Sean Paul’s ‘Dynamite’ With Sia Certified Gold In France
Sean Paul’s Dynamite with Australian singer Sia was certified Gold in France on Thursday, January 5.
According to The National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing, the Dancehall superstar’s Dynamite was certified Gold after it surpassed 15 million equivalent streams in the country.
Since April 2018, the organization has taken a streaming-first approach, with the sales of singles calculated based on its equivalent streaming units. (one download or physical sale equals 150 streams).
Produced by Banx & Ranx and Greg Kurstin, Dynamite was released on October 21, 2021. The track was a follow-up to Paul and Sia’s smash hit Cheap Thrills—also produced by Greg Kurstin—which has racked up over 1.7 billion YouTube views since its 2016 release. Cheap Thrills, which is now certified 8X Platinum in the US, had marked Sia’s first Billboard No. 1 song and Sean’s fourth top song—his first chart-topper in 10 years.
“’Dynamite’ started out as just a good vibe song. After recording ‘Cheap Thrills’ Sia and I knew we would record another single and ‘Dynamite’ is the second installment,” Sean Paul said in 2021.
“Banx and Ranx, Greg Kurstin, myself and Sia, worked on this single and I hope people gravitate towards it like our first single. ‘Dynamite’ is another feel good record for me and I just want to thank Sia and her entire team, my team Duttyrock, my management team and big up my mom who introduced me to Sia’s music,” he continued.
It might come as a surprise for many that Paul and Sia still have not yet met face-to-face.
“We’ve never met in person, which is crazy. My management asked if I would consider doing a song with Sia and at that time I’d just been musically schooled by my mum. She was like, “Sia is a great artist,” but I thought she meant [“Gangnam Style” rapper] Psy,” the Temperature artist also told GQ.
Dynamite received a video treatment on November 5, which did not feature Sia, but imagined what Jamaica would look like in the future. It followed a female dance troupe, “The Dynamites,” as they competed in a dance battle.
The video, which has racked up 9.3 million views on YouTube, featured a long list of Jamaican talent and the heritage and beauty of The Ward Theatre in Kingston.
The song later appeared on Sean Paul’s eighth studio album Scorcha, which has been nominated for Best Reggae Album at the upcoming Grammy Awards.
The album peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, after moving 1,700 units during its first week of release.
Sean Paul’s other certified singles in France include Get Busy (Gold), No Lie with Dua Lipa (Diamond), Mad Love with David Guetta and Becky G (Platinum), and Rockabye with Clean Bandit and Anne-Marie (Diamond).