Lukewarm appraisal for Sean Paul at Blissblog. It should be made abundantly clear that Sean Paul (I don't care if he was born in a rusty bucket at Halfway Tree) is the pwetty mass-market face of dancehall. I cannot stand him. I WILL NOT STAND FOR SEAN PAUL!
Firstly it's that "firstname" "firstname" name. Get a proper moniker mate, like "Shagga Blanks" or "Bimmer Plates" or "The Leopard" or "Dastardley Mutley". Then he has the insult to look like a Calvin Klein underwear model (with his clothes on at least). To make dancehall you HAVE to look like an ugly bastard. This is a time-honoured tradition from Yellowman onwards. The dynamic works like this: Ugly man acquires wealth, fame and beautiful girls through a heady combination of over-powering self-belief, gravelly voice and audience pity (I'm not talking about First World-->Third World pity). I feel no pity for Sean Paul. Only spite.
Wayne Wonder, now that's different, one of the Mrs's favourite tracks is Wayne's "I'd die without you", my own personal lovers-rock favorite from 1992. Sounds just like "Word Beez"-era Scritti. Wayne wins respekt through devotion to the cause. As for the other Diwali interlopers, Lumidee! Too late darling. Word on the grapevine is that Elton John is planning to do a take on the riddim!* I've done my own version which is the B-Side to 50 bytes: "In Da Blog", called "Oooh Baby I love you!"
Did anyone see the MTV Base Reggae special the other day. An 'orrible woman in a peaked cap at Tuff Gong with their conspicuously white *new signings*. Are white people allowed to make Reggae? Not if they look like Boyzone, no! And on a fake Reggae bashing tip this from Ozzie Pete. When I get round to it I'll fill you in on my fave dancehall 7"s of the year, maybe even get some mp3 action in there.
Posted by Woebot at July 29, 2003 08:41 AM