THERE are some Jamaican academics like professor Carolyn Cooper who believe patois (Jamaican dialect) should be taught in schools. Dancehall heavyweight Sean Paul has added his voice to that debate, in a way.
He says it is difficult for Jamaican artistes to make it in overseas markets because of the ‘language barrier’. He was speaking to BBC Radio1 Newsbeat on Wednesday.
Sean Paul believes patois is difficult for people in the United Kingdom and United States to understand and as such, music entirely in the dialect does not sell.
“People speaking in hardcore patois, it’s kind of hard for people to understand so that’s a big factor. I’m able to speak in a little tongue where someone can understand me,” he said.
The Grammy winner had remarkable success in those countries with songs such as Temperature, Gimme the Light, Deport Dem and Get Busy. The 47-year-old has also enjoyed a strong presence internationally through collaborations on songs like Cheap Thrills with Sia; Rockabye with Clean Bandit; Hair with Little Mix and Boasty featuring Idris Elba, Wiley and Stefflon Don.
But before Sean Paul hit it big, dancehall artistes like Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Mad Cobra, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer made their mark in the US and UK with unfiltered songs.
During the 1990s, those acts were signed to major American and British labels.
Sean Paul also said that despite his success, he had his fair share of misses.
“It’s been a long journey for me, I keep my ears to the ground and listen. There’s been a lot of times that I never really won with the song and failed,” he told Newsbeat.
“People remember those but I think the story of the glory is pretty cool and a lot of the songs reached the glory stage, so big up to everyone who helped me to be that.”
Dancehall music has increased in popularity in recent years among performers such as Rihanna, Drake, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown and even Ed Sheeran. With that recognition, Sean Paul is optimistic about its future.
“What we do comes from Africa but also the vibe that we set, it’s been followed right now,” he said. One day we are going to get people logging on back to what we do.. We just feel proud of that fact and We humbly wait for our turn to make the city burn again,”Sean Paul continued.
He is speaking pure facts here. Patios is somewhat innate to Jamaica and we should be very proud of it. However patios has so many variations and slangs that it isn’t necessarily consistent. A large segment of patios changes over generations (even yearly) and has little consistency. It can be taught in schools but I don’t think it should be a language that’s pushed to be communicated in a global sense. Stop confuse di young yutes Carolyn. You already have yuh PhD and you very much versatile in transitioning between English and patios
The issue Yardman is as you’ve said is versatility. Majority of Jamaica’s musicians came from humble beginnings and struggle with standard English. That’s why they are able to channel the struggles through their music. I believe that as soon as some of the deejays earn some money they should enroll in classes to upgrade their education instead of flossing. I cringe when I hear Rhygin King and others attempt to express themselves on platforms like On Stage and Entertainment Report
It also limits their scope and range of expressions. The newer reggae artistes (Jesse Royal Chronixx, Koffee and Lilaike) have more formal education and it shows when they do interviews
Honestly, I think timeless music irrespective of the genre transcends all spoken languages. I think of songs like Guantanamera or Oye Como va which are globally famous Spanish songs that are beloved by many ppl who are not Spanish speakers, like myself. I get what Sean is saying, but I do not believe that a successful song is contingent on the language the song is done in. European opera singers continue to be successful in North America even though most opera songs are not sung in English.
What I would like to see is more fusion in our music, we have Ska, mento, gehreh and other older sounds which can be fused with modern reggae and Dancehall riddims to pay homage to our musical history and create something new. Jamaican music has such a rich and diverse history that if someone wanted to be a straight patois performer I honestly do not think it would hinder their success globally if the music is good at the core.
On the contrary, Patois aren’t that hard to understand. Its more about speaking slowly. It’s basically a shortened version of English. I would more say the hardcore accent is harder to be understood.
Patois hard fi read to backside, while English u can read 60 miles per hour, patois is 1 mile per hour when u rass reading dat chit. Talking it easy like wow lol, spelling it, headache lol.
It is helpful to be able to speak standard English, particularly for fans whose first language isn’t English.
Regarding the songs, that is neither here nor there.
Granted, Sean’s biggest hits were closest to English than Patois, but my guess is, the melody did it. The words, less so.
Dr. Carolyn Cooper pushing for this. Hahaha. How ironic she has a doctorate. In high school my English teacher warned us about the agenda to teach patios in schoold, she said it was always the bright, educated ppl who will always push for this. Meanwhile their children attend the best schools and are set for life.
When I had my daughter I spoke to her in standard English only and family and friends criticized me saying she should learn patios. Long story short, my daughter passed GSAT with full marks in Communication Tasks and English. None of the children of the friends and family members who pushed the patios talking were able to get full marks. Don’t follow their agenda they know exactly what they are doing.
All my friends when I was growing up all spoke patois, nobody grew up speaking standard English and they all have successful lives, some with advanced degrees. I will never buy that learning or knowing patois is a deterrent to academic success. To that end, after I emigrated as a teen I knew some kids in high school who were the children of immigrants whose first language was their parents native language; Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Spanish..etc. They did not start learning English until they started public school around five, when they left back for home they had to revert back to the language of their parents, they typically became fluent in English around eight, nine or ten. These kids are all professionals today, although for some reason they tend to stream towards science and technology. I know some parents feel not teaching their children their native tongue will give them a better chance at success in life, but it seems like being bilingual or trilingual helps even more, at least from my experience. Congrats on your daughter’s success, but perhaps you are a more involved parent than your relatives, you are likely attending parent teacher meetings, reviewing homework, doing mental challenges and enrolling her in activities that keep her brain going.
Younger sean paul with braids ?! Jeeeeees