Dancehall superstar Sean Paul shares sentiments echoed by fellow dancehall artist Mr. Vegas. Sean Paul is critizing Drake and Justin Bieber for “appropriating” the sound of Jamaican dancehall music. Amen, my brother!
Sean Paul, a Grammy-award winning reggae star, popularized the dancehall pop sound with his 2002 album Dutty Rock. The sound differed from other dancehall acts by bringing faster rhythms and a more digital pop sound which was very well received into the mainstream garnering him record sales no other dancehall act had ever seen. As a pioneer of this type of dancehall sound, in my opinion, he has earned the right to criticize artists who sample the sounds without due credit to the originators of the sound.
Here’s what Sean Paul had to say about uber superstars Drake and Justin Bieber both having had mega success with their recent dancehall-inspired songs – Controlla and Sorry (respectively) .
“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,” he blasted in an interview with The Guardian. “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.”
In May, another dancehall veteran, Mr. Vegas also condemned Drake for being “fake” because he didn’t fully credit the Jamaican artists he collaborated with on his album.
Paul is currently enjoying a major return to the top of the charts on singer Sia’s hit single Cheap Thrills. He is also working on his new album in Los Angeles and plans to “bring back some authentic dancehall” just as Mr. Vegas claims to be exiting the genre for gospel!
