Sean Paul has called out Justin Bieber and Kanye West for ripping off Dancehall.
The ‘Let Me Love You’ hitmaker and ‘Fade’ rapper are just of two of the names the 43-year-old star has slammed for their appropriation of the popular genre that originate in his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica in the 1970s.
The ‘Get Busy’ singer also pointed out that Drake and dance production trio Major Lazer – comprised of Diplo, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire – don’t credit the traditional Dancehall sound.
Sean said: "It’s a sore point when people like Drake or Bieber or other artists come and do Dancehall-orientated music, but don’t credit where Dancehall came from and don’t necessarily understand it.
"A lot of people get upset and sour. I know artists back in Jamaica who don’t like Major Lazer, as they think they do the same thing Drake and Kanye did – they take and take and don’t credit."
Sean went on to say that he believes the genre is well and truly back, but it has been reincarnated as an infusion of other genres including hip hop and trap.
He added: "Dancehall is back, but this time it’s also infused with Afrobeat, hip hop, trap – and that’s fine with me."
The ‘Cheap Thrills’ hitmaker – who defined Dancehall in the early 2000s – also admitted he has worried in the past that he’s not relevant anymore and that he feels like he was once a massive star and now he’s starting over again.
He told the Guardian newspaper: "Since about 2009, I was fighting that worry that I wasn’t relevant no more.
"It does stress you out at times. I was like, ‘I was up here and now I’m nothing to people.’"
Sean Paul calls out Justin Bieber for appropriation of Dancehall
