Sean Paul Happy To Be Back On Stage After Two Years
Dancehall superstar Sean Paul is happy to be back on stage after his hiatus due to the pandemic.
The Grammy Award-winner, who has had 19 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, is on a promotional tour in the United States for his latest album Scorcha, which kicked off on March 11 at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida.
On Tuesday, DancehallMag caught up with the Temperature deejay at Shenseea’s Alpha album launch event where they performed their new collaboration, Lying If I Call It Love.
“I’ve been promoting two albums for the past year and a half. (It’s) been going good. I just start back touring. This is my third show so far,” Paul said at the packed launch, which was hosted at Romeich Entertainment Headquarters in Kingston.
Sean Paul will grace the stage on April 22, 2022, at the House Of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts. On April 25 and 26, he’ll appear at Elsewhere, a live music venue in Bushwick, Brooklyn New York. The other US dates are set for a month later on May 14 and 15 at Lovers & Friends in Las Vegas, Nevada; May 27 at the Novo in Los Angeles, California, and May 29 at the Monterey Fairgrounds in Monterey, California.
The eight-show UK leg of the Scorcha tour, which was originally set for April 2022, has now been rescheduled for August and September 2022. The original tickets will be honored for the corresponding new dates.
The UK tour will be his first there in more than three years, his last being in 2019 where he headlined the John Peel stage at the Glastonbury Festival. It will begin at the O2 City Hall in Newcastle on August 23, and close at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester on September 3.
During the suspension of live shows and tours, Paul said he tried to stay in touch with fans via virtual performances and small-scale events. “I been to online shows and I do like four shows so far. But since the start of my tour, it’s really the third one with a band,” he said.
Over the last two years, entertainers and other creatives have been reeling from the effects of the pandemic. According to Paul, this period has taught him to appreciate time more. “Time is the most important asset that we have. That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned,” he added.
The period also yielded his collaborative album titled Live N’ Livin, which has been nominated for Best Reggae Album at the upcoming 64th Annual Grammy Awards. The album, which was released in February last year, had debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Reggae Chart.
Scorcha, which was initially slated to be released in May 2021, was pushed back to 2022, reportedly due to the difficulty of clearing rights for the many international stars set to join the Dutty Rock artist on the album.
The album will include the already released This Is How We Do It with Pia Mia; Dynamite, his second collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Sia; the Chimney Records-produced title track Scorcha; and Only Fanz with Ty Dolla $ign. Scorcha will also reportedly feature Gwen Stefani, Shenseea, Jada Kingdom, Stylo G, and British singer-songwriter Raye.
According to Sean Paul, the album—which will be released under the auspices of Island Records—would take more of an international approach to making the riddims. He added that the songs would still be Dancehall music, but would be “more suited for the palate” of his international audience.
With decades of wisdom and an extensive catalog under his belt, the Dancehall deejay is encouraging up-and-coming acts to ensure they have a genuine passion for the industry.
“Do it from the heart, from the start. And just press gas and don’t stop,” he told DancehallMag.