The Jamaican singer and rapper performed “Gimme the Light,” “Get Busy,” “I’m Still in Love With You,”
“Like Glue,” “Temperature,” and more on the concert performance series
For twenty minutes, Sean Paul had the NPR Tiny Desk office in the palm of his hand. “This ain’t no Tiny Desk no more,” the Jamaican singer and rapper declared as he prepared to kick off his set for the concert series, which featured two decades worth of career highlights from a bonafide hit-maker.
Paul opened the performance with “Gimme the Light,” the record that marked his first hit single in 2002 and has most recently served as the foundation of an homage-paying single from New York rapper Ice Spice. Keeping the energy high, the musician transitioned seamlessly into “Get Busy,” backed by four band members, two supporting vocalists, and his DJ. “You are the number one sexy ladies, Tiny Desk,” he ad-libbed on the record.
“We’ve been on tour, and we just did DC last night, so I thank you for accommodating me and partying on a day like this,” Paul told the crowd of NPR staffers. “All right, so what you say we now go back to the early day beginnings?” The set continued with “Infiltrate” and “Deport Them,” which both appeared on his debut album Stage One (2000) and “I’m Still in Love With You” from 2002’s Dutty Rock.
Paul cranked up the charm for the final stretch of the set, telling the audience: “I walked into the office
today, and there’s too much beautiful ladies in here. So, unfortunately for the rest of the world, we’re not leaving Tiny Desk again. The next time, when anybody asks you why we didn’t left, you can tell them we stick to the girl dem like glue.” After perfectly teeing up “Like Glue,” the reggae and dancehall giant closed out his performance with the ultimate Sean Paul heater, “Temperature.”
“Big up everybody who love reggae and dancehall music,” Paul added. “Thank you so much for the support.”
