Dancehall heavyweight Sean Paul has criticized Canadian rapper Drake for not giving the Jamaican genre and its artists credit even though his latest hit songs are inspired by them.
In an interview this week with Metro on BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2017 festival, Sean Paul referred specifically to the Canadian rapper’s mega-hit, One Dance.
“I think at the time when it was popping off, it would have been good for him to actually put accolades towards the whole culture. He’s friendly with a few people in the business in Jamaica and that’s good, I love it. But if he had given more accolades when he was actually making it and said ‘this is the music I love,’ it would have been cool,” he said.
The Jamaican artist, known for hits like Gimmie The Light, Give It Up To Me and Temperature, has been critical of other big-name acts like Justin Bieber for not properly recognizing their dancehall influences.
Drake’s album, Views, released last year, has a strong dancehall flavor. Jamaican producers Dwayne ‘Supa Dups’ Chin-Quee, Matthew ‘Boi-1da’ Samuels and Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor worked on it.
Too Good, his song with Rihanna, is a co-production between Chin-Quee and Toronto-based Jamaican producer Paul ‘Nineteen85’ Jefferies. It samples deejay Popcaan’s Love You Bad.
