Sean Paul’s parents wanted him to follow in their footsteps, and become a professional athlete – which he did at the age of 13. After eight years of playing for the Jamaican water polo team, he decided he was even better at something else – music. And he was right.
The ‘Temperature’ hitmaker has sold more than 12 million albums, won a Grammy and collaborated with the likes of Rihanna and Beyoncé. Last month, Sean relased Imperial Blaze, his first album since 2005’s Trinity. In this interview, he talks about the newfound maturity in his latest album, the single ‘So Fine’, and advises people to maintain a balance of everything in their life.
While Sean Paul still resides in Jamaica, he spends a lot of time in Britain in the summer. Currently, he is in the country as part of a promotional tour. About London, he said, “It’s good. I had a major barbeque earlier this week and the sun was shining hot. It’s always good to come here in the summer because the ladies are so beautiful and have very cute accents.”
Sean’s mother is half British, and he says that he is happy to see places he’d heard about in his grandmother’s stories. “We’re on an early promotional tour at the moment so I’m going all round Europe to get the word out. My grandmother is from Britain though – she was born in Rugby but she’s been in Jamaica longer than me. I came here for the first time in 1998 and it was a great experience because I got to see all the places I’d heard stories about.”
Sean has always said that he will never drift away from his dancehall roots. His latest song, ‘So Fine’, follows suit. About the song, he says, “It’s a real party song to get people out there and enjoying themselves. It was produced by Stephen McGregor, who’s the 19-year-old son of Jamaican balladeer Freddie McGregor, and it’s got a really uplifting vibe to it. It’s about me meeting a girl and realising how far I’d go for her.”
Sean says that the new album took this long because he kept trying to improve it. About his absence from the music scene, he said, “I took three years to make this new album and now I’m itching to get back on the airwaves. The wait was not due to any fault other than me trying to put quality into my work. I’ve been sifting through a lot of different rhythms, learning how to do more production myself, and I also took up the drums. Luckily I think I’m talented enough in music to pick things up fast.”
Sean also says that his latest album is more mature. However, he insists, the old Sean Paul is still intact.
He says, “It’s similar to the last record in that it’s a quality body of work, but it’s different in that it’s more mature. The Sean Paul that people know and love is still there though. It’s still party music, sex-oriented music, the sort of stuff about spitting it to ladies. This album isn’t different in those terms, but it just gets a bit deeper into relationships.”
Of the ‘deeper’ songs is one called ‘Straight From My Heart’, a song he wrote for his mother. He says, “She’s a very strong force in my life and I wanted to paint a picture with my words for her. It’s a very personal song and I wanted her to understand what I was feeling about her. The song came about when I tried to make a birthday card for her, but ended up making a song instead. It felt like the song I should have written first in my career.”
Sean says that the album’s title alludes to his ability to create great music. He says, “Some people have been saying it’s about smoking on a big spliff, but it’s a bit more than that. Imperial Blaze is that part of you that makes people notice you – it’s the king’s fire that’s within you. For example, you’re the best journalist in the world and conduct great interviews. Me, my imperial blaze is that I’m able to spit hot rhymes and hot lyrics and come up with great melodies.”
However, when asked if his music can pull the world out of the economic slowdown, he answers, “Haha! Sean Paul saves the world! Right after 9/11 ‘Gimme The Light’ broke and was massive. I’m always thinking about the terrible things that are going on in the world, but when I make music I don’t want it to be all about that. Music needs to be an all-rounded thing. It’s about entertaining and coming together. Who can come together when you’ve been put into a mental state of depression? Instead of going with the negative vibe, my thing is about being enlightened and enjoying the time you have right now.”
But Sean isn’t trying to suggest that people should party all the time. He says, “People definitely need to keep up a positive mindset and have a good time. That good time can be my album, a night at the club, a day at the beach… it’s all about finding the balance.”
Via: Planet Radio City
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