Sean Paul helped bring dancehall to the masses. With this new tour, he’s ready to do it all over again

Paul’s 22-date U.S. tour, dubbed his “biggest tour,” will begin on May 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) – It’s been 21 years since Sean Paul’s dance anthem “Get Busy” topped the Billboard Hot 100 – which implies “Get Busy” is finally sufficiently old to hear “Get Busy” ” in the club.

“It’s changed for me now,” Sean Paul told The Associated Press via Zoom from his studio in Jamaica, reflecting on the song’s legacy. “Because when I say, ‘Get busy,’ I’m telling the kids to do their homework or clean up.”

In the years since Paul helped introduce new audiences to dancehall and reggae, he has released six ambitious albums, including two straight out of the coronavirus pandemic: 2021’s Live n Livin and 2022’s Scorcha. He became a father and devoted husband. (“Jodi” in the lyrics of “Get Busy” “Shake dat ting, yo, Donna Donna / Jodi and Rebecca”? That’s his wife.) His ambition to create happy, danceable music never wavered.

“For me it’s a timeless song,” he says about “Get Busy.” “Every time I try to write a song, I try to put the same butterflies in my stomach that I had when I flirted with the first girl on the first dance floor I went to. It’s just a feeling.”

This translates into his goal of bringing positivity to the masses.

“I even have loads of help with riddim songs, the genre itself could be very infectious,” he says. “It brings joy.”

His commitment comes from life experience.

“I had a lot of problems, like most teenagers, trying to find myself, trying to understand what life was about. You know, my father was in prison. It was a situation of a single mother trying to make sure we were conscious beings,” she says.

Music was liberation.

Now he’s harnessing that energy with a 22-date U.S. run dubbed the “Greatest Tour,” starting May 2 at the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida, and ending June 16 at the Fillmore in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Why am I doing this now? I feel like individuals are ready for me again,” says Paul.

“Last year I collaborated with several reggaetón bands,” he adds, referring to new dancefloor hits including the massive “Niña Bonita” with Feid and “Dem Time Deh” with Colombian singer Manuel Turizo.

He’s also released several solo singles, including the infectious “Greatest,” and promises more conscious songs in the future – thematically similar to 2016’s “Never Give Up.”

“There are a lot of struggles here in Jamaica, apart from it being a very beautiful place. However, we have our own problems that we have to deal with,” he says. “A lot of people don’t know me for this type of material, but you know, it’s just as important in my career.”

At his performances, fans will find a way to taste every little thing. But mostly “good vibes,” he says: “I think people feel like I’m having fun, and that bounces back and forth.”

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