International dancehall artist Sean Paul, who by now could be considered as an authority on dancehall music, recently sat with Pitchfork for a new video series where he broke down his top dancehall songs ever.

Paul was the first artiste to host Pitchfork’s new series which they have dubbed “Under the Influences“. The veteran artist showcased his extensive knowledge of the history and essentials of the genre, dropping knowledge on basic rhythms, flows and the difference between dancehall and reggae.


“Dancehall music, I like to describe it as the son of Reggae and a brother to Hip-Hop. It’s very urban, it’s very dance-able. Its a voice of generations, I would say”, the deejay said.

Among his top dancehall songs were many classic hits like, Dawn Penn – No, No, No (1994), Tenor Saw – Ring The Alarm (1985), Johnny Osbourne – Buddy Bye (1985), and Wayne Smith – Under Mi Sleng Teng (1985).

He also included on the list, Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam, which has been sampled by scores of international artists including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, Chris Brown, among others. Sean Paul says that Sister Nancy was one of the first female deejays that he remembers. Her iconic song “Bam Bam” is one of the most sampled reggae songs ever, with over 400 songs from various genres having used the familiar instrumental.

Sean Paul, who was born in 1973, included many dancehall songs from the 1980s, when the genre was just emerging from reggae. Sean Paul said that during the mid-1980s, dancehall began to find its place in Jamaica and solidifying the sounds that we still hear today.


The only new-school artist on his list is this year’s Reggae Grammy-winner Koffee with her hit single Toast. Sean Paul lauded the young rising star for already being a trendsetter in the genre. “Every few years in dancehall, someone comes out with a vibe, a voice, a tone, like Tenor Saw in 1981- he came in with a force. So did this young girl. She’s 19-years-old. Big up to you Koffee, you just won a Grammy.”

He continued, adding: “What’s very unique about Koffee- I’ve been one of those artists to twist my rhymes up so people take a second listen- and she does it amazingly in this song and many songs that she does.”

Of course, the list would not have been complete if Sean Paul did not include one of his own dancehall hits. The artiste chose his 2002 hit, Get Busy, which he said has been one of his biggest songs ever. “I open most of my shows with this song. I was using terminology that I learned from hip-hop. At the time, I was so in tune with the mixture of both genres.” He also revealed that his now-wife, Jodi Stewart, was the one who gave him the idea for the popular name-calling intro on the song.

Watch his breakdown for Pitchfork below: