Sean Paul says a Verzuz with him is not going to happen while reinforces his stance on clash culture in dancehall.
Many fans of Verzuz from around the world have agreed that Beenie Man and Bounty Killer stands at the top of the pack. Many have also been calling for more dancehall battles, but one deejay they won’t get to see compete is Sean Paul whose made it clear once again that he’s “not up for Verzuz.”
Sean Paul confirmed his position about the virtual battle format as he was being interviewed by BBC1XTra’s radio host, Seani B, recently. This isn’t the first time that he’s said that he wants no part of Verzuz. He made similar statements last year after fans called for a Sean Paul and Shaggy Verzuz. At the time, while being interviewed by DJ Epps, he made some pretty controversial comments as he described the clash culture in Jamaica as one similar to a “slavery mentality.”
His feelings on the matter haven’t changed even at the behest of his fans. Seani B even highlighted several tweets of Paul’s fans who claimed that the artiste would be unbeatable in a Verzuz. His response was, “I’m not up for Verzuz, I personally just don’t like the platform, I don’t like the name Verzuz. People say is not a clash and I get that but it reminds me of a clash and I’m not up into the clashing ting at all,” he said. He added that while he isn’t scared of it, the fact remains he just doesn’t agree with the message behind it.
He said that this was because he believed that there was enough violence in Jamaica and clashing in any form would just promote more of it, and he simply doesn’t want to be a part of anything that is for violence, even by extension.
“I live in a violent society in Jamaica right now and the clash ting is to me something that is … I don’t want to say it’s causing the violence in society … but everybody is becoming complacent so my stance is to fight against that in general,” he added.
He admitted that he was a fan of Jamaica’s famous Sting show, which sees deejays going up against each other in most times heated confrontations. However, he believes that they have to take some blame for violence on the island. This comes from his own experience having to deal with the death of his own friends, he explained.
“Being somebody who has buried my own friends because of violence, my own brothers because of a violent situation. I don’t even get the time to mourn you know. I go back into studios and hear the same lyrics, I go into the dance and I hear the same lyrics, it reminds me exactly of what happened to my bredrin, 9 shots! And I’ve had not just one person but many … this is my family here,” he said.
He added that these were his views, and while he didn’t think that dancehall should be omitted from the Verzuz battles, he wants nothing to do with it.
