When it was announced Dancehall reggae artist Sean Paul would be coming to the Welsh capital back in May I realised that Cardiff must finally be on the map for securing international artists of not just mainstream pop but for a wide range of music genres. Now Sean Paul is of course a mainstream artist but his real claim to music fame was through Dancehall Reggae and being one of the first artists to create a world-wide appeal for that genre.
I vividly remember hearing Sean Paul’s voice and seeing his music video on MTV in my early teens and instantly recognising that he was an artist that was unique in many ways; voice, look, sound and his collaborations. More recent or teenage fans will be aware of Sean Paul’s most recent tracks through his collaborations with artists such as Sia ‘Cheap Thrills’, Dua Lipa ‘No Lie’ and Clean Bandit’s ‘Rockabye Baby’ feat Anne Marie to name but a few.
On the Cardiff night of the tour there was two warm up acts in the form of DJ Miller and Mista Bibbs; the latter in which has received nationwide success and was originally part of Cardiff based Urban Fusion. Sean Paul, his impressive dancers and band rocked up at around 9pm and brought the Dancehall party to the Motorpoint. Although it was a Monday night the entire floor and balconies around the arena were jam-packed full of all ages enjoying the vibes that Sean Paul brings.
The hits seemed to roll on endlessly with arguably one of Sean’s biggest hits ‘Get Busy’ providing an electrifying performance as well as ‘Gimme the Light’, ‘I’m Still In Love With You’ and finishing off ‘Temperature’, with a sizzling hot dance routine, impressive vocals and performance. There were some new hits from his new album with new singles ‘Mad Love’ and ‘Tip Pon It’ receiving a warm reaction.
In just over an hour and a half Sean had managed to get through nearly all of his hits spanning a 20 year career and enjoyed by every generation of that time in the audience.
I really hope in the future that we see more international artists making a stop at Cardiff and that Sean Paul returns to keep ‘Dutty Rock’ alive and well in the Welsh capital.
Cardiff Motoroint