After charting at No. 24 on the U.K’s midweek chart last week Sean Paul debuts at No. 6 on the U.S Billboard Reggae Albums chart this week with Scorcha. For most of the week the album sat at No. 2 on the Reggae iTunes.
The16 track modern dancehall album briefly peaked at No. 1 and popped up on the iTunes and Apple Music charts in 48 countries across the world at various positions.
Scorcha had 8 iTunes chart positions: #8 in Indonesia, #16 in Hong Kong, #24 in Mexico, #29 in Canada, #49 in the United States, #54 in France, #54 in Japan, and #94 in Germany.
The album sold 1700 equivalent units from sales and streams in the U.S according to data provided to World Music Views by Luminate. This includes just over 600 copies in album sales and 1,400,000 in on-demand audio and streaming recording since its release on May 27.
Meanwhile fellow Jamaican hit maker Shaggy’s latest album, ‘Come Fly With Me’; Sinatra SongBook, produced by Sting, released on May 26 sold 358 copies which was not enough to make the Billboard Reggae Albums top ten chart. There was no streaming data to report according to Luminate, but the album peaked at No. 1 on the reggae iTunes chart and charted at No. 28 in Austria on iTunes.
Elsewhere on the Billboard reggae chart, Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Legend, first released in May 1984, remains at No. 1 for 126 consecutive weeks. The album contantly sells over 11,000 units in the United States each week, which is often as much as the other 9 entries on the weekly chart—combined. Legend also boasts the second-longest run in the history of the Billboard 200 chart (733 weeks), after Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, per Dancehall Mag.
Sean Paul, Shaggy And Omi are the only three Jamaican artists on YouTube most streamed artist list.
Out of 1500 top artist on YouTube, Jamaican artists, @duttypaul ranks at 154, @omimusiconline ranks at 467 , and @DiRealShaggy ranks at 542.
— WMV (@worldmusicviews) June 5, 2022
In spite of their previous success, since the advent of streaming, other Jamaican artists have struggled to sell and stream album units in the last 4 years.
Buju Banton who had a sold out tour in 2019, latest album Upside Down 2020, released under the Island Records ( Same label as Sean Paul) debuted at number 2 on the Reggae Billboard Chart after combined streaming and sales of over 2900 units, according to Nielsen/MRC Data. Newcomer Skillibeng clocked 627 total units in his first week for the Crocodile Teeth album. Vybz Kartel, Alkaline, Koffee and Shenseea’s latest projects did less than 4000 units of consumption in their first week.
In commenting on the radio airtime reggae and dancehall music gets and what might be preventing it from making more entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Sean Paul said,
“I have so much to say on that. We don’t have the numbers. There are 2.9 million people in Jamaica, so no matter how big we tell you this or that person is, nobody is buying or streaming that shit. Back when I was swimming for Jamaica, I would go to events in Trinidad, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Orlando, and after we’d finish the competition we’d go out for a few beers and I’d hear dancehall music in the clubs—but never on the radio, it being the son of reggae. But it evolved.”
His comments were made in the Daily Beast.
Sean Paul, who has had almost 2 decades of success in the music indistry, said there was one point where he thought to blend his music in order to get some airplay.
“That’s the nail on the head right there. The music blew up and I had 10 successful years of being played on the radio in America. After that, it became harder and harder. I thought “Oh, I’ve got to blend my music with this dance music now just to get heard?”
He laments that although he had success with dancehall in the past, now labels and radio stations are more inclined to support non-Jamaican artists doing dancehall and climbing the charts than Jamaican artists who do the same music.
“And then “Bailando” was a huge song, and I was involved in that, so I’m thinking “Why are these executives telling me ‘We’re not having fun trying to run your record in these places because people are saying dancehall is over with?’” So, I tried to do records with these other [pop artists], a lot of collabs. Then, I’m hearing Ed Sheeran, Rihanna, Drake, and Swae Lee on the radio, and I’m thinking, “This is all dancehall to me. Why are you categorizing me like that?” It’s been feeling that people are taking it away from us, because if you’re getting on the radio and you’re telling me dancehall’s not getting on the radio anymore…don’t tell me our stuff don’t work.”
