​Sean Paul releases new 16-track album, ‘Scorcha’

Sean Paul has returned with a brand new 16-track record titled ‘Scorcha’.

The dancehall album landed today, May 27, with features from a slew of famous faces including Ty Dolla $ign, Gwen Stefani, SIA, Pia Mia, Shenseea.

A year after the release of his GRAMMY-nominated record ‘Live N Livin’, ‘Scorcha’ comes just in time for summer jam-packed with dancehall and reggae cuts.

Speaking to TMZ ahead of its release, Paul said he wanted to give recognition to other Jamaican musicians and wave the flag for the next generation of dancehall artists. In the interview, he gave thanks to the likes of Drake, Ed Sheeran, and Rihanna for their work.

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Although admitting that Drake has never reached out to the rapper personally, Paul gave him recognition for working with other Jamaican artists such as Popcaan.

“My thing is that I always got criticised when I criticised these pop artists or hip-hop and R&B people that did our style of music without saying its the style of reggae dancehall,” Paul tells interviewers.

“I got to a level where it was really huge and I represented a culture, so why are we skipping a genre? Why are we saying ‘this is so and so’s new single, it’s innovative’? No, it’s not, to me it’s a dancehall single,” he tells TMZ.

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Paul also spoke on bridging the gap between reggae and reggaeton by working with current reggaeton artists such as J Balvin and Anitta.

Sean Paul is set to head out on a US tour shortly after the release of ‘Scorcha’ including several dates with Pitbull which are yet to be confirmed.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter