Party Boy: Sean Paul, 'Imperial Blaze'

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TWO YEARS AGO Sean Paul told MTV his upcoming album would be inspired by "more reality" and "the kids with the guns in the streets."

Yet the resulting CD, "Imperial Blaze," has no mention of urban obstacles or youth hardship among its 20 tracks; instead, the record is brimming with Mercedes-and-ladies tunes that the Jamaican dancehall star decried in that very same article.

So Paul didn't keep up his end of the deal. "Sufferer," the song he described as his appeal to the younger generation to pursue other options than "find[ing] a gun somewhere," doesn't appear here, although it was released in Jamaica. (Dancehall artists frequently release songs geared only toward Caribbean audiences.)

And from the intro track, "Chi Ching Ching," to closer "I Know U Like It," it's all about sex, love and the lusty things that fill clubs with impressively writhing bodies — in other words, the kind of stuff Paul does best. As a result, "Imperial Blaze" is a consistent mix of dancehall grinders and reggae-inspired ballads that will probably boost Paul to the top of the same charts he once dominated with "Get Busy" and "Temperature."

After the 50-second hype track "Chi Ching Ching," things go right to hump-game mode with "Lace It" and "So Fine," the album's first single and its most shimmering throwback to Paul's second album, "Dutty Rock." With its clap-along beat, pulsing synths and Paul's rapid-fire delivery, it's a solid return to Paul's successful introduction to the U.S., the kind of hypnotically catchy jam that moves your hips even if it dulls your brain.

There are a lot of similarly minded songs on the album, and though none of them is as good as "So Fine," they'll probably keep your party going without any problems. For example, there's "Birthday Suit" (which, in name and content, is pretty identical to Jeremih's "Birthday Sex"), "Press It Up" (which gets by with simplistic lyrics like "This is dancehall music, baby" and "The way you moving it, girl / I cannot get enough") and "Don't Tease Me" (which would be offensive to women with lines such as "Girl, don't flirt if you're not pleasin' / Feel all this size start increasing" if the song's hook and chorus weren't so captivatingly catchy). Expect lots of music videos with scantily clad girls to back the tracks up, of course.

And if you're getting sick of all the booty-poppin', fret not — Paul includes a few slower, reggae-influenced tracks to even the album out nicely. Most of them take the ballad route, and songs like "Now That I've Got Your Love," "Hold My Hand" and "Lately" are weirdly charming, with lyrics that sound like Paul penned them in seventh grade but still means them to this day: "There ain't no use pretending / Without you, my life is ending"; "Girl, you know I care / So if you ever seem to lose your way / Don't have no fear" ; "You wanna know why I drink so much? / All these late nights in these clubs? / It's cuz I miss your tender touch."

With lyrics like that, perhaps Jamaica's social concerns just aren't in Paul's wheelhouse. But love and lust each sound the same in any culture — and that seems to be exactly what's straight from Sean Paul's heart.

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photo by Gerrard Needham