Sean Paul hails Drake and Rihanna for doing positive things for reggae and dancehall – Urban Islandz

Sean Paul says he doesn’t hate international artists like Drake, Rihanna and Ed Sheeran for releasing reggae and dancehall songs, but wants more public respect for Jamaican genres.

Sean Paul has been a busy man lately. Today he released his eighth studio album, Scorcha, which features heavy hitters in the music arena like Ty Dolla $ign, Sia, Gwen Stefani, Shenseea, Damian Marley and Tove Lo.

Although he continues to push tirelessly for Jamaica and dancehall, Sean Paul still feels that a lot can be done when it comes to upholding the genre. He expressed his views during his appearance on TMZ Live yesterday, May 26.

The platinum-selling artist acknowledged that dancehall has grown so much as a genre that it can now be heard in a lot of modern music, including hip hop and pop music. This is clearly seen when artists like Drake and Ed Sheeran introduce new beats as the dancehall influence is evident.

Sean Paul added that even sultry singer Rihanna used dancehall in her beats; something he said he understood was because of the type of music she grew up with in Barbados. The “Temperature” deejay said he has a lot of respect for Drake, especially because of his affiliation with Popcaan.

Although he admitted that he had never met the OVO Boss, he thinks Drake is doing positive things for the genre. Another issue he pointed out is the way Jamaican artists are treated at awards shows. Paul said this is an area that needs to be looked at and there is no reason why Jamaica should not receive the same respect as other countries.

The “No Lie” singer has already pointed out this problem. In 2021, while speaking in Claudia Jordon’s Out Loud on FOX Soul, he said, “We also win a Grammy every year and we never get our accolades, our acceptance speech never airs, which I think is very important for the genre.”

Sean Paul added, “We never aired. You hear ‘earlier in the night so-and-so won the Reggae Grammy’”

For his part, he intends to continue to work so that dancehall is respected. He added that he intended to try to bridge the gap between reggae and reggaeton by recording with current superstars such as J Balvin and Anitta.

Drake has often infused dancehall into his projects and has in the past collaborated with Popcaan and Beenie Man on dancehall bangers.

Sean Paul’s new album, Scorchais now available on all streaming services.