Toppa Top 10: Sean Paul’s Biggest Bashment Tunes

Words by LargeUp Crew—

Sean Paul has seen some ups and downs lately but, to us, S.P. will always be the artist that made dancehall buss to a next level with his seemingly endless run of hits from the late ’90s through the mid 2000s. In honor of Mr. Henriques’ 40th birthday today, here’s a look at 10 Dutty tunes which best embody Sean’s output as a dancehall artist. No house here—strictly bashment vibes.

10. Report to We (1998)

“Report to We,” on Anthony Redrose and Anthony Malvo’s wickedly dark Now Thing riddim (released on their brilliantly-named How Yuh Fi Sey Dat label) is one of Sean’s ruffest tunes. You don’t hear this one very often these days… but you should.

9. Temperature (2005)

Along with “We Be Burnin” and “Give It Up To Me,” “Temperature” (on Jah Snowcone’s Applause riddim) was one of three big hits released around—and featured on—Sean’s 2005 Dutty Rock follow-up, The Trinity. Some might call this one SP’s last great bashment tune.

8. Strategy/Trespass (1998)

Jeremy Harding’s Medina was one of the best riddims of the late ’90s, and maybe ever. It made a great showcase for an ascending Sean Paul, who voiced it twice, on “Strategy” and “Trespass,” with the former appearing two years later on his debut album, Stage One.

7. “Like Glue” (2001)

This is just one of those tunes you can’t go wrong with as a DJ, and a surefire way to get ladies on the dancefloor. “Like Glue” was a New York record (and a Toronto one) as much as it was a Jamaican one, and the video, shot at the (since-closed) Brooklyn club The Elite Ark, really captures the vibe happening in NYC and dancehall at the time.

6. Nah Get No Bligh (1998)

Donovan Germain’s spacious Up Close riddim made an ideal canvas for Sean to showcase his deejay and ladykilling credentials with “Nah Get No Bligh,” another of his early hits.

5. Gimme the Light (2001)

Sean was well established in core markets by Stage One days but “Gimme the Light” was the record that really made him buss nationwide in the States and beyond. Following “Gimme the Light” and its ubiquitous run on urban radio stations in 2002, Sean had become the new face of dancehall music internationally, surpassing Shaggy and even Beenie.

4.Infiltrate (1998)

We’re not taking anything away from what Sean Paul has done during of his career but you haffi admit, his initial rise in Jamaica had a little something to do with luck and good timing. He sounded a lot like Super Cat right at a time when Cat’s productivity was declining, leaving a hole in the market. It was a hole that Sean filled with “Infiltrate,” one of his breakthrough hits—and a tune that a lot of people in the States thought was Super Cat when they first heard it.

3. Haffi Git Da Gal Yah (aka Hot Gal Today) feat. Mr. Vegas (1999)

In the early days of their careers, Sean and Mr. Vegas made for one of the wickedest combination duos around. The pair’s collaborations included “Tiger Bone,”  and “Eye For An Eye” with Kid Korrupt, and “Top Shotta” with DMX, from the Belly soundtrack. But their defining effort was “Hot Gal Today,” or “Haffi Git Da Gal Yah,” as it’s known in full.

2. Get Busy (2002)

When you think about that moment in 2003 when dancehall was the biggest thing in music around the world—truly at its zenith—”Get Busy” should be one of the first, if not the first, songs you think of. The crazy is thing is that, no matter how many times you heard it—and we heard it at least every day for months and years —it NEVER GOT OLD.

1. Deport Them (1998)

Sean Paul still had his skeptics after “Infiltrate,” et. al but “Deport Them” showed he was an artist with deep lyrical skill and uncanny hitmaking ability. Helping its cause abroad was a great video (the first minute of which also featured “Hot Gal Today”) which fit right in with the hip-hop videos of the day with its combination of humor and writhing women. Sean would go on to have much bigger hits, but “Deport Them” was the one that solidified his place at dancehall’s roundtable.

HONORABLE MENTION: Hot Sexy Punkie

Originally released in 1999 and later featured on Dutty Rock, “Hot Sexy Punkie” was Sean’s spin on a reggae lovers’ tune but it plays so nice in the dancehal—it’s basically bashment by default.

And an extra bonus honorable mention goes to “Baby Gal.” Cut in 1997 on Jeremy Harding’s Fearless riddim, this was the tune that first helped buss Sean (who had previously featured as a guest on tunes by artists such as Bunny Rugs, Carrot Jarrett and Spanner Banner) in Jamaica.