“What They Gonna Do” (2002)
Jay-Z’s Jamaican Moment: “What They Gonna Do” features dancehall star Sean Paul
We tend to forget all about The Blueprint 2, Jigga’s longest, most over indulgent album. But it was Jay’s only LP to feature a guest spot from an actual Jamaican dancehall artist: Sean Paul, on the Timbaland-produced “What They Gonna Do.” While we applaud Jay’s move to include a then red-hot Sean (especially considering the story that Jay would not allow Beyonce to perform her song “Baby Boy” with SP on account of the perceived romantic heat produced by that track), Sean’s part—basically adlibs like “Yo Yo Yo” and “Stick out her backside”—on “What They Gonna Do” is so limited that we almost forgot about it. (Actually, we kinda did. LargeUp, Max Glazer).
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