Tuesday, December 13, 2005  

Sean Paul
(sweet fan pencils)

Washington Post, Tuesday, December 13, 2005; Page C09

Near the midpoint of his 90-minute 9:30 club concert on Sunday, Sean Paul asked women with large breasts to toss their cell-phone numbers onto the stage for the "after party." Little pieces of paper started flying toward the dancehall superstar, and they continued to fall at his feet for the rest of the show. A dutiful hype man gathered up the digits. Based on the high volume scooped up, Paul's going to be hit with major roaming charges.

But "roaming" is something that he's used to: A large percentage of Paul's songs are about hooking up, and the women in the audience ate up his "dutty rock." The way the well-buffed Paul winds his hips could give Shakira a run for her pole-dancing money, and the females screamed like schoolgirls every time he shimmied his pelvis or made a shout-out to the "sexy ladies." Some were even more demonstrative: Before "Shake That Thing," a woman flashed her chest from the balcony, and just after the tune a giant red bra soared onto the stage.

In his flat, drony voice, Paul dispatched two of his biggest hits, "Like Glue" and "Gimme the Light," early in the set so he could get right into promoting his uneven new CD, "The Trinity." While that CD's catchy first single, "We Be Burnin'," rivals anything off his 2002 breakthrough album, "Dutty Rock," most of the other songs, like "Head in the Zone," "Send It On" and "I'll Take You There," are monotonous dancehall bangers, not crossover hits.

"Never Gonna Be the Same" is one of Paul's few tunes that's not about being a playah. Dedicated to reggae singer Daddigon, who was gunned down in January, Paul dropped his loverman shtick and delivered a heartfelt rendition of one of best songs from "The Trinity." But as soon as the tune was over, phone numbers peppered the stage and it was right back to party time. --Christopher Porter

Posted by CP | Link |

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