But girl, her catalogue and career are amazing and she has actually worked hard and has always been in charge of everything in her career. I defend her when I have to. Grow up and listen to those vocals I just posted 🙂
@Ughhhh Lmaoooo, well damn.
They have a right to be pissed…. Especially at the success that JB had with “Sorry”, Yet know recognition or homage to the roots of the genre or sound.
Sad day in when artists just take & take & take, without respect for what came before and still is.
Major Lazor swears he is Jamaican. They are so unprofessional and underhanded in the music industry. Just like an era in music when Elvis and other whites blatantly stole from blacks and be praised for it. Its disgusting.
Just like everything else curated by people of color it is always being appropriated. Similar to folk, jazz, rock n’ roll, and now hip-hop, the sounds made by black people always go international. The secret to keeping it for yourself Sean Paul is to do it better than anyone else. You have to continuously prove that it is your sound and heritage. This is something Rihanna does well; she consistently owns her island roots while showcasing the world how its done right. With your new record contract with Island Def Jam, I can’t wait to see what you create. Whatever it is though, you have to be the innovator and stay in front of the pack to showcase your culture.
Lol he should look at 2ne1 too then.
–
Fùçk him though, music belongs to everyone. Peace
You dimwitted DUNCE!!
.
He is not against the inclusivity of music, he is saying that these artist should properly credit the creators of the music material that they are sampling.
.
You special ed biiiiiiiiiiiiiish!!! Rihanna sampled Richie Steven’s dancehall rhythm and she credited his name, which means \he will gain financial proceeds for his art that laid the foundation for her song.
CL credited Wu Tang Clan in +lifted+
I am unbothered
loooooooooooooooool
If their was no dancehall their would be no hip hop. That whole concept talking over beats came from dancehall in the late 60 early 70’s Kook Herc Migrate from Jamaica to the Bronx and took the sound system/dancehall culture with him.
The Americans too it and put their spin and call it hiphop.
So its not just Whites who don’t give credit. its every hiphop artist. They need to have a hip hop museum in the Bronx to tell the story
here is a little history one of the grand father of dancehall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmiYGWGXP8Q
I wish my people owned our culture more so others didn’t get to steal!!
Just the same with brand Jamaica. Enough isn’t done by the right people to ensure royalties and credits are paid. Such a shame really.
Total exploitation because they know they can, without much backlash.
Exactly people are programmed to keep doing fukkd up shxt if they can get away with it.
I get where Sean Paul is coming from but it really comes off sounding like jealousy. He sounds mad that a mainstream artist has done a song in his genre that’s more popular than anything he’s done in the last 10 years! But of course Drake and Justin Beiber are gonna have hits, they happen to be what’s poppin right now. And are they supposed to come out on stage and give a big “thank you” speech everytime they perform a danchall influenced song? He sounds like Lil Kim when she was demanding Nicki Minaj thank her every damn day!
Oh stfu *RearBurn*… I applaud Sean Paul for using his fame to voice the concerns of the Jamaican Musical Diaspora! #Respect #BigUp #Lighter
He sounds mad
It goes both ways….todays dancehall borrows a lot from hip hop music and culture…in my opinion too much
But most of hip hop evolved from dancehall so you gotta respect it…..look up u-roy and lord kitchener and prince buster and count machuki for the foundation…..then yelloman and eek-a-mouse…..that’s why most of the pioneers in hip hop were first generation west indians or born in the islands as well….kool dj herc who pretty much single handedly jumpstarted hip hop was born in jamaica….brought the dancehall scene over the water…hip hop was new york’s adaptation of the dancehall sound system clash scene….grandmaster flash was born in barbados…even the next generation…doug e fresh was born in barbados….slick rick was 1st generation jamaican……and dancehall “Rap started in Jamaica way back in the late 50s with DJs like King Stitt and Count Machuki. They used to rap over old school R&B even before Ska was being played at soundsystems. Sure there’s always been guys who can rhyme but Jamaican DJs were the first to rhyme over a prerecorded rhythm track. Rap is a sub-genre of Jamaican Dancehall music.”….”dj-ing” and “toastin” was rappin