Sean Paul manifesting a win for Grammy 2023 with ‘Scorcha’
Published:Thursday | March 24, 2022 | 12:11 AMStephanie Lyew/Gleaner Writer
Since the release of his first studio album, Stage One, in 2000, reggae-dancehall recording artiste Sean Paul hasn’t slowed down. Last year, he dropped the Grammy-nominated Live N Livin. Now, he is gearing up to release his eighth studio album, Scorcha, on May 27 to raise the summer temperatures above the norm and make a good impression on his fans.
Sean Paul announced yesterday that the album will be released near the end of his US tour.
“ Live N Livin was a great collaborative effort between me and a bunch of artistes who me rate, same with the producers and engineers. It is up for the Grammy now. Scorcha will be a great contender for the Grammys in 2023,” Sean Paul said confidently in an interview with The Gleaner.
While manifesting positive results for the soon-to-be-released project, the artiste shared that 22 years ago, he would not have imagined that he would have such an extensive catalogue yet alone connect with the local and international audience and win global awards.
“I cross my fingers for all of them,” Sean Paul revealed, “but regardless if it sells or wins a Grammy Award, I feel good about them. I like to put an album together because I always believed it shows the stages of an artiste, and it shows what kind of reflection the artiste was having. It defines them at that specific time.”
Sean Paul, born Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques, has been a consistent force in dancehall since his emergence and has accepted that he is never done evolving as an entertainer. He has pivoted into production and maintains that he has a firm grip on the culture by just, well, being true to himself.
“I was always worried at first. When writing my first track ever, I was worried about if I was going to be a one-hit-wonder. For Stage One, I was an artiste with five years into the business and trying to put out singles recorded with different producers, including one that was produced by me,” he shared, adding, “so, it’s awesome that I caught on with connecting with the producers, other artistes and fans … . That has kept me in the game so long.”
Over the years, Sean Paul has continued to develop his production skills, crediting producers like Don Corleon for imparting some of his knowledge, and has seen it as an important duty to dancehall because “after a while, productions started to get weird (to me), with the whole flavour of dancehall changing, and I was always trying to keep new fans and foreign fans interested”.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACCOLADES
The international superstar has ignited stages in over 120 other countries, performing for huge audiences in some of the biggest venues around the world. Sean Paul has earned several Grammy and Billboard Music Award nominations and one Grammy Award. He is the recipient of an American Music Award, a MOBO Award, a Soul Train Award, an MTV Music Award, an ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Award, a Source Award, and a BET Award. In 2006, he created history when he won an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artiste and is still the only Jamaican artiste to have achieved this.
The album that earned Sean Paul an international breakthrough was Dutty Rock, for which he celebrates the 20th anniversary. Speaking to Billboard, he said that it was not the intention, but that he just “wanted to write songs that Jamaicans would like. I was hungry for them to feel what I feel when I hear those tracks, and it reminds me of being on the dance floor, getting that first whine”.
With a new aim, which he said is to “put out things that I want to”, he has considered many factors that will determine success, counting those tracks featured that are already circulating on the radio waves and are available on digital streaming platforms. The collaboration with international pop star Pia Mia, How We Do It, is already blazing on Spotify with almost one million streams since its release earlier this month.
“So many factors play out how an album does because you’re putting out singles, before and now, those are streaming,” Sean Paul explained about the impact of teasing the album by releasing some productions ahead.
He further explained: “I felt I helped to break a genre to people who didn’t know it existed. Regardless if the new album is really felt by anyone else, I think at this point in time, I [have] proven to myself and the world that I can create hit albums.”