‘Temperature’ At 15: Sean Paul Recalls The Whirlwind That Came With The Hit Song
Many iconic Dancehall anthems are celebrating their 15-year milestones in 2021: from Bounty Killer’s lethal bars on Bullet Proof Skin, to Vybz Kartel’s list of don’ts on I Neva, Mavado’s odd but still perfect pacing on Weh Dem A Do and Tony Matterhorn and Ding Dong’s muscle trauma-inducing cuts Dutty Wine and Badman Forward, Badman Pull Up.
The biggest of all was Sean Paul’s mega-hit Temperature, which became the No. 1 song on the US Billboard Hot 100 in April 2006. The deejay had already tasted Billboard chart-topping success with Get Busy and Baby Boy featuring Beyonce in 2003, but said Temperature took it to another level.
During a sit down with Claudia Jordon’s Out Loud on FOX Soul yesterday, Sean Paul said “it was a whirlwind and to look back at it now and say, ‘Wow, 2006 Temperature was the biggest song on the Billboard charts’, that’s amazing”.
“I’ve always strived to having songs back there and I’ve done pretty much a couple times and it’s just amazing. Sometimes I feel like it’s a dream so thank you to the fans and people who appreciate the music and been there from day one.”
Temperature, which was produced by Rohan ‘Snowcone’ Fuller, enjoyed extremely long staying power on the Hot 100. The multi-platinum song had one of the longest runs on the chart that year, spending 17 weeks in the Top 10 and it became Paul’s first song to sell more than one million digital downloads.
Sean Paul, who celebrated his 48th birthday in January, reflected on this ultra-successful period of his life, which he realized had placed him in a bubble from friends and family.
“I’m always doing the same things; I’m in the studio coming up with fresh ideas, I’m flying to shows entertaining people…so naturally I started to be in a kind of bubble and I would come home and see my friends’ kids growing up and I started going, ‘Wow, time is passing and I’m just not noticing it’. And then it happened to me; I had my own kids and I’m seeing within four years he’s telling me all kind of big words and stuff like that.”
Speaking on his upcoming album Live N Livin , Paul said he aims to challenge claims that the genre was dead by showing that Jamaican Dancehall can still do numbers. The LP features 21 Dancehall and Reggae artists including Buju Banton, Damian Marley, Govana, Intence, Mavado, Masicka, and Skillibeng.
“It’s kind of my statement to people who say that dancehall as a genre – because of the low numbers right now – is dead, but I kinda want people to check the pulse… This is the first time in a longtime I’ve been able to sit at home and cultivate a great album, so more hardcore dancehall. It’s what people know me for.”
The album will be released on March 12, under the auspices of Paul’s Dutty Rock Productions.
A second album, Scorcher will be released later this year under Island Records. The lead-out single, produced by Chimney Records, is also titled Scorcher.
Scorcher‘s list of collabs are lighter, with American singer Gwen Stefani, Dancehall songstresses Shenseea and Jada Kingdom, and UK-based Dancehall deejay Stylo G set to be featured.
Australian singer-songwriter Sia is also expected to appear on Scorcher. The two previously teamed up in 2016 for Cheap Thrills , which earned Paul his fourth No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Watch the full interview below.