Sean Paul excited about ‘Good Vibes Only Tour’

After years of what he describes as a "genuine friendship" with international dancehall superstar Sean Paul, rap icon Wiz Khalifa felt the time was right to team up with the Jamaican hitmaker for a high-energy collaboration. The result is the Good Vibes Only Tour -- a project designed to spread "good energy and great music" to fans across the globe.

"It wasn't me who even came up with the name, enuh, it was Wiz," Sean Paul said.

The superstar Jamaican said he had known Wiz Khalifa for a long time, but they hadn't worked together musically or done tours before.

"Mi and him have good vibes music, and people who hear our songs are reminded of good days/party days and uplifting things," Sean Paul said, adding that Wiz reminds him of dancehall artiste Ching.

Speaking recently with THE WEEKEND STAR, Sean Paul recalled feeling a wave of excitement when he learned that the Young, Wild and Free rapper wanted him to co-headline the tour. He immediately recognised the opportunity to represent Jamaica on an even bigger stage.

"I've always wanted to get into some a dem crowd deh, to work di crowd dem and as you know, mi wave di Jamaican flag as high as I can on my stages and during my interviews. It's not for [any personal gain] but to shed light on where I come from and how I came to be who I am today...because these people made me," he expressed passionately.

The Good Vibes Only Tour kicks off July 6 at Darien Center in New York, promising 15 days of electrifying performances that blend Sean Paul's dancehall flair with Wiz Khalifa's laid-back rap style and DaBaby's dynamic stage energy. The tour will make stops across several cities before wrapping up at Atlanta's Lakewood Amphitheatre on July 27.

"With rappers like Wiz and DaBaby who have been some of the biggest names in hip hop, is a good look, enuh," said the Temperature hitmaker.

Looking ahead to the summer tour, Sean Paul promised fans an unforgettable experience.

"[Fans can expect] a catalogue of amazing music which will bring yuh back to the [earlier] days and let you experience what it was like then to the present ... weh a guh mek yuh feel good about yourself - good vibes only," he said.

Meanwhile, Sean Paul emphasised that this merging of musical styles is more than just entertainment -- it's a nod to the deep-rooted cultural ties between hip hop and dancehall.

"With DJ Kool Herc coming from Jamaica with the sound system mentality to implant it in the Bronx, I like to say, 'Reggae is the father of music and dancehall and hip hop are the brothers'. Both music [genre] are very versatile because we come from a place where we had no backing band, but we had break beat records or the flip side of a record, and yuh have to be very versatile to be ready to ride any riddim at any point and tell a story," the Get Busy deejay explained.

He added, "Whenever I see any artiste bridging the gap [between both genres] I'm like, 'Yeah man, that's the way to go'. I've always tried to reach out to that community and when I saw [rap icon] Biggie [Smalls] come here at Sting [in 1996] that was a big thing to me because at the time, hip hop wasn't a genre that people really loved out here. My generation was the one that kinda embrace hip hop in that respect," he said.

Sean Paul pointed to collaborations with stars like Busta Rhymes, Clipse and Pharrell Williams as helping to "push that envelope in a space where people wasn't seeing us that much."

According to Sean Paul, dancehall and hip hop will always have global appeal because both genres reflect authentic stories from the streets -- stories that resonate deeply with young audiences.

"Dancehall and hip hop blends well together because its music that's telling you about our life now. Sometimes, the narrative of what people are feeling on the streets is not fully told and it's told by these artistes and that's why it's such a powerful force and young people gravitates towards it because it does tell our stories in a very truthful way," he reasoned.