“The vibrancy that bounces off the screen while watching Sean Paul’s Tiny Desk concert is undeniable. Hearing his voice just a few feet away was an overwhelming experience, and I overheard a few NPR staffers in attendance who agreed. “He sounds just like the record!” they said, moving like nobody was watching. Admittedly, we don’t host enough dancehall artists at the Tiny Desk so there was an element of surprise at play. But the Jamaican superstar’s catalog boasts some of the world’s biggest party anthems; it should’ve been a no-brainer when working with that. “This ain’t no Tiny Desk no more,” Paul said as he strutted to the Desk, preparing to turn the office into a bashment party.
Paul took reggae and dancehall to new heights in the early 2000s. After hopping on any and every riddim for the clubs and dropping his debut, Stage One, the breakthrough came with his second album, Dutty Rock, in 2002. The global reach of that album shifted the music industry and everyone from the biggest pop star to the grimiest emcee needed the Sean Paul effect on their albums. For his set, the game plan was simple, all gas and no breaks; energetic hit after hit including “Gimme the Light”, “Get Busy,” “Like Glue” and topping things off with “Temperature.”
