Sean Paul Makes First Entry On The Billboard Afrobeats Songs Chart

Dancehall superstar Sean Paul has landed his first entry on the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs Chart with Hold On—his new collaboration with Nigerian Young Jonn.

Produced by Telz, the track appears on Young Jonn’s debut album Jiggy Forever, which was released on April 12th via Chocolate City Music. Hold On debuted at No. 46 on the chart dated April 27.

The Billboard US Afrobeats Chart tracks the hottest Afrobeats songs in the United States. Launched over a year ago, it considers streaming data, downloads, and audio/video sales to rank the top 50 Afrobeats entries each week.

In a new interview with Billboard, Sean Paul, who was nominated for crossover artist of the year at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards, discussed the importance of collaborating across genres.

“The music is here to connect people,” he said. “It’s just another form of reaching out to another side that’s maybe not familiar with your music or wants to see more of you.”

“I always learn from my collabs, man. There’s no time that I don’t learn. I might go and collab and I’m doing what I do, and then all of a sudden, the producer or the artist himself might step in and be like, “Yo, do a harmony right here!” And I’m like, “Oh, I didn’t ever think of doing something like that.” It may be influenced from their style of music, maybe R&B, maybe hip hop, maybe reggaetón, even Afrobeats. I learn something every time and I take that with me, so it helps my songwriting.”

The No Lie artist also noted that he sees a strong link between Dancehall and Afrobeats.

“Jamaican dancehall music, to me, back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, was the most Afrocentric genre coming out of the Western world, so to speak. We didn’t, at that time, connect with African artists — but we spoke up [against] apartheid in Africa. The sentiment was always there that we are closer than we think, and that we can learn from each other. Sly Dunbar is a great producer and someone I learned from; the style of drums and how we played was very Afrocentric and reminded me of our African roots here,” he said.

“Then, years pass by, and I’m an artist and I go to Africa, and they are so appreciative of what we brought to the table. It’s been a symbiotic relationship back and forth over the years. We’re using drums from the sound that’s been Afro music, people like Fela Kuti and all of these great musicians, and we’re producing it the way we hear it [and] feel it. In Afrobeats [now], they have taken the hint from how we produce and done their own thing with it.”

Continued Paul: “It goes to show you, no matter how far away you are, there are still things about the culture that are important, that are upheld and that continue through life. The connection of blood, the connection of family through culture has been an important thing — and it lives in the music and it affects us symbiotically.”

On the Billboard Afrobeats Songs chart dated April 27, Jump, Skillibeng‘s collaboration with Tyla and Gunna, spent its fourth week at No. 3.

Elsewhere on the Billboard charts, YG Marley‘s Praise Jah In The Moonlight, which received a new music video last week, spent its 12th week on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 76, down from its peak at No. 34.

On the Billboard Reggae Albums chart dated April 27, Bob Marley And The Wailers’ Legend records 223 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1. Sean Paul’s Dutty Classics Collection is at No. 2, while Shaggy’s Best of Shaggy: The Boombastic Collection is at No. 3.

Stick Figure’s World on Fire, Set in Stone and Wisdom are at No. 4, 5 and 7, respectively, while UB40’s Greatest Hits album is at No. 6.

Damian “Jr Gong” Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock is at No. 8, follow by Bob Marley and Wailers’ Exodus and Kaya albums at No. 9 and 10.