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)
A long-planned series of Catholic pilgrimages has begun across the United States this weekend, with pilgrims embarking on four routes before converging on Indianapolis in two months for a major gathering focusing on Eucharistic rites and devotions.
The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is beginning with Masses and other events in California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Texas. A small group of pilgrims plan to walk entire routes, but most participants are expected to take part for smaller segments. Each route goes along country roads and through city centers, with multiple stops at parishes, shrines and other sites.
Although it was forged amid a recent debate among bishops over whether to refuse Communion to U.S. politicians who don’t oppose abortion, the pilgrimage is a revival of a historic Catholic tradition that faded by the mid-20th century.
Each procession is being led by a priest holding a monstrance — typically a sunburst-patterned vessel that displays the host, or bread wafer consecrated by a priest at Mass.
The Catholic Church teaches the “whole Christ is truly present — body, blood, soul, and divinity — under the appearances of bread and wine,” according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. As a result, the consecrated host becomes an object of devotion.
“The Eucharist is actually Jesus, so for us to walk with Jesus is actually a witness to our faith in a prayerful action for unity, for peace," said Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress, the umbrella organization for the events.
The four lengthy pilgrimages appear to be unprecedented, Glemkowski said.
“It’s hard in a 2,000-year-old church to do something for the first time, but a procession this long, with this many people in it, may be the first time this has been attempted in the history of the Catholic Church,” Glemkowski said.
Some pilgrims were embarking Sunday from the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota. Others planned to embark from a cathedral in Brownsville, Texas, or cross San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
In New Haven, Connecticut, commemorations began with a Saturday night Mass and a mini-procession around St. Mary's Church, which is the burial site of the 19th century founder of the Knights of Columbus fraternal organization, the Rev. Michael McGivney. After an all-night vigil of prayer and adoration, pilgrims were bringing the host to another New Haven church and later to a boat to carry it to the city of Bridgeport and the next leg of the pilgrimage.
The pilgrimage amounts to an effort to revive a type of mass devotion that was once more common in past generations of Catholicism in the U.S. and beyond.
The pilgrimages — and the concluding National Eucharistic Congress, expected to draw tens of thousands to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in July — is being funded by private donors, sponsors and ticket sales, Glemkowski said. The budget for the National Eucharistic Revival — which is actually a three-year process that has included parish activities as well as the pilgrimages and congress — is about $23 million, with $14 million of that for the congress, he said.
There have been nine previous U.S. gatherings under the name of the National Eucharistic Congress — but none since 1941.
“We just kind of lost track of this tradition,” Glemkowski said. “We’re bringing it back in a way that fits this time.”
Glemkowski said the pilgrimage is not a march and would avoid politics. “That message of unity and peace and just focus on Christ is paramount,” he said.
The idea for these pilgrimages sprang from deliberations among U.S. bishops.
Their 2021 document, “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church,” arose amid debate over whether bishops should withhold Communion from Catholic politicians who supported abortion rights. The document ultimately did not directly address that, though it called on Catholics to examine whether they align with church teachings and said bishops have a “special responsibility” to respond to "public actions at variance with the visible Communion of the church and the moral law.”
At the same time, the document reflected bishops’ worries that many Catholics don’t know or accept the church’s teachings about the significance of the sacrament, though surveys have given mixed results on that question.
Timothy Kelly, professor of history at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, said it's an open question how many participants the pilgrimage will draw. His 2009 book, “The Transformation of American Catholicism," documents the rise and decline of stadium-sized devotional activities such as Eucharistic adoration in 20th century Pittsburgh.
Many early 20th century Catholics were from immigrant communities, and they often gathered at times of flood, war or other crises. “A lot of times in the older demonstrations, the message seemed to be outward toward the broader community — the Catholics bearing witness to their presence and their faith, but also saying, ‘We’re here and we matter.’”
But participation began dropping sharply by the 1950s. “What happened was the laity stopped being interested in it,” Kelly said.
The Eucharistic pilgrimage, he said, appears to be attracting the most interest in Catholic media sympathetic with other efforts to revive older traditions, such as the Latin Mass.
“Which makes me curious, how well does this resonate within the broader Catholic community?” he said.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The Eucharistic host is held in a monstrance during a procession outside of St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The Eucharistic host is held in a monstrance during a procession outside of St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The Eucharistic host is held in a monstrance during a procession outside of St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The Eucharistic host is held in a monstrance during a Pentecost Vigil at Blessed Michael McGivney Parish at St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Two boys hold candles during a Pentecost Vigil at Blessed Michael McGivney Parish at St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The Most Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, archbishop of Hartford, leads a Pentecost Vigil at Blessed Michael McGivney Parish in St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The Most Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, archbishop of Hartford, raises a chalice during a Pentecost Vigil at Blessed Michael McGivney Parish in St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Altar boys hold their hands close to a flame to keep it from blowing out during a Pentecost Vigil at Blessed Michael McGivney Parish in St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
People pray during a Pentecost Vigil at St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
People kneel during a Pentecost Vigil at Blessed Michael McGivney Parish at St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Nuns listen during a Pentecost Vigil at Blessed Michael McGivney Parish in St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The Most Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, archbishop of Hartford, walks in a procession during a Pentecost Vigil at Blessed Michael McGivney Parish in St. Mary's Church, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. The Eucharistic Procession from St. Mary's Church is one of four pilgrimage routes crossing the country and converging at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis on July 16. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
