Sean Paul Says He Used Diplomacy To Quell Jay-Z’s Jealousy After ‘Baby Boy’ Collab With Beyoncé
Dancehall superstar Sean Paul has revealed that he had to draw upon his innate ability to be diplomatic, after coming to the realization that Jay-Z did “not want him anywhere near Beyoncé”, during the time when they were promoting their Baby Boy single back in 2003.
The Temperature artiste was speaking with radio announcer Wesley “Burgerman” Burger in an interview on the Two Live Crew program on Radio Jamaica on Thursday when the host brought up the subject midway through the discussion.
Burger told Sean Paul, “One a di time when Baby Boy did come out, mi did vex yuh nuh, caw mi a seh a wha happen to dem people deh ova suh? Like dem nuh rate our artiste, you know dah likkle video suppm deh. Mi neva feel good bout it enuh, but mi a seh, mi like how di General (Sean Paul) deal wid it though.”
“Yuh si weh you seh? You neva feel comfortable. Me neva feel comfortable needa, but mi jus use my diplomacy all di while an guh roun any likkle obstacle weh me have inna life,” Sean Paul responded.
Burger then pressed on adding that he believed that Jay-Z felt discomfiture about having Sean Paul in Beyonce’s presence for protracted periods, because he was threatened by the Dutty artiste’s good looks and the fact that he was a Jamaican man.
“To me, dat man (Jay-Z) neva want you around dah lady deh yuh nuh,” Burgher said, to which Sean Paul responded: “Yes, to me that was something that was apparent at the time,” before adding: “Wi know that artistry is artistry suh a nuh everytime dem ting deh gwan.”
Jay-Z earned the wrath and ridicule of Jamaicans back in 2003 after news surfaced that he demanded that Sean Paul not be featured on the pop queen’s 2003 MTV Video Music Awards performance, as he was jealous that his then-girlfriend (now wife) might become attracted to Sean Paul.
In an earlier live performance, Beyoncé had gyrated on an unassuming Sean Paul to cheers from a pleased crowd, perhaps triggering Jay-Z’s jealousy.
Later in a 2012 article, MTV, noted that although Sean Paul appeared in the Baby Boy video, which was directed by Jake Nava, “he and the pop queen were filmed separately”.
Years after that imbroglio, Sean Paul had described suggestions that he and Beyoncé had ‘a thing going on’ as a rumor.
“The general public blew it up in certain things. I just remained quiet about it for years because it was doing its work. There was just a lot of controversy…She’s an amazing artist, the song was at number one for like nine weeks, so that was a very special time for me and for dancehall,” the article quoted Sean Paul as saying.
In 2016, Yahoo News UK reported in an extensive article that Sean Paul had opened up about working with Beyoncé and the controversy surrounding the nature of their relationship. At the time Sean Paul described Beyonce as an amazing, focused, and very talented person.
“The first time I heard Baby Boy I was like: ‘Woah, it’s pretty dope’. I did my part and she called me to go to Miami to record another part. It was cool to be able to work stuff out with her right there,” the article said.
Baby Boy was an early hit for Beyoncé after Destiny’s Child split and she went solo. The song spent several weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and also propelled Sean Paul’s global profile.
During the interview, the Grammy Award winner also revealed plans to drop two albums in 2021, Live and Living and Scorcher. Live and Living will be all collaborations with Jamaican Dancehall/Reggae artistes such Buju Banton, Busy Signal, Serani, Masicka, Bugle, Intence, Squash, Mavado, and Chi Ching Ching, while Scorcher will feature American singer Gwen Stefani, Australian singer-songwriter Sia, Shenseea, Jada Kingdom and Stylo G.