LOS ANGELES (AP) — It has been 21 years since Sean Paul's dancehall anthem “Get Busy” topped the Billboard Hot 100 — which means “Get Busy” is finally old enough to hear “Get Busy” at the club.
“It's changed for me now," Sean Paul told The Associated Press over Zoom from his studio in Jamaica, reflecting on the song's legacy. “Because when I say, ‘Get busy,’ I'm telling the kids to do their homework or clean stuff up.”
In the years since Paul helped introduce dancehall riddims and reggae to new audiences, he's released six ambitious albums, including two straight out of the coronavirus pandemic: 2021's “Live n Livin” and 2022's “Scorcha.” He's become a father and a devoted husband. (The “Jodi” in the “Get Busy” lyric “Shake dat ting, yo, Donna Donna / Jodi and Rebecca”? That's his wife.) And his ambition to make joyful, danceable music has never wavered.
“It's a timeless piece for me,” he says of “Get Busy.” “Every time I try to do a song, I try to put the same butterflies that I had in my belly when I was flirting with the first girl on the first dance floor I went to. It's just a feeling.”
That translates to his goal of bringing positivity to the masses.
“I have a lot of help with the riddim tracks, the genre itself is very infectious,” he says. “It gives you joy.”
His dedication comes from life experience.
“I had a lot of problems, as most teenagers do, trying to find themselves, trying to understand what life’s about. You know, my father was in prison. It was a single mom situation, and she was struggling to make sure that we were conscious beings,” he says.
Music was the release.
Now, he's taking that energy on a 22-date U.S. run dubbed the “Greatest Tour,” kicking off May 2 at House of Blues in Orlando, Florida, and ending June 16 at the Fillmore in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Why am I doing it now? I feel that the people are ready for me again,” Paul says.
“I did some work with some reggaetón acts last year,” he adds, referencing new dancefloor hits, including the massive “Niña Bonita” with Feid and “Dem Time Deh” with Colombian singer Manuel Turizo.
He's also released a few solo singles, including the infectious “Greatest,” and promises more conscious songs in the future — thematically not unlike 2016's “Never Give Up.”
“There’s a lot of struggles here in Jamaica as well as it being, you know, a very beautiful place. But we do have our struggles that we have to deal with,” he says. “A lot of people don’t know me for that type of material, but, you know, it’s as important in my career."
At his shows, fans will get a little taste of everything. But “good vibes,” mostly, he says: “I think people feel the fun from me and it bounces back and forth."
FILE - Sean Paul arrives at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, April 3, 2022, in Las Vegas. The Jamaican singer and songwriter is embarking on a 22-date U.S. run dubbed the “Greatest Tour,” kicking off on May 2. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Sean Paul performs during his concert at Strand Festival in Zamardi, Lake Balaton, Hungary, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. The Jamaican singer and songwriter is embarking on a 22-date U.S. run dubbed the “Greatest Tour,” kicking off on May 2. (Tamas Vasvari/MTI via AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The prestigious Pulitzer Prize for public service journalism was awarded Monday to ProPublica for its “groundbreaking” reporting on the Supreme court that revealed how billionaires wooed justices with gifts and travel, prompting the Court to adopt its first code of conduct.
The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize in the feature photography category for its coverage of migrants from around the world making their journey to the U.S. through Latin America.
The photos were taken across Latin America and along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas and California in a year when immigration was one of the biggest stories in the world.
Along with honoring winners and finalists in 15 journalism categories, the Pulitzer Board also recognizes distinguished work in areas including books, music and theater.
The prizes, established in the will of newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, are administered by Columbia University in New York.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Pulitzer Prizes are set to be announced on Monday, traditionally the most anticipated day of the year for those hoping to earn print journalism's most prestigious honor.
Along with honoring winners and finalists in 15 journalism categories, the Pulitzer Board also recognizes distinguished work in areas including books, music and theater. The awards, which will honor work from 2023, are scheduled to be announced via livestream at 3 p.m. Eastern time.
While forecasting potential winners is a guessing game, the Pulitzers often go to coverage of the year's biggest stories. In this case, the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza is a possibility and may engender controversy.
With the Committee to Protect Journalists estimating at least 97 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, many observers will be interested to see if the Pulitzers recognize work by Palestinian reporters. Last month a group of journalism professors called on The New York Times to address questions about an investigation into gender-based violence during the Hamas attack on Israel.
The prizes are administered by Columbia University in New York, which itself has been in the news for student demonstrations against the war in Gaza. The Pulitzer board met away from Columbia this past weekend to deliberate on its winners.
The board issued a statement Thursday saluting student journalists at Columbia and other universities across the country for their work covering the campus demonstrations.
For the first time, the Pulitzers opened eligibility to broadcast and audio companies that also operate digital news sites, such as CNN, NPR and the broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC. The work must be primarily in digital journalism, however.
The Columbia Journalism School also administers the duPont-Columbia Awards, which recognize audio and visual journalism and are presented in the winter.
The Pulitzers give out cash awards and a medal for its prestigious public service prize, won last year by The Associated Press for its coverage of the Russian siege of Mariupol in Ukraine.
The Pulitzers also announced that five of the 45 finalists this year used artificial intelligence in research and reporting of their submissions. It was the first time the board required applicants for the award to disclose use of AI.
The prizes were established in the will of newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer and first awarded in 1917.
David Bauder writes about media for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://twitter.com/dbauder.
FILE - Signage for The Pulitzer Prizes appear at Columbia University, May 28, 2019, in New York. Pulitzer Prizes are due to be announced on Monday, May 6, 2024, traditionally the most-anticipated day of the year for those hoping to earn print journalism's most prestigious honor. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
