Rating: N
It’s hard not to root for a musician who’s fundamental to your coming of age. In late 90s and early 00s Brampton, Sean Paul was it: the pretty-boy Jamaican dancehall star with local ties (remember Baby Blue Soundcrew’s Money Jane?) who soundtracked car rides, school dances and all-ages club nights.
By extension, when that distinctive monotone drone reached Beyoncé heights, it validated our uniquely diasporic experience and sound. So over the past few years, it’s been sad to see Sean Paul ditch that sexed-up specificity for shameless, sanitized synth pop in the key of, like, everyone else. Past the dancehall signifiers (Paul’s increasingly strained lilt and tepid syncopated pulse), the new record is brazenly mediocre. When you’re finished pretending to care, put on Popcaan instead.
Top track: Got 2 Luv U Ft. Alexis Jordan
